In the right place?

Dunno how you did it but you did it quite well
So white and so funky - everyone could tell
your music picked me up on more than one occasion
and now that you have left to another location
I just wanna send you a thanx and tiny rhyme
to say I hope you've found the right place at the right time

R.I.P. and thanx for the music... it's been Such a Night!

Kids in Second Life

Uhh, ehrm... Kids in Second Life? It's kind of a controversial subject. I see quite a few discussions on the internet going: Is it allright for grownups to log in to Second Life disguised as a five year old? I really dunno... Never tried that; Probably never will. But the other way around??? That's another story...

Moored at Tradewinds YC

I've been "hiding" in Minecraft for a while now; Why? I have kids and they love it. Recently I've shown Second Life to a six year old, and whoa... She loves it. It's way more real than Minecraft. That was her spontaneous reaction. Yesterday we went sailing... long trip in one of Ana's motorboats. She absolutely loved it. Just navigating, finding interesting islands, looking for marinas before dark, going to sleep in the boat, waking up, having breakfast and then off to new islands... I wonder if the Lindens realize what potential they are missing out on here..? The ten year old said it even better: Who needs the Sims, when there's Second Life?

49er champs woohoo

You go girls...

Jena & Katja

World Champs in 49erFX is definately an achievement to be proud of. Fantastic sailing. A million congrats...

Dear Sailing Gods

Dear Sailing Gods!

I hope you enjoy sunny weather, a fair breeze and your favorite coctail onboard your no doubt luxurious leisure yachts up there or where ever you are. I try to imagine a modified Wally 1001 with an intergallactic Volvo Penta S-drive or something, but that's probably not even close.

Down here, we're not that lucky. In RL we've now seen 6 or 7 consecutive weeks with bad wind, too much rain and day temperatures between 13 and 19 degrees Celcius. One night in july the temperature went down to 8C. That's like february temperatures. Rainy, unstable and windy weather all summer! What is going on? Where's that global heating?

Writing a complaint

So instead of sailing in RL and praising the good weather and the good Sailing Gods, I now find myself lying here on my virtual boat writing a complaint. How's that? I mean really? Are you trying to force me off the real live ocean and into the virtual counterpart?

Finally sunshine

Well, I got news for you guys up there. Real sailing is in fact way better than virtual sailing, but you need to fix the weather. Seriously. People here on earth will turn away from both real sailing and real Sailing Gods; Be adviced that in virtual sailing there are virtual Sailing Gods. Obviously.

Perhaps I just need to unwind a bit

Oh no, this is not a threat. I'd never dare to threaten you guys. I am just observing. Yes Sir! That's what I do. In case you need help with the fixing let me just tell you this: My friend Craig was so good as to show me an article about the sun cooling down. Our sun. For the next 300 years or so. That's no fun. No, I didn't bother finding that link. It was depressing enough to read it once. You'll need to google it. I suppose you have internet. After you've googled it then please please pretty please... fix it.

Checkout from Noodle aboard Unwind, currently anchored in Dex, SL.

The Trump Issue

Yesterday I received a rather disturbing message from Tradewinds YC in SL. It read: "You've been evicted from the group Tradewinds Yacht Club". Or something. I went "huh!". I knew I hadn't been online much lately, so it couldn't be something I'd done. Today I logged in to see what's going on, and whoa... I found TYC completely littered with signs with all sorts of statements. Check this out:

Signs at TYC...

My first thought was that this was an odd type of griefing. but then I remembered the message. It was actually sent by Tasha herself; Very strange. So all this would be Tasha's idea of a bright lit future for Tradewinds YC? Hmmm. I wandered on and found this:

Another sign at TYC

What's this about? Clearly, someone squeezed way too much lemon in Tasha's tea. Over by the boatshed I found a clickable thingy that gave me a clue. Sort of. It was a message from Tasha explaining - or rather outlining - some recent changes in the TYC Charter. Hmm. Interesting. I walked on and found more signs and posters. How about this one:

And another one...

