The Nautilus

The virtual Nautilus is on display at the Tradewinds Halloween show. I haven't had a chance to ask Tasha, why it is there, but I am assuming it is due to the Nautilus being at the center of a dark and mysterious myth of an evil sea creature. I am - ofcourse - referring to Captain Nemo's fantastic boat, the Nautilus from the Jules Verne Novel: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.

The virtual Nautilus 

It is a great looking build with loads of details. True to the Disney movie from sometime in the fifties. Never saw that movie; Way before my time. However, it seems the Disney design has inspired most pictures of the Nautilus since then. The Nautilus in the book is in fact much more like a modern sub. Nemo describes it a a cigarshaped hull 70 meters long and 8 meters wide. Kinda like a Whiskey-Class, says Wikipedia.

Nautilus mini sub v3.7

The virtual Nautilus is much smaller though, On the first image, you can see me sitting inside the boat; Check  the window. On the second image it is pretty obvious the boat is not 70 meters long. It still looks great,  though perhaps not quite as impressive as a 70 meter sub. The real Nautilus was big. However, todays super subs are bigger. The Russian Typhoon, says Wikipedia, is 175 meters. Way bigger.

Inside the beast

The inside is - sadly - not quite as spacious as the real boat; Err, - I mean the real Nautilus from the book. However, the famous organ is there as can be seen on this picture. It is playing Bach or something. Continuously. Sounds like Bach. There is also a small dining table, a couch and a bookshelf, referring to the library of the real boat. Of course those fabulous mid-ship windows to the ocean are there too.

Bunks

At the rear end there's a couple of bunks. Several ancient charts decorate the inside of the hull, though I suppose they really aren't meant as decoration. Sadly there is no access to the engine room; Those fantastic batteries cannot be inspected, and the watermaker isn't visible either. There is also a ladder to the control room.

Bridge

I really would have expected to see more controls up here, but then again, noone really knows what controls the Nautilus had; The boat was built way before the computer was invented, so it is probably not a "drive by wire" vessel. Rumours has it that Nemo was in fact building a Nautilus II; Bigger, faster and more deadly. Perhaps it would have an onboard computer. Dunno. A nav system like GPS would make submerged navigation a lot easier.

The controls

Here's a complete view of the controls. They seem to work. At least the compass is showing the right bearing. To the left there is engine power. Oh, that thing there to the right, outside the window, it is not a bigger Nautilus or the Nautilus II. It is a giant squidlike sea monster; Part of Ana's Halloween installation.

Exits

Back on the outside... There is a hatch on top of the boat, so that you can get in without getting wet. My straw hat isn't exactly made for diving. Nemo was into seafloor gardening, and the mini Nautilus sports a  hatch at the bottom too. I opened it on the picture above. That way you can stay submerged and go for a walk in your favourite neopren suit. Yes, I have one; Didn't bother to change.

So what's left... Ahh, the best part of it all: The Nautilus mini sub v3.7 is free. How about that, George?  Aley, the builder, is giving it away; I've read somewhere that Aley has an entire area with a Nautilus theme. I better go there and check it out someday, but right now I can't wait to get inworld and sail my brand new Nautilus. Maybe sail down to the Blake and ram some of those full-riggers! Just kidding...

PS: More on virtual subs. I especially like the on seen here;