Quote:
Originally Posted by Bizer
Yes. Like the old engines, the new engines only go in one direction. However the new gearboxes, which connect each engine to a drive shaft, can be put in reverse while the engines are running. With the old gearboxes it took as long as 30 seconds to stop one/both engines, switch gears, and restart the engines.
As a side note, the new engines are much lighter than the old engines. Ballast will be added to the bilge to assist in stability.
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Yes, that 30 second delay is probably responsible for a couple of near and actual groundings of the Mount. On a windy day, watching the Mount make its turn in Centre Harbor I watched it almost go ashore several times, and once into a boat house a couple of cottages down from us. Looks like that won't be happening anymore.