Plywood Marina 3.0

Here's an update on Plywood City and Plywood Marina, remember? It all began so well, but then it came to a sudden halt. Now, there's an entirely new Plywood Marina, and this time it looks like they got it right. At least there's almost no Plywood left...

Waterfront

Here's a view along the waterfront inside the Marina. Left to right it's Ana, me, Dutch and Rituals. Those three are the architects, builders, carpenters and painters of this new place, and now it even has a name: Puerto De Malla. Have fun translating that, hehe. (It's only around 90% true according to Ana).

Coffeeshop

The shops are still empty, but the surroundings look pretty much done... and pretty too. I'd love to sit and have an espresso and a chocolate chip cookie in this little corner. There's a beautiful fountain nearby, and its sprinkling sound mixes up with the heavy waves hitting the shore.

Coffeeshop view

Here's the view from the coffeshop. Like I said - it's not quite finished. You can walk most of the stairs, but it's impossible to sit on those chairs. There's no sitting while having the coffee you cannot yet order, teehee. But the view... it's spectacular, wouldn't you agree?

Outside in

From the coffeeshop you have the inside out view. The above shot is from the outside in. Just imagine having a Cup, the whole marina filled with boats and sails and flags and people. Not that it's empty by now. There's Lasers, Nacras, Bandits and on the right side of the shot above there's a handfull of VO65s.

VO65

This one in particular caught my eye. Is it the colour? No. Is it the backstays? No... and btw there aren't any soft shackles. It's the blocks. Check them out... The boat is pink, and the wheels in the blocks are - can you guess it - pink - wooohooo. Just how many boats have that feature? I've never seen it before.

Checkout from Puerto De Malla

So where are we after all? Dunno... Somewhere in the Mediterranean? Modern boats, ancient castle, palms and coffeeshops... Marseille or something. Perhaps even further south. Regardless, it has the look and ambiance of a place I wanna be. Can't wait till the opening ceremony... I mean, there will be an opening ceremony, right?

Plywood City

Here's a followup on Plywood City. These shots are a few days old, but they serve to document the process. I'd expect it looks way better today. This first shot was taken from the churchbell tower.

View from the Churchbell tower

Obviously, buildings begin to look like real buildings. There's all sorts of details still waiting to be 3D-ed. Like that lion there in the front. That tallship in the back has changed colour too, but parts of the Marina is still plywood.

The Marina

Here's a view from the Marina towards the city. It is definately not only taking shape but also taking colour. I like this picture. It's so surrealistic the way it is blending mockup and reality. I'm unable to remember the names of all the people there, but I see Dutch and Ana on the left. Me in the middle.

Trees too

There are trees too. This is magic to the ambience of a city square in RL. It has the same effect in SL. What's needed is maybe a bit of flowers hanging from the windows and stuff. Possibly also some kinda of road-surface different from plywood, but these things take time. It still looks exciting.

Oh... I just heard from Dutch, one of the builders, that Plywood City has been leveled to the ground and will be rebuilt due to "issues".

A new marina

They're building a completely new city with a marina. Dutch, Ana and possibly a few more ppl. I never saw it done like this before, but it's great fun. You can follow the process from start to end. It looks very much like those mockups you'd do in RL. Ever seen a city in plywood?

Welcome to Plywood City

You have now. There's a church in the middle, a marina top right and there's canals, bridges and small coffeeshops along the canals. It's kinda like a cross between Paris, Amsterdam and Venice. It's gonna be very nice, once it is finished.

To make this post just a little bit boatly: Here's a view from the Marina side. See? It's a complete plywood mockup. It even has plywood boats with plywood masts and plywood furling jibs. How about that, hehe.

Plywood Marina

Traditionally plywood has been used by boatbuilders - mostly for the inside structures because it is strong and it doesn't change shape if soaked in water. Some boats also have plywood hulls. The Boheme 10m is one such example, but I guess the most known plywood boat would be the Optimist.

I am sure there's more plywood dingies out there... How about the Mirror? Ahh, and the Olympic Star. It has the shape of a (once) plywood construction. Any others?

See the sights

Here's me in the Plywood City central square. Not much to see yet. No crepe shops, no cafes, no bars, but at least you can see bits of a (plywood) tallship in the back. These pictures are a week old or so. I know that - right now - the city is being textured with "roadpaint", "wallpaint", "roofpaint", "tallship-paint" and much more while trees are being planted and shops decorated.

Real boats in Plywood Marina

In the end it will be a fantastic place with lots of living things. Bridges that open so that boats can pass. Churchbells announcing the sunset. Bikinishops and shoeshops and I suspect there will be a boatshop or two. Here's a small taste of the skyline as seen from another angle in the Marina. Apart from the missing texture the only complaint I can think of is that carrier in the back. It's Ana and me talking boats here. Gosh, I wish I had time to build. It looks like so much fun.

Here's more virtual Marina shots. Here's even more... (and more).

Don't miss Orcsies response post on the matter of plywood.