Comments by "Reecom98" (@reecom9884) on "" video.

  1. The single tug indicates it was used to just pull the sailboat away from the dock. The tugboat captain takes his orders from the harbor pilot and is released from the tow by the harbor pilot when it was in the middle of the river reversing engine. A sailboat’s rudder in the stern doesn’t quickly respond to the helm when moving in reverse direction since the normal flow of water is in the opposite direction.
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  2. A sailboat sometimes comes equipped with a variable pitch propeller. The shaft spinning in only one direction and goes from forward to reverse by the propeller blades changing pitch. When sailing the propeller blades are feathered to reduce drag. The harbor pilot once in the middle of the river was going slowly in the reverse direction ordered forward pitch and increased in speed, accounting for the sudden reverse speed when the pitch control failed and the sailboat continued going in reverse. The harbor pilot should have had tugboats hooked up and on standby for an engine failure that close from the berth spot to the bridge as a precaution. The tugs would have slack lines on the sailboat and waiting to pull if the sailboat lost propulsion or steerage.
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