Fun With Fundamentals: Problem 237

Problem 237: Fish bait

For years Jebediah Dean had been after the legend of ole’ farmer Fiddlegood’s pond, a largemouth bass he’d nicknamed Big Bessie. This summer, he was determined to nab her. He’d decked out his homemade 65-lb fishin’ barge with a hook on the side for a six pack, an anchored lawn chair, and a cushy seed bag bed for his hound dog Blue.

Aside from outfitting his luxury liner, Jebediah had spent the winter fashioning homemade lures. For his favorite, the “Bass-a-nator,” he’d started with a piece of knotted bale rope, loaded it with worm hooks, tied on bottle cap spinners, and finished it off with a turkey feather tail – it was a real little monster.

Unfortunately, the overly embellished lure broke line when cast and sailed with the grace of a drunk pigeon into a mess of cattails. Jebediah, who weighed a svelte 145 lb, stood exactly 30 ft from the shore after his miserable cast.

To make matters worse, Big Bessie then jumped out of the water – and darn it if she didn’t smile at him. Vexed, Jebediah stomped 6 ft from the center of his makeshift flatboat toward the shoreline, gaping at the ripples Bessie left behind. Assuming there was no friction between the boat and the water, how far was Jebediah from the shore after this move?

(Assume 65-lb weight of boat accounts for weight of lawn chair, dog, and other items onboard, but not Jebediah’s weight.)

Solution to the June problem, 236: Tropical teaser

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