A vessel is anchored in 3 fathoms of water and the cable passes over a sheave in the bowspirt which is 6 ft above the water. If the cable is hauled in at the rate of 1 ft/second, how fast is the vessel moving through the water when there is 5 fathoms of cable out? What is the acceleration at this time?
Byerly, Calculus 1895
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The answer is: = 5/3 ft/second; a = .09877 ft/second^2
"What is a Bowspirt?," Loci (February 2008)