Too dark to see

Too dark to see - too dark to sail. Yeah well, - that's life in Scandinavia. However, when it's dark it is easier to see the stars. First time in many months I log on and right in front of me I see interesting stuff...

Interesting stuff

It's a new boat. Oldie but goodie, hehe. I was beginning to wonder if the virtual boatbuilders had given up on development, but no... It is of course made by Dutch of VO65 and Nacra fame.

Details

This time it's the Olympic Star Class! I haven't sailed her yet, but I sincerely hope to do so, while my RL sailing is on pause for the winter. This one is owned by Tasha, and I just might get lucky with her inviting me for a test-sail. OMG there are so many delicious details on this boat it's almost boatylicious.

Windex

And finally someone made a decent Windex. I've been bugging more than a handful boatbuilders about that for the past eight or so years. Dutch finaly made one. Thank you. Obviously Tasha needs help setting the boat up, as the Windex trimflaps seem to be turned some 210 degrees from normal, but hey... That's easy. No need to climb... in SL we can just fly up there and fix it. More interesting stuff: Will the mast be able to move forward on a downwind? It appears so... but it remains to be seen. More on this pretty soon... I hope.

Night Sailing with the Ushuaia

I love night sailing. It is different from day sailing in so many ways. Sailing in the dark does something, - plays with your mind, - sharpens all senses. You pick up sea-scents that you'd never notice at day time. You hear sounds that seem to be there only at night. You feel more... and you have to, cause you can't see a thing. It's kinda like switching from brain-control to heart-control...

Sailing into the dark

So I thought I'd take my new and shiny Ushuaia for a trip in the dark. Just to get to know her... See how she compares to both old and newer favourites. See if I can "feel the force". I was in for a nice surprise. Not that she's easier to sail in the dark, but she does sail pretty well just by the feeling. No staring at screens. No weird hiccups. Everything works as you'd expect from a real boat, and that's what I like. Let's call it "natural sailing".

Light ahead!

The night sailing experience itself in SL is pretty good. I mean, it is dark and there are differents sounds everywhere. The sea-scents we'll have to do without. For now. However, there are plenty of lights to sail by. Nav buoy lights. There are quite a few lighthouses too - spread all over the grid. A little too many of these are really just there for decoration. They look nice, but they don't really serve a purpose.

180

This one here is the all time classic Sharp-Tooth-Isle, which I have rounded in more virtual boats that I care to count. The Viking Long Boat Roar Ege being one of them. As you can see - it's quite dark here; The moon was hiding behind clouds, but a few nautical  miles down the road I had a beautiful moonlit night.

Moonshadows

That turned out to be very useful (the moonlight) as I went inshore through a couple of small islands with no nav buoys at all. Very interesting. Unmarked reefs to the east, big island to the west. Boats, piers and tiny islands inbetween. Way too busy to take pictures. Especially as I was going upwind and the Ushuaia has quite an aggressive weather helm. Not a complaint! Just taking a note. I suppose the hull shape would give a weather helm in RL too. It's pretty much a scaled down version of the VO65, and that has weather helm. I'd be happy to be able to trim some of this away though.

Open sea again

As mentioned the virtual seas are full of meaningless lighthouses, whereas there is (still) a lack of meaningfull nav buoys. Some areas are better than others. The North Sea has a few correct buoys indicating shallow waters and stuff. The Blake sea is a bit too littered with stuff that lights up for no apparent reason. Perhaps it is time to tidy up and possibly upgrade, Mr. Blake? For instance, there's a map giver that sends out more light than the entire pool of nav buoys in that same area. Pretty ugly actually. Dunno why it has to be so shiny... 

Two nav buoys

Here are two nav buoys. Click the image to them better. There's really no reason why they are just there, but they do look nice. The white one resembles a traffic separation thingy. It sits north of an island!!? Maybe to split up traffic on either side? The red one is just - ehm - there. Well, and you can't sail much east of it. So maybe it's just the wrong buoy at the right place?? Or - it is really a red - marking the portside of a path..? Could be...

Another two

Here's another two... The blinking red is just a pointer of sorts. The triangular one on the right is a startline buoy - not lit at night. Luckily it is a balloon type of buoy so no damage is done if you hit it. By the way, - note how much my boat heels over. The Ushuaia and the VO65ers are meant to be sailed like this. It's in their DNA... or at least in their hull-design. It isn't meant to be sailed flat. It's meant to go max speed while floating on it's edge. A family boat? Maybe, but the kids legos will pretty much fly around in the cabin as if in outer space.

