A brand new boat

Yeah that's right... it's a brand new boat. Just sailed it for the first time in this particular version. For-ish I think.

Whoooosh, swish, swooosh

So what is it? It's not Fizz-based. It's not really a BWind engine... As far as I can see it's not a Tako either...  Then what?

In the green

There's bits and pieces from other boats... the keel looks kinda BWind-ish. Also the boom uses the same colour coding originally introduced by the BWind boats. Or was as Balduin Aabye actually the first to use that?

Looking good

If it reminds me of anything from RL it's a classic 80ies design such as the L23 or thereabouts. Perhaps there's a bit of Drabant 24 in there, or maybe it's a cross of the two.

Check that compass

Yeah! I am a sucker for really nice details. Check out that compass. It's so close to the real thing it's almost too much. I am sure I have seen one just like it very recently.

Yay

Nice foam and waves too; Still things are missing such as windvane and sheets and more details on the rigging, - not to mention the interior where apparently less is more, - and ehm... nothing is everything. Still, interesting work from a (to me) completely new boatbuilder. Looks very promising.

What's for summer

The summerholidays are sneaking up on us. At least for those of us living on the northern half of the earth. Last week the RL weather was very summerish. Now it's back to normal: Cloudy and below 20C. Still, I have high hopes for the rest of the month, cause I am gonna do this:

Ana's beautiful folkboat

That's right... and if the RL weather won't behave, I'll probably be sailing in SL as well; The destinations in SL are so nice. So many marinas to visit and explore...

A marina is popping up

Not only that... there are vast areas of water to explore... It doesn't have to be "nose in the charts" inshore sailing all the time... Still, you could argue that SL misses a really big ocean. I mean... you can cross the Blake in like five minutes. What would it take to make a true ocean? Just water, boats, birds and fish! Can't require that much computing power, can it?

What's on the other side of those islands?

Back in the boat! Are you paying attention? 9.5 knots in a Folkboat is quite alot. I suppose Ana has painted it with some secret sauce... Old secret family recipe of sharkskin soup perhaps :-)

Chillin

Makes me wonder: Would this lil Folkboat outrun my Ushuaia. That's something I gotta test next time I am inworld.

On my way to the great big blue

For now I'll just concentrate on the Folkboat, and here I am on my way from the (relative) safety of inshore sailing to the great big blue... Oh, and I see the telltales. I need to ease out on the jib sheet... Difficult to trim continously while "droning" around with the camera.

Arrived "on the other side"

This is what it looks like when approaching land on the other side... Better get that engine going cause I am not entirely sure where to go. Let's see, where's that knob to lower it... ahh... there!

Vrooummm

This boat has everything, - or close. Perhaps there is one thing missing! My Ushuaia has an espresso-machine. It might be too big for a Folkboat, but in RL I always bring one of those tiny two person italian coffee cookers for the stove. Doesn't take up much space, and the taste is way better than instant coffee. 

Motoring about

Besides, coffebags are easier to store in a boat compared to those glass cans they use for instant... Anyways, it's not yet coffeetime. I need to motor about and fine me a mooring spot, and since I don't have a coffe maker, it's gonna be...

A coke and a smile

A nice chilled coke... ahhh. Doesn't get much better than this. So that's my recipe for great summer holidays. Get a boat and get out there on whichever waters you have nearby; Real or virtual - in that order.

Bon voyage

Whichever type of sailor you are, I wish you fair winds, and if you're a virtual sailor... scroll through my pics here and imagine - if only just for a minute - doing this for real. No need to cross the Atlantic or sail around the globe like Troels Kløvedal did (R.I.P)... It really doesn't need to be fancy or expensive.

Just set sails with friends and meet for drinks and hotdogs in the next marina up coast. Or the nearest exotic island. That's life! Cheers... (and strawberry margaritas)

Rounding old friends

So today the weather was truly nasty. Strong winds, low temperatures and rain. Yuck. I therefor decided to go virtual. Virtual sun is better than no sun at all.

Rounding an old friend

Tradewinds YC was almost empty; There was one guy at the pier. Unknown to me, he gazed at the sea. I think he watched me as I set sail, but I can't tell for certain.

Going east

Obviously, I could have stayed and chatted - possibly spending my time talking, but hey... I was there for the sailing, and SL never lets me down on that. Just check the picture above. It doesn't get more yummy than that.

Kite time

Perhaps a bit more yummy is this: Kite time. I went further south, to check out some smaller islands. People everywhere in the Blake Sea today. Nice.

Wooohooo!

I wonder how long ago it is I discovered this place... Crows Nest. I remember sailing around the Fastnet Rock in Roar Ege. That was in 2011.

Voila la mer et le soleil

See why I love the virtual sailing? It's almost so hot I wanna loose my sweater. And where did I put my shades?

