Cafe Del Mar

I never really tested the Cafe Del Mar. At least not officially. I sailed it quite a lot, but I only blogged it once. So here it is again...

"Morning at the Cafe Del Mar"

What can I say? I like the morning at the Cafe Del Mar. No wait, - I love the morning at the Cafe Del Mar! It's such a luxury cruiser. It's fast, it's responsive and well behaved - and you can grab a coffee in one of the sun-chairs. If you ever need a relaxing get away, this is surely it.

Relaxing at the helm

Ofcourse she needs attention; Sailboats are sailboats. In my first Cafe Del Mar post I mentionen that it's kinda like a cruising version of the VO65. That's still true. Very lively; However the cruising gear is best in class.

Trimming...

Here's the upwards view from the helm. Huh! Who wouldn't wanna work with that? So the looks are great. Dutch does a great job when it comes to looks, but there's still work to be done. The thing is, there's really no option to work with the sailshape. There are sheets, and that's it.

Sails

However, I am convinced we will get sail-trimming sooner or later. It's just that there's little demand for that right now. We need more sailors in SL to create the demand for true sailtrim. Technically it is possible. It's not like SL can't do it. It's more like the boatbuilders in SL won't... 

The water is so quiet in the morning

Have you ever been out there in the early morning? It's truly magical. It's so silent. In the summertime the wind is usually lower at night; The sun is generating a lot of wind. So if you get out there early, you get the quiet flat water and the easy winds of the morning... Grab a cup of freshly brewed coffee and the rest of the world matters no more...

The obligatory shot with the Fastnet Rock

That's what the Cafe Del Mar is really great at, but it's not the only thing. There's also a genakker, so racing can be fun. Tactics both upwind and downwind.

Easy, even with the genakker

See? A cruising VO65-er! The difference is that it is really easy to handle. It's push-button sailing. One person can sail this baby while the guests are having a party. Which reminds me, I didn't see a MOB button. That might come in handy in case the party gets too wild and people fall over board.

Complicated

This? It's just a boat I met. It's approcimately the same size as the Cafe Del Mar. It looks so great and so much more complicated. I wonder why the sails are down?

My cup of tea

Nah, gimme this. Modern, fast and easy to handle. It's really close to a dream boat for a weekend  cruise. Not that it wouldn't do for two weeks in the greek islands, but bluewater cruising? I am not so sure about that...

Back at Tradewinds

And if you're not in the mood for sailing, there's always the option of hanging out in the sun-chairs. I'd call it lounging, but I couldn't find the radio; Lounging kinda needs a radiofeed with a nice and loungy touch. Pink Martini would be great. The drink isn't too bad either. I'll ask Dutch for a special version where the coffemaker is swapped with a pink martini dispenser... Cheers!

Night sailing

Few things are as immersive as night sailing. That goes for sailing in RL, but it also goes for SL sailing. There are differences though. Virtual nightsailing it is not as inherently dangerous; Which is good because the buoys, markers and lighthouses in SL only make sense on rare occasions. At night it is even worse. Most virtual lighthouses just send out a white blink. There's usually (if ever) no zones indicating safe waters or anything. It seems these are called sector lights; We call them zone lights.

Night sailing

The lighthouses and the buoys really deserve a separate post. They are closely linked to the missing charts of the virtual oceans. Luckily the virtual GPS - or rather the virtual electronic chart if you like - works great and just like you'd expect. Here's me and Dutch sailing the Cafe Del Mar in the beautiful virtual moonlight. I was in the passenger seat, so I am not quite sure, where we are, but it is somewhere south of Tradewinds.

Coastal

The wind was medium strong, but we were inshore so the waves were not too bad. The wave simulation is not described in the manual, so I cannot comment upon it. It's nice, but I dunno what to expect as BWind boats have no concept of wave simulation. Let's stay with nice. The boat tosses around and you get the impression that there are waves. In any case the Cafe Del Mar seemed to like inshore sailing. I was getting kinda sleepy from all those small rolls and the lovely sounds from the bow wake.

Dutch at the helm

Here's Dutch at the helm of his latest toy. Note that Dutch is so cool he has to wear shades even at night. Anyway. I suspect this is the one boat he likes the most; While I absolutely love the VO65, I gotta admit the Cafe Del Mar is a very nice cruiser. First of all it sails very nicely. It feels like a racer, not like a cruiser. The accelleration is good, and the rudder is very responsive. In fact it feels almost as the VO65, which is no coincidence, since it is sort of a touring version of a VO65.

Relaxation

Ok, it doesn't look much like a VO65, and I'll admit that at first I hated that boathouse he put on top of the deck. However, once you come to terms with the rooftop design, the hull itself has very nice and modern lines. And is it complicated to sail? No, it's supereasy and intuitive. As already mentioned, this boat is easy on the rudder and very lively. Almost like a dinghy. No need for huds and numbercrunching. Sail by feel. I love it. It works great - even on this rather big 75 foot yacht.

Sunup

Here's a shot of those lines. Looks like sunup. We must have changed course. Yes, even in the virtual world the sun comes up in the east. Sunup is coffeetime. Hehe. It's a good thing we're on a Cafe Del Mar. There's loads of stuff inside, and almost all the little gizmoes work. There is also a coffeemaker. Didn't see a watermaker, but then again I didn't look for it either.

Gizmoes inside

Here's a peek at those gizmoes inside. Besides the coffeemaker, there's a shower, a couch and a table plus a huge bed in the bow. And you can sail the boat from that panel right inside the cabing. It's great for foul weather even though this boat clearly is meant for easy sailing and easy onboard living. Yes, you can race the Cafe Del Mar, but no... it's not really meant for that. Still, - note the telltails. They work, but they are positioned somewhat strangely. For instance I cannot see the headsail telltails while steering.

Blue water cruising

This is what the Cafe Del Mar is really meant for. Yes, you wanna click this picture and fullscreen it. It's virtual cruising. Blue water cruising even. At least in SL. It would need more long distance cruising gear to cross the pond in real life, but it sure is big enough. Size matters differently in SL. I sailed around the new Seychelles in SL in this, and for that it is too big. I'd much rather be Fizzin around those islands.

Blake Sea cruising

For Blake Sea cruising it doesn't get much better than this. If you are looking for a cruiser that is more than a daycruiser, the Cafe Del Mar is a step up from earlier times. I know I've been looking for a boat that sorta supported virtual on board living. There are others, but the Cafe Del Mar takes it to the next level. It sails nice, it looks nice and you won't get claustrophobia from staying on board over the weekend. Even if you bring a few friends, there's enough space.

More nightsailing here.
More liveaboard here and here.