Land ahead!

Here's the small island east of Tradewinds YC. It's a nice view, but the island is completely unmarked. I suppose there is no need for that as there are no reefs surrounding it, but a tiny flash on a stick would have added just a tad of finishing touch. On a dark stormy night that piece of rock would have been as invisible as the now famous reef in the Indian Ocean. Incidentally, I recently heard from one of the danish sailors that it was in fact pitch dark when they hit it.

Beautiful night

If only the moon had been out they'd have seen it - well not the reef but the island right behind it. Moonlight can be rather strong out there. When the moon is the only source of light - at all - it can pretty much light it all up. Check out this shot, which I kinda like. Zoom in and note the faint yellow light in the back. It's actually marking shallow waters, so there's one meaningful buoy. Except it should have been a South marker. Oh, I wish we had better marks and better charts... 

Going home

... and here's another one... The Tradewinds Lighthouse overlooks 270 degrees of open water. It's well placed there. It could have been a sector light. Being green in the 270 waterish directions and red in the last 90. I suppose Tasha want to keep it as close to the real thing; The smaller red light is actually on the other side marking the entrance to the west side marina. Could be sectored as well. Well, better get back at my mooring spot in time for a morning coffee.

Morning

Ahh... I just love the morning at Tradewinds; It only gets better with a freshly squeezed espresso. Yummy. So how was it then..? I love it. The boat seems fast and responsive, and it doesn't act up in unspected ways. It's really smooth on a downwind, whereas upwind requires a bit more attention due to the weather helm. Perhaps cruisers will find it a bit tedious. I almost did, but then again a boat like this would rarely sail on a straight line by itself. The trimming? Supereasy. There are lamps indicating trim and there are luffing sounds and telltails. Doesn't get much better. Well, perhaps there should be an automated fender function. I just realize that I sailed around with fenders out. Duuuh. And there are no decent nav lights. The light command turns on engine light plus starboard and port side, but there's no rear light. Unsuited for night sailing! Anyways, I had a great time sailing the Ushuaia. Will take her out for a dayspin anytime soon... Unless 1st Life calls for some real sailing. 26C and 5 meters from east. Sounds like summer... Cheers...

A new dawn?

Ok so maybe the Ushuaia doesn't excactly represent a new dawn, but still... it kinda dragged me back in to SL after a longer "vacation". It appears to be a very interesting boat. Not only does she sail well. She looks good too, and on top of that there's like a hundred fancy animations and poses.

Dawn at Tradewinds

All in all there's lots to explore and figure on and in this boat. I like it so far. It is definately one of the most complete packages I've seen in SL. Makes me feel so "Gone sailing". Better make some plans for a summercruise.

Boat-talk

A new sailor, Austeen, popped up nearby. In picture one he sits in his Nemo in the back. He yelled hi, so I invited him over for a coffee. Too early for beer at sunrise. We had a nice non-alcoholic boat talk. Anyway, the Ushuaia comes complete even with a built-in espresso machine. I could definately live with that... in RL. Check the real thing too... it's called ELAN S5. Espresso machine not included... Cheers, and have a great weekend.

More friggin awesome sailing

Decided to pop in and have a look at "things" at TradewindsYC. It was kinda quiet. I suppose Ahab just cleansed it good after the latest boatshow. One thing was interesting though... this:

Uh, oh... a modern boat

This one's new to me; Not that I am surprised to find new stuff after being away almost since Christmas. It's not just new in SL. It is also new in RL. It is a very modern boat. Looks like a racer but it is big enough to provide that fabeled mega-trailer interior as well...

That's what we call a cruiser/racer. Many attempts have been made to fuse these two into one. Many of these attempts compromise too much and end up being neither. This here is probably one of the best blends available right now. It's gonna be interesting to see if it sticks, or if people deem it too lively for family-cruising.

What's a RM30 anyway

So what is it, - the RM30?? It's a supercool & comfortable cruiser with a few design elements taken from recently designed racers; While she may not be a 100% racer, this means she is a fun and lively boat with modern sailing characteristics. Let's have a look...

Yay!

The hull is - as mentioned - quite modern. Not superwide, not superclassic either but big enough to provide a spacious interior. And it is truly AMAZING what they can stuff into a 30-footer these days. Two separate double cabins, a complete bathroom - yes there is a shower - plus a galley that's close to a real kitchen. Not just two of those burners. On top of that, there's what landlubbers would call a small office... the navigation table.