Yup. She's mad. Not that she's gone mad. More like really angry. Still, the explaining text I found didn't quite point at one particular event or person. It just stated stuff about fairness, equality of races and sexes plus something on global heating. Common sense stuff to most people I'd say, so wtf?? This next banner leaves no doubt what this is about.

And another...

So it is the Trump Issue. I had a feeling it could be that, but I never thought it would move into SL like this. I mean, I've known Tasha for many years, and I have never seen her perform an outburst like this one. The Tasha I know is sweet, sensible and intelligent. What gives...

And another...

Ok, I'll admit that I too am a bit worried by Trumps doings so far. In fact I believe that more than half the world watched in disbelief as he took office. Those tweets during the campaign wasn't just hot steam escaping. However, it's not all bad. I kinda get the idea that everything shouldn't be made in China. Not that I hate the Chinese people or anything. I don't. It just doesn't make sense to produce everything in one place and send it half way across the planet. Besides, it's unbalanced. Also, it seems kinda fair that Europe should do their part of protecting... uhm... Europe. But that's about all there is to like. I totally get the message on the above sign.

And another...

Turns out there is a new TYC group for those able to symphasize with the signs at TYC. I signed up. Thank you Tasha for letting us know that not all Americans are Trumpeteers. We were kinda worried. We still are, but at least now we know that we're not alone.

So what's your thoughts? Is Trump good or bad, or is he somewhere inbetween?

And the British... or should I narrow it down to the English... Where are they in all this? So busy leaving EU that they'll be the next star in the US flag? I sincerely hope not. 

Paul is gone

Sad times. Paul Elvstrøm has left us for good, and he is now cruising elsewhere. Can't believe it's true. Ever since I was a little kid splashing around in my Opti, Paul Elvstrøm was the master of the sport, the legend of all times, the super-sailor every kid wanted to meet...

Paul as most of us remember him

Despite his busy schedule Paul took time to teach us kids about trim and tactics. We might not have picked it all up; I mean, how much tactics and theory can a 10 year old brain absorb? What I do remember though is his preaching of keen awareness in everything you do. Leave nothing to chance...

Paul won four Olympic golds in succession from 1948 to 1960 plus 13 world championships in 8 different boat classes. The list goes on and on... as he was in the Olympics eight times. The most recent one was in 1988, aged 60, when he sailed the Tornado with his daughter, Trine.

A much younger Paul

Paul took sailboat racing to a whole new level in so many ways. He trained hard - physically - even during winter. He invented the bailer, and he was the first to put hiking straps in his boat enabling him to keep the boat levelled and sail faster in stronger winds. Apart from that he was also able to keep his head out of the boat, - meaning... finding the fastest path around the course.

A true legend has left us, but legends never really die... R.I.P. and see you on the other side, eventually.

Is that so?

I read other blogs... Some of my favourites are in my blogroll further down the page. They are - for the most part - salty in one way or another. Plus they either make me think or smile - or both. Yesterday I found this story on John Vigors Blog.

A quiet place to sit and think

That particular post made me smile a bit... Funny how ppl think sailors are different, but we are. The ocean does something to us. Now, I dunno John, but he (also) seems to have a bit of sailing experience; There's at least a handful of posts over there that makes me think a bit... I like that. Great weekend readings...

Silverrudder, live

Today is Silverrudder day... 400 boats, singlehand racing around the island of Fyn. Probably the worlds largest singlehand race - in my back yard.

Read all about it on the Silverrudder website. Here's a link to the livestream. It's also tracked on tractrac.

So crazy, so sad...

Let's go crazy no more

OMG... Prince has been called home? That's bad news fo us mere humans. I suppose the party upstairs just got better.

Grab a beer and shed a tear. R.I.P.

Happiness

Happiness?

Can't beat the real thing...

Solidaire

Make it look like an accident!

This is just sooo funny...

Accident?

Disclaimer: This is not a political blog. I have very little knowledge of the socalled American democracy. I have even less knowledge of a certain Mr. Trump. Actually I am wondering why this is funny, but I just can't stop laughing... Help!

Amazing brass band

Wooohooo! Saw these dudes in Copenhagen last summer. Just realised they are all over the net. Amazing...

