Tallship on display

I've seen quite a few virtual classic tallships a la Pirates of the Caribbean. They usually suffer from the technical limitations of the virtual world. Putting so many details into a moving, sailable object is simply not possible. This one is a bit different.

Ahab and me talking about spring and blizzards

There are at least three differences. It can't sail. At least not yet. It's quite detailed, while still being work in progress. It is more of a modern ship than the typical romantic pirate ship. It looks like a somewhat modernized tallship with an iron hull and wooden decks. Technically speaking it's a Barque.

Through the window

Details, details, details... here's a picture taken through the window of the boatshop at Tradewinds. You can hardly see it, but the hull is definately not made of oak like those oldtimers we used to have, back when my country was a superpower at sea. Crazy thought btw.

Obviously a modern ship

What you can see is that there are no canons. This next shot here shows the deck house and low parts of the mast. Lots of details, and obviously it is a modern ship. Those round things in the windows, "wipers", dunno what they're called. Does anyone know? Anyway, they clearly need electrical power to function.

Interior

The interior wasn't quite finished, but here's a glimpse of it. There's a lot of tricks applied in virtual boat building. This one works quite well; Until you try to walk through the door. It's sort of a bonk-auch- wtf-experience.

Size is big

There's room enough though. The size of this thing is... It's not like the aircraft carrier, but it is comparable to this oiler. The word is BIG, and I wonder if it will ever sail. Perhaps it will be able to sail by engine, but by sail? I seriously doubt it. Hope to be surprised though.

It's tallship day at Tradewinds

Here's another shot that indicates the size. In the back left side there's a tiny Nacra sitting in the sand. Back center the Tradewinds lighthouse sticks out. Back right side there's - lo and behold - another tallship heading north it seems. I have no idea what kind of sandspeeder is hovering beside the tallship in the back, but that's the virtual world. You never know what you're gonna get.

Full view

Here's a full view picture of the ship in all it's glory. It is - of course - built by master builders over at Kiku Craft. Check the details on the Kiku site here. It appears as if Kiku Craft expect this to sail eventually. Whoa! Talk about a liveaboard. Better keep an eye on this one.

PS: You can catch a glimpse of a true classic, wooden tallship over at Timo's. Oh, and I also posted a few pics of them when I sailed the Nautilus submarine.

Back to virtual sailing

Coming up: Loads of snow these next five days. First life is gonna be a true wintery landscape. Almost Christmas-like if you like! Less dark but still. Where can I catch a few sunrays then?

That relaxing sound inside a moored boat

That's right. The virtual sun is always shining. Yeah! But... it's not the real thing. There's really no vitamins there. Even if I max out the brightness there's no vitamins, no tan.

Virtual sunshine is better than no sunshine

Still, the virtual sun is - somehow - able to trick the mind into - hmm - that summery mood. A mood I so miss this time of year. Especially when the weatherboy talks about a blizzard.

Virtual island life

That's when that virtual island life becomes so very interesting. Blue water all the way from where ever to the horizon and beyond. Thousands of little islands and blue lagoons to explore.

Is that a surfboard back there? 

Marinas, boatyards, lighthouses, surfboards, sandy beaches... so much summer. It's all over the place. Well, except those sims where the owner chooses to have snow. Let's avoid those...

Let it snow...

Not too long ago I met Ahab at Tradewinds. We talked about 1st and 2nd life, and we agreed that - woohoo - soon it will be summer; More real sailing and less virtual sailing. Alas, yesterday morning I woke up to this:

Spring is here. NOT!

I posted a few more wintery shots on my tumblr. Don't go there. It'll only make you depressed. I guess I'll have to prolong my stay in SL this season. So, do I hate snow? Not at all. I love skiing. 1st life skiing that is. It is just that... it's really time for some 1st life sailing before we forget how to, right? Talk to you soon, Ahab :-D

Cruising around Fastnet

I haven't had much time for virtual sailing lately, so here's a couple of shots from a wonderful cruise in the virtual Laser. The pics were taken before the windvane, but obviously the boat was perfectly sailable.

Reaching past Fastnet Rock

There's a lotta places to go if you're just looking for a relaxed cruise; Palms and sandy beaches are easily found. However, the Sharp-Tooth-Isle is such a majestic build; Can't help it;

Reaching into the sunset

This is one of those things that would actually be fun to transmorph from the virtual world to the real world. A sunset-ride around the Fastnet Rock in a Laser, right?

Fumbling with the camera

One of those few things. Mostly, we wanna take things from RL and make them virtual. The photos for instance... Why can I not have one of those neat little cameras on my virtual boat taking a pic every 30 seconds? There's definately a market for virtual accessories.

Luffing time

Time to change course or we will reach inhabited aeas on the other side of the Blake. Left Dutch there hanging in the exhaust. Yes, the Laser will come with shadowing, and wooohooo that makes it so much more interesting for racing.

Changing course

Fine graphics, smooth sailing, shadowing and windvane is probably enough to make this a smash hit. Still, there's a few things missing. I am crossing my fingers. You never know... Dutch seems to love surprises almost as much as I do.

Going home

Whatever will happen, this lil post here shows how lovely the Laser is for cruising. At least I hope so. Oh  and remember: There's actually just room for a passenger. Just in case you wanna hold hands while you watch the virtual sunset. Whichever the case, chill out and have a great weekend, - or get a virtual Laser and have an even greater weekend.