The inside is very close 

Rene has put a laptop there. Hmm... I think one of the new Dell Chromebooks are rugged and meet military specs. Sounds like the right thing to put in a boat. Except there's probably not a fiber connection available :-D. Whatever! Renes boats has always had a nice interior. This time I think she takes a step up. Not only does it look good; It looks quite a lot like the real thing. Check this out:

to the real thing, the First 30

Those photographers in RL alwys cheat and use widelenses and what nuts. That way they can make a 25 footer appear as spacious as a 90sqrm flat. Kinda silly, cause when you finally arrive at the boatshop and you cram the family into the "spacious" boat... it's a littlebit of a downer. BTW, I see that Rene forgot to add speakers in the cabin. Surely this will come as an addon. The platin edition.

Rene is always in pink

Back to the sailing... On the outside she looks very much like the real thing too... You can sit almost anywhere, and she is easy to handle. Sailing her fast is another thing, but anycone can take her for a spin. I have a feeling she will plane on a downwind course; Provided ofcourse there is enough wind. Even in foul weather she handles well... you can reef pretty much as you like as both the main and the jib are furling.

Upwind is good too

So... upwind is a breeze no matter what that weathergirl said. There's a couple of choises to make regarding wind, but ofcourse she comes with full WWC support; That means she is interesting to sail because the wind has variations in direction and speed; It also means she is interesting to race because there are local variations... I'll get back to the windchoices in a later post, once I've had a few miles with the latest version.

Trimming

Trimming is a blast. Rene has put a supernice and supervisible "Windex" atop the mast. Yes, it can easily be seen from the cockpit. If you know your windangles this allows you to trim pretty good. Telltales gives a more precise steering aid, but they're mostly used whilst racing knife in teeth. I'll get back to the trimming also once I have a few more miles under the keel in my RM30.

Sharp-Tooth-Island 

For now I'll just say, she is supereasy to sail. She is built to cruise and explore, and that's what I'll do. Here's the obligatory shot with "Sharp-Tooth-Island" in the back. I expect to round that island quite a few times; Maybe we can even organize a club RM30 cruise. That would be fun... or a race round... anyone?

Me enjoying the ride

Well, that's about it for today... There are som many well built boats out there today; Many of them do not compare, as the boatbuilders tend to choose a niche fro themselves. This makes it hard to tell which is best. There's no one size fits all, but ReneMarines RM30 surely looks nice and sails well; I'd want one for my next holiday - in RL too.

A New Dream Boat

I think I have a new dreamboat... well, I have many dreamboats, but this one is new on the list. So to Kain, here it is:

Brøker 28

It is (ofcourse) Danish Design, and it is called Brøker 28. Those of us who know the boat "Buksesnedkeren", we also know a wooden Brøker 28 as Underbuksen. (Ok, I'll translate: Buksesnedkeren was a Danish clothing company, and the name means "Pant-maker". The Brøker 28 is smaller but in some respects similar, so people call it Underbuksen. It means undies ;-)

Exciting times

It is exciting times. While I have been busy living my RL, the boat builders in SL have been busy building new boats. A quick walk around at Tradewinds confirms this. There are at least four very different animals there. First there is the superfresh Volkboat; Here's a freshly squeezed lemon edition:

A freshly squeezed Volkboat, lemon edition

Right next to the Volkboat is the next delicious dish served from Craigs Kitchen. It is the Cirya; A beautifully crafted and well sailing classic with loads of details, - and... and quite possibly even with an interior. That's a new thing for Ktaba boats:

The beautiful Cirya from Craigs Kitchen

Right opposite the Cirya there's another new and very modern boat: The supercool RM 30 from ReneMarine. This is no oldtimer. Rather it is a supermodern cruiser with double rudders and an extreem torpedo keel; Sails like a dream, and there's the usual high quality interior of RM boats.

The supercool RM30. I want one for my RL holidays

And finally the Shields project. This was not on display, so I had to go and get me one. It's a - Oh I dunno what it is, but it looks great; Kinda like a cross between an Soling and Manuls Ten. Or sumding. In any case it's a yummy day cruiser, and I look forward to loads of easy cruising with her. Apparently she is raced quite actively too, so get one if u wanna race. The price cannot be beaten as she is free.

Update: Thanx to ZZ I now know what a Shields is. It is an updated IOD mostly seen in the US.  I certainly never saw a Shields in Europe. In case you dunno what an IOD is, here's a few links to IODs already found in SL: T-One, Ktaba 20 and the Bolero. ZZ was kind enough t o provide a link about the Shields in her comment. I'll repeat the link here. Thanx, again ZZ.

