About

Hi! I am Noodle...

This is my logbook; My disorderly scriblings about my life inworld. I call it a sailing blog, but...

Me at Windlass, Blake Sea

There is really no telling, what I might experience inworld. Sometimes I don't, - but occassionally I experience stuff that deserves mentioning. Lots can happen. I might go dancing, break hearts, meet interesting people; I might discover new clubs, hear live music. Sometimes I have fun skiing, sailing or flying; I even parachuted off the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes I just discover breathtakingly beautiful places. There is also an art scene, which deserve an entire page or even a blog in itself. Since late 2009, sailing has been my thing: Boats, boatshows, sailing news, sailing spots, events, people, races, rules and even a little bit of cruising.

Fizzing around the island

My Second Life started out of curiosity. It the beginning it was all about finding freebie clothes. Then came  dancing and  heartbreaking followed by miles and miles of plain flying around, discovering the virtual world. After a while I got boored with that. I needed something to do but what? Build houses? Design gardens? Sell clothes? Host events? Buy an island? Join a medieval role play game? Get my priorities straight and leave SL? Options are endless!

I was so close to leaving, but then one day I read about inworld sailing. I rushed online and by sheer luck I   found Tradewinds Yacht Club, TYC.  Sailing is what I love most in RL, and meeting the sweet people of TYC convinced me to stay and try out the virtual sailing of SL. So far it has been frustrating, fun and frustratingly funny. (In a good but time consuming way)

Me and my Fizz at Tradewinds.

Thx Liv, Tasha and Becca... You saved my life :-D

So why this blog? Hmm. I feel the sailing inworld has reached a certain level of maturity. There are yacht clubs, boat builders, race directors, sailors and hangarounds. This makes a great opportunity for dry training. It is perfectly possibly to train sailtrim, teamwork, tactics and rules. Some say, that SL was not built for sailing. I am told the first "sailing devices" were like cars on water. Not any more. The Flying Fizz comes close to the real thing, as you can probably see...

Me "Fizzing" my life away somewhere in the Blake Sea.

Above you see me in perfect balance making six knots in the Blake Sea. In a minute I will hoist the gennaker and fly away... Love that Fizz... I've only met the builder a few times. Turns out it's another sailor from RL, Mothgirl, who spent hundreds if not thousands of hours building this boat. Beautiful work!

I don't know the precise history of sailing, but back in 2005 a dude called Kanker Greenacre built the Flying Tako and a windsystem. This was the first true wind-driven sailboat in SL. Other boat builders came around, and eventually Mothgirl built the Flying Fizz and did quite a few improvements to the windsystem. Then Becca made the BBK, and myriads of boats were built on that. Many of the boats sail really well, and there is a growing understanding of ISAF rules. We are on the verge of establishing a real sailing community inworld. That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is key to having real sailors adopt SL sailing. Realistic sailing, strong community and real rules.

So lets get them in here, lets show them some sailing, and lets have some boat talk.

Liv and me talking Q-SM40, the boat in the back.

In case you wonder about my RL... I sailed before I could walk. I raced ever since I got my first Opti. Before that even, with my dad. Since then I have sailed loads of different boat types, - with occasional wins. Did my time in Yngling.  Had fun in the DS37 Matchracer. Tried the X99 and also the X35 a few times. 14 footer is great fun as is the mini12 aka 2.4m. I could go on...

So what's a girl like me doing in a place like this? Rest assured I check out the local guys while having my favourite, strawberry margharitas. Real ones. It's just that, so many people talked about SL, I simply had to see it for myself. At first I didn't like it. Too many creepy guys. Now, it's just great fun meeting people from all over the world, racing a bit, - and discovering beautiful gardens and new shoes. That is - when I am not out sailing or whatever else a girl like me would normally do on a friday night. Which reminds me, I hate dancing in high heel shoes. Docksides are so much better.