I have seen this work a lot since I was a teenager. One thing, probably very stupid to about, but how did
Fanny get out to that ocean liner to meet Nick? A tugboat could not catch up with an Ocean Liner and if it could, would the ship actually stop to pick her up?
At least Lucy hired a helicopter when she missed her ship to Europe, but a tugboat? They don't even go that fast.
I'm not sure if this is the answer....but on that same Lucy episode, there was something called a "pilot boat", which Lucy missed (thus causing her to use the helicopter). The pilot boat apparently brought out people who missed the liner's departure. I guess the Fanny's tugboat was supposed to be the same principle....as for catching up? I guess we have to suspend disbelief!
"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)
I don't think that ocean liners operate at high speed until they are out of the harbor. I don't know whether you're familiar with New York harbor, but there is "Upper New York Bay" to negotiate, with a lot of sea traffic, ferries, etc., then once past the "Narrows" (the strait between Brooklyn and Staten Island), there is "Lower New York Bay," which is more open to the sea but still separated from it slightly by some neighboring peninsulas, and there's lots of traffic there too.
A "pilot," employed by the harbor, is on large vessels only when they are entering or leaving the port, to navigate the busy and narrow waterways with which he is familiar. The pilot joins the large incoming vessels via a fast-moving pilot boat or helicopter, and leaves outgoing vessels the same way.
"I don't seem able to strike the congenial note."
[deleted]