The yummy daycruiser, the Shields

On top of these four boats, I have at least 10 other boats waiting to be tested in my inventory. Gosh. It is almost stressing me out. Nah... just kidding. It's gonna be loads of fun. Just need to find some more playing time. Oh, well... and bad weather. Otherwise I'll be out playing with real boats, getting soaked in real waves. Till next time...

Folkebåd, Folkboat

Sadly, I don't have much time for virtual sailing these days. However, there's no regrets as first life sailing takes precedence. Still... there are things in SL worth noticing. One of these things is Anas latest... the Folkboat. It seems to be called Folkboat out there in the english speaking parts of the world. The danish name really is the same as VolksWagon where wagon replaced with boat, so I tend to call it the Volksboat... not that it is a german boat in any way...

Anas Folkboat

Here it is. She is very pretty and very true to the original RL version. This is here is me and Ana having a boat talk a few days before the launch. It's Anas feet sticking up.

Details

There are loads of details. At a certain point we may have been concerned about the mesh-graphics, but now... There's no way we'd do without it. It has enabled Ana, Dutch, Rene, Craig, Qyv, Trudeau, Nomad, Burt, Victor and all the other boatbuilders to take their boats to another level of realism. At least on the visual side.

Instruments too

See! I can't remember ever seeing such a vast array of screens in a Folkboat cockpit. Ever. But never mind. The sailing is so interesting and challenging you won't have time to read those numbers anyway. A glance from time to time? Maybe... 

Ana explaining bits and pieces

What does that mean? I thought the Folkboat was easy to sail. Well, it is... sort of. It is just that Ana wanted something new, extraordinary and quite lifelike - as in RL like, so she kinda changed the way things work a bit. It is more RL and less SL like... you see, the two sails will need to be trimmed separately, whereas most SL boats do trim all sails as one. This is far more involving than you'd think, and I'll get back to that when I find a rainy day to go virtual sailing.

Volkboat II

SL never sleeps. While I've been busy with RL, Ana has been busy building something really cool. Check it out:

Ana's Volkboat

It's a pretty decent piece of work, and it is only version 0.8 or something. This is a little bit exciting. Not only does it look like a very real boat, it will also come with a superinteresting sailing engine, but let's get back to that in a future post...

Shape nailed 

For now I'll just be amazed by the accuratesse of the build. This time it is not the artists impression of a boat. It is a close digital replica. I think Ana nailed the shape pretty good here.

Wish list

Christmas is far away but still... Santa (and Ana too ;-) , this is on my wishlist. Definately. I can't wait to sail this around the northern islands - maybe even dock in Nyhavn and have a virtual beer. Woohoo... it's just like RL, hihihi.

PS: That other Folkboat I saw is here...

Bandit 55

Ahab took me sailing the other day. It was a nice quiet sail in his new Bandit 55. Made me think back a bit. It's the boat. It looks so very safe and seaworthy, but it also looks like something someone sent forward in time from somewhere in the 70-ies. And then there's the skipper. I mean who smokes a pipe nowadays. Uncles maybe? Or younger people but then it's "funny tobacco". I guess, since the boat is kinda 70-ish the pipe, the hat and probably also Ahab all fit in nicely, no?

Ahab, me and the Bandit 55

We hoisted the sails, and off we went. I was curious about all those instruments, but Ahab said he didn't need them. Too much stuff to keep track of or something. I like that. Sailing by intruments isn't really my thing either. I prefer to be able to feel the boat. However, he assured me they all work.

Up and away

The Bandit 55 sails really well. Too well probably. Not only does she look great, but the sailing sounds are nice too. However, it is the movements that makes the difference. Perhaps she moves a bit too much for a 55 footer. This type og boat really tend to feel heavy and slow. Not this one. It's definately alive. The speed is rather good too. Too good to be true actually. Yesterday, in a multiclass race, I was not only overtaken but overrun by one of these. Mind you, I was planing downwind in a Flying Fizz, which is kinda like a 14 footer from RL. Normally, You'd need a Moth to outrun one of those.

Looks great

I suppose the somewhat unreal sailing characteristics are good. It makes this boat fun to sail, whereas in RL it would be rather dull. As in booooring. So, it looks great, and it's fun to sail. Check out the picture above. Can you tell the difference between a real boat and this one? Someone mentioned that it floats a bit high on the water, but hey... all those modern thirty-something cruisers do that. How else could they fit standing height, bathroom and three separate cabins in there? On the picture above, we could be heading for a sailing holiday of two weeks around Gothenburg. This boat would be perfect for that, and I really do think it will compete with the Loonetta about those cruisers in SL.

