I know I'm replying to an old thread here, but hopefully this will be of some use to anyone who finds it, like I did, because they ran into this very issue.

The easiest way to get past this bug is simply to cheat. Give yourself super speed, and you'll be able to make it.

To do this, open the file "default.kmp" (found in the root Ulitma 9 directory) in notepad, and add a new section called "'[Cheat Commands]" (without the "")
Then just copy-paste the following under it:


alt+shift+x = toggle_avatar_fast

and change x to whatever key you want to assign to super speed. Then when in game, just hit alt+shift+x and the avatar will move really fast. Hit it again to remove the super speed.

It's not an elegant solution, but with a game as buggy as Ultima 9, sometimes you just have to cheat to be able to beat it...