Deckhand’s Dilemma

I won’t tell the time or place I took these fotos, and I will say that I deliberated long and attempted some removal of identifying details before posting them. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.  Seven minutes elapsed between foto 1 and 10.   Both the tug and ship were moving at least five knots during this time.  Although I’ve never attempted this task before, I have found myself in situations where a problem needed to be solved and I lacked the right tools to do the job safely, but got it done anyhow.  I think that’s what’s going on here.  I wonder what you think.

A ship needs assistance.  The location/design of the recessed bitt made it problematic for the deckhand to get a line on.  Deck stands behind bulwark.

He stands on bulwark and uses a long tool, but

its design seems not to provide a solution.

Next, he tried flipping the line in place,

stretching upward and flipping it several times,

but to no avail.

This makes Plan C, which

appears to involve getting someone out of his bunk.

From the top of the ladder,

then line is finally fast.    The tug can now control the ship in the waterway.

All’s well that ends well, but  . . .  is this the only way?  I’m not looking to assign blame.  I am wondering what alternatives existed for meeting this challenge.

All fotos by will Van Dorp.