Details, details, details...

While Ahab was busy sailing, I had a look around down below. The interior has loads of details, and they all make you feel warm and fuzzy. I noted this clock here... it was actually ticking, but it wasn't just making a silly sound. Oh no. It actually displayed the current time. So I looked around for other details and I immediately found one, that didn't work... And here's a little quiz...

The pots and pans quiz

Which of these pots and pans are hanging correctly? We've seen stuff actually hang vertically on other boats. There is something on the M24, but interiorwise I think ReneMarines Schockker is the only boat I've seen with actual "physics" applied to the lamp hanging in the cabin. These pots and pans were glued to the boat. Not a big deal, but after seeing the working clock I'll admit I was disappointed by this. The galley itself is very nice: I've seen apartments with kitchens smaller than that.

More details

There are other fine details on the Bandit55. Here's a photo of the top of the mast. It's really beginning to look like a boat up here. There's VHF antenna, windmeter, windex with trimflaps, navigation lights too... It looks like an anchor light, but we didn't turn it on, so I wouldn't know what colour(s) it has. With all these details, it's a bit strange there isn't a wind direction giver attached to the windmeter. 

Furling

Ofcourse the Bandit comes with a furling sails. The main folds into the boom, so not much to see there. Here's a shot of the jib furler. Looks pretty good, but now that we're looking at the bow: Where's the anchor? OMG! There's no anchor. A boat like this would have an anchor and a button. Two buttons. One for down and one for up. Isn't that what this boat is all about? Going somewhere, find that hidden blue lagoon and then having lunch with friends... maybe a quick dive, followed by a nap and then back home?

Back home

Back home we went. Ahab was eager to show off his maneuvering as the Bandit can be sailed with just one sail up. That's a really nice and fun feature, but no-one in his right mind would sail by wind while maneuvering a 55 footer like this in the marina. Better fire up those 55HP hidden in the belly of the beast and get moored safe and sound. And where's the bow thruster now that we're at it?

Made it

Anyway. We made it. Ahab knows his boat, and we arrived at the pier using just the jib. At just the right time he furled it back in and we stopped right off the pier. Very nice. I like this boat. It's a nice build. It kinda makes you want to stay onboard forever. It has that strange cozyness that makes u feel at home. So maybe it sails a little bit too good for it's size and weight, but isn't that just what we all seek in RL? That great and impossible compromise of a boat that sails great, yet is comfortable enough to go long distance cruising?

For casual sailing in SL this boat seems like the perfect choise, - provided ofcourse that you can accept the oldtimerish image that comes with it... There are only a few other boats providing this level of sailing and liveaboard feeling...

The Ten revisited

Here's a few shots of that new Ten. I talked to Manul, the builder, and he told me there are  a few small adjustments besides the updated sailing engine. If these changes are cosmetic they sure are hard to see. I am not even sure which on is which:

An old and a new Ten

The boat is still extremely pretty under sail, as these next few pictures clearly show. First there's the helicopter view made with no helicopter...

Pretty

Then there's the sideview made with no side, - ehm... no zodiac. SL is amaing! It's like having a gopro on an endless stick.

Neat

The sailing is nice and it is much more interesting than the first edition. Mind you, this is a Bwind 2.x, whereas the first Ten was a... was it a 1.37 or so? Dunno. I never really sailed the first Ten.

No sheets?

There are no sheets, so if you're a sucker for sheets this will surely break your bubble. Can you sail on and not be distracted by the missing sheets, then the Ten is a beautiful cruiser. No doubts. Bear in mind the Ten was originally designed back when almost no boats had sheets...

Ten for two and two for...

Victor joined me as I sailed around the Blake Sea. So here's the obligatory shot with the race rock in the back. We had a nice lil talk about boats and sailing engines. The Ten and the Bwind 2.x is in fact updated as you can see in the next shot...

Luffing sails

See? Luffing sails! So it's actually quite sailable without using a hud. Smooth sailing is what the Ten does best. We cruised around for a while - just enjoying the boat...

Lobsters anyone?

Almost stopped for a lobster, but we decided to check out the boat just a bit more. Turns out it has more tricks... The jib can be winged, which is really nice on a cruise where you sometimes just wanna stay on course...

Wing

All in all this is a much improved version of the Ten. It is super easy to sail, super nice looking and it's just made for smooth sailing with a friend. Definately worth a try if you're into cruising.