Arriving at the remote isles

Anyway, here are the remote islands. I kinda remember this place as desolate. Today it's quite busy.

Busy day in the south of Blake

I counted ten or eleven boats. One had single girl aboard. She was having a party; Drinks and dance and loud music. Other boats had couples relaxing or having a picnic. Some where walking around the isles, and one boat had a couple in the cockpit - ahem - whoopee. Not very discrete.

Back up north

Me I just dropped the anchor and had a coffee while observing all the activity around me. Just a little surprised as I had expected a quiet time. Not so at all.
Coffee down, anchor up, engine on steaming up north due upwind.

Back at Tradewinds YC

After a while I set sail and headed upwind past spyglass, where I met another old friend; This time not an island. It was my Swedish friend Sven in his Folkboat. It must have been years, so we had some catching up to do before I returned to Tradewinds YC. Good old.

Building charts

There's a great writeup about the practicalities involved in building an accurate (sort of)  world wide navigational chart over on the Steam Community. It's about the charts in SailAway.

Picture from the process

If you dunno what SailAway is, the do yourself a favour and google it. It's truly amazing. Anyway, the creator of SailAway explains the tech stuff so even humans can understand; Perhaps except for the json-stuff, but I'll add a few words here.

Way back in time, they stored data in a way that took up as little space as possible. On top of that it was fast to read, write and computer those data. Then someone invented XML, and the need for harddrive space and CPU power exploded, because XML makes data grow by a factor of ten - plus it takes loads of CPU to decode and transform into computable data. These days it seems JSON is taking over. Not much is different. If they store the oceans of the world in JSON then no wonder it's a huge database.

Read the whole thing here!

SailAway is a huge and fabulous project. I can't really decide if I like it better than SL; But they  don't really compare. SL sailing is so much more than SailAway, and yet in some ways it is so much less. Strawberry or vanilla?  Hmm...

How to build a sailing sim

Very interesting... this interview is about how a single developer built a huge, complex multiuser sailing sim. It's taken two years, and now it's even on Steam. Check out the interview on Gamasutra. Enjoy!

Something makes me feel right at home

The game itself is here: www.sailawaysimulator.com

It's so real...

The landscape and seascape in SL can be truly amazing. It isn't always, but many places around the big oceans are really nice. Palms, blue water, small sandy bays, diving resorts and houses with their feet in the water. Some areas have loads of small islands with houses, heli-platforms and what's nuts. Here's a sample chart from an area like that somewhere in Fruit Islands:

Small islands in the North Sea

The yellow dot is me and my view. These areas are fun to sail in a small boat that sails well at a realistic speed. It takes a lot of navigation, and upwind it's really hard work to avoid spending time on the beach. Some islands allow that... Others have security systems installed and they will teleport you away. Just you. Not your boat. Anyway... the islands are sooo sweet. Here's a closer view:

Islands

This particular island was nice enough to not have an automated alarm system, so here's a shot from the garden. Just so you can get the idea of how exquisite this area is. I mean, who wouldn't wanna stay here for a weekend..?

A view from the garden

Sadly it isn't my island, and it isn't my Ushuaia moored there, but the thing is... it could be. Futhermore: Just off the coast I met Arwyn Silverweb and Cooky Swindlehurst. They were out to dive; Here's a shot of the to of them... Diving in SL is great. In fact it requires an entire series of posts to justify it... This is just off the coast of this "house-sized" island:

Diving in SL is great

The thing is, however nice these areas are, I always thought they were a virtual thing only. Not from the real world. That gave me mixed feelings about spending cash for one. Not any more. They are real. Just have a look at this one from the dreaded real world:

An island exported from SL to RL

Yes, it's real. Complete selfsustained island with pier, helipad, pool and a reef protecting it all. It's called "East Sister Rock Island", and you can see it right here on google maps. It's in the Florida Keys, and it's for sale... Get it right here. There's even a video. The only problem is... it's USD8.5M, which is more than many ppl make in a lifetime. I guess that's why they can sell the islands in SL; They'll set you back only a tiny fraction of a fraction of the real thing... Still, I know now that I need to add the Florida Keys to my bucket list.

Found one that's round and has a pier, a pool, aircon, a reef and all the other stuff except the helipad. I suppose you could set it down on the beach, but it will blast some sand around...

An island that made it from RL to SL

Yes, that's me floating in the pool... dreaming of the Florida Keys... Cheers!

An old friend

I am not always out sailing new boats. A few days ago I saw someone sailing a Tako. That's a rare sight. I suppose u never forget ur first love. The Tako wasn't mine, but...

Downwind, great balance

Seeing the Tako made me browse my memory for elderly boats. The first one that came to mind was the QSM40 from Qyv. One of the absolute first boats with curved sails. Then I came to think of the Bolero; Made by Balduin Aabye. The Bolero took a step into the future with telltails and swim animations. Very nice.

