Writing Project 24:

Two Boats on the River

Mountain Times: When did you start driving down the river

Billy Badguy: At 1:30 pm exactly. We drove down at full speed for an hour. Then we decided that nobody was following, so we turned and drove upstream. At 2:45, however, we saw the police boat coming towards us. We turned again and drove downstream until the police boat caught us.

Mountain Times: And you, Inspector? When did you start the chase?

Inspector: Well, we we started at the same place where they started, but 42 minutes later. We drove downstream at full speed, which is 15 miles per hour, and finally caught them.

Mountain Times: Mr. Badguy, do you know how fast your boat is in still water?

Billy Badguy: I have no idea, but apparently it is not fast enough.

How fast is the bad guy's boat going in still water, and when were the caught? Visibility at that day was 2 miles, and speed of the stream was 3 miles/hour.

Erich Prisner, August 2003