They killed her!

They killed her and chopped her into bits and pieces! It cannot have been an easy call.

See the pictures and the story here. And so the circle of life goes on... eventually the scrap may turn into another beautiful boat. Someday...

And now onto something more uplifting: I discovered a new sailing blog... New to me at least. Love it.

Cinderella IV

I saw an amazing yacht in Copenhagen - just opposite of the Operahouse. Didn't have time to go over there and check it out, but... social medias confirmed it was the Cinderella IV.

Here's a few details. Ahh. Just what we need this summer. Retrofitted with a fireplace. Obviously. That category of boat is rarely seen in Copenhagen waters. That goes for the virtual waters of SL too. So, boat builders of SL, - here's a bit of inspiration.

Too much leisure boat? Not hard core enough for ya? Never mind the VO65s. They may "rock", but try this: LaSolitaire. That's for hard core sailing geeks!

Turn up the heat please

After the coldest may I have ever experienced... Please, dear powers that may be: Turn up the heat. I really need some genuine sunny sailing weather. Kinda like this:

Of course the virtual sun is always shining, - provided I click the right buttons. I can almost - almost - find a spot in SL that looks and sounds kinda like this utube thing. But I cannot feel the waves and the wind, and the sound just never get as diverse. It just isn't enough in the long run.

Provence

Nah. Nothing beats real wind, real salt stains and real waves... Sometimes I am thinking, why am I not living in Provence? Lavendar, Moules mariniéres, Pastis, la mer et la soleil. Oh and that very special rose wine they make there... accompanied by a salad chevre chaud... Add to that skiing withing a two hour drive. I am not meant to be in this cold viking land.

Blogging and stuff

To blog or not to blog... I dunno which is more fun: Blogging or playing SL. They are different things yet closely coupled. At least to me. These past few months I haven't had much time to play. Life! First Life that is... I am sure you all know what it is like. Sometimes it is just work, work, work. Luckily it can also be such an immersive experience that there is no time for other immersive experiences. Such as Second Life.

Blogging from Second Life

To be honest there are also times when I need a vacation. That goes for my Second Life too. I know there are other SLers that take time off the grid. Good thing that the real sailing season has started. That always restores balance in my universe. So here's me blogging again and I even went sailing. Tried out Anas International Folksboat. Nice lil thing... Different but nice. More on that soon. Oh, and happy International Workers Day. I will celebrate by sitting on my boat sipping red wine while eating nachos with cheese.
Cheers ;-)

What is real water

Some people are busy saying SL water isn't real water. Of course they're right, but what they really mean is that SL water doesn't look like real water as there are no waves. Not neccesarily so. Here's a sip from the virtual waters east of the Tradewinds coast:

Virtual water

And here's a shot from RL. It was taken yesterday. Driving home from work when it suddenly occured to me that my RL water did in fact look quite a bit like the virtual water of SL. Flat an with very regular  small waves with a very distinct direction.

Real water

So it's different. Yes, but it's not that different. Really. The picture above is also looking east off the coast of Copenhagen. The wind is around 5-6 meters per second from west, and those teeny waves are just breaking because they're washing up on the beach. Obviously - in RL - we'd have bigger waves if the wind is from east, but that's kinda rare...

It's still there

Just checking... Yes, SL is still there and TYC still exists. Pheew. Not that I thought otherwise.

Look! It's still there...

Would be fun to go Laser racing, but hey... I just did... with real water, hehe. It's summer! My computer is asleep in the drawer along with wintery clothes.

Ahoy there!

Well, almost asleep. Couldn't resist a little trip round the race course. Just fifteen minutes round the local waves and all sorts of boats pop up.

Hey look... the new Q2m!

There was a Becca Sloop Light and a Becca Sloop sailing around TYC. South of Dex I saw a Loonetta and the new Q2m - which I have yet to try. Someone passed me in a Cotton Blossom, and I also saw a Trudeau of sorts; One of the newer ones. Oh, and then I visited Craigs kitchen... Who said SL is a lonely experience with no users? Not so. Get a boat and you meet all sorts of people.