Island hopping

I loved sailing the Leetle Cat II round the North Sea. Very nice little boat. Cute too. It's probably one of Trudeaus cutest. Speaking of cute Qyv has made a few of those... The Q2M is such a sweet lil daycruiser, but the tiniest of the cutest boat still is the Q2mR.

Coastal upwind

What else was there in the old days?? Ahh, the Trudeau-One... Very nice boat. Also has a few anims and poses. Looks great too. Another great little thing was the Racing Laser by Becca. It kinda never really took off. Perhaps it was too easy to sail. Still it was a nice little beginners boat.

Looking for open waters

Then there was the virtual Moth... Oh what fun. Not an entirely finished project, but a fantastic build at the time. The Moth was sort of the opposite of the Cutter from ReneMarine. Another very nice looking boat. Beccas Baby Sloop sorta ended trip down memory lane; It was extremely popular at the time. Still a decent sail for a beginner. However, I want more action, so I launched another old friend and sailed around Pslande with a new friend. So much fun with virtual boats...

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.

Friggin awesome virtual sailing

OMG! This is awesome. It actually looks like real sailing... and check the chart feature. It has live blinking lights and all. Wooohooo.

This could seriously take off and change the sailing simulation situation. If there is such a thing :-D Further: How much more fun will those wintery night navigation school session be? Think about it. Way to go...

New Sailing Simulator

This is so not related to SL, but nevertheless... There's a brand new Sailing Simulator under way, and it does a number of things that we've dreamt of in SL for a long time.

Would you believe this to be the ingame view?

 It's not ready for prime time just yet, but from what can be seen on the website it seems to be ahead of its time and ahead of its competitors...

Check the video, and be carefull if you have seasick tendecies.... If I should descibe it with just one word it would be "Jawdropping". Yes, jawdropping it is... and then Obi-Wan says "Navigate the World!". Amazing...

... and this?

Real world, real wind, real waves..? I wonder if it comes with real currents too... Read all about it on the sailaway.world website.

Let's go for a Fizz

Well Baby, this is it!

Sailing time

The RL racing season has begun; So far it's not very hot but at least it is salty. The virtual sailing isn't exactly salty. Au contraire. I mean, you really can't tell the difference between ocean water and sweet water. Still, there is a certain amount of hard-to-describe saltyness about the virtual sailing.

Tradewinds

After a busy Easter I logged in to check the saltyness of Tradewinds. The first thing that appeared on my screen was a message from an old friend. He'd seen a dress that he thought I absolutely needed to have. I went to the store to see it. It was supersalty, so I bought it right away. It's the one I am wearing on these photos. Thanx Netrom...

Bwind X?

Back to Tradewinds. As you can see the saltyness is intact. There was also a couple of salty "things" at Tradewinds. Unexpected ones even. This here is a BWind of sorts. It looks like an update of that old BWind dinghy, the Spark. Dunno what it sails like, but the version was 2.03 or something. It would seem that Becca is still around. We just don't see her much.

The beautiful Q-2m

Here's another pretty and salty thing: The Q-2m. It's an old boat in SL terms, but rumours has it that Qyv will rebuild it in mesh. If the mesh Q-2m comes with more trimming options, - it's gonna be just about the perfect daycruiser. More on that in another post.

Ahab's boat

Ahab wasn't around this time. However, he left a boat on the west dock. It looks like a Rene-re-build that we've seen before. Not sure if it really is a new version, but the version number indicated it was in prerelease state. Perhaps it's just an old prerelease, but in any case it looks great, rather salty and very wooden. Unlike the boat to the left in the back...

A steel Bandit 50?

I dunno how you all feel about steel boats? Me, I never really understood the concept. It's cold, it's noisy, it's slippery and it's rusty no matter what steel quality they use. Besides, it reminds me of ferries. Not the kind of feeling I want to have when packing for a two week cruise. Still, I suppose it is also (somewhat) of a matter of taste? And it may be better suited for icy waters. In any case here's a Bandit 50; Steel edition. Nice work, but I must admit that to me it looks a little weird. Cheers...

PS: As a salty sidedish there's a new virtual Moth around. Here's a post about the old virtual Moth. And... here's a link to Orcas scriblings about the new virtual Moth.

Luxury cat

Cat people are special. That's common knowledge. Some sailors get bitten and they never return to monohulls. They spend their lives trying to convince all the other "normal" boaters that cats simply are better, faster and more fun. Me? I was never very fond of cats, but this one made my day...

A giant cat

Oh yes it's big. Perhaps not as tall as Craigs J, but the interior... While the J is huge on the outside, this monster cat is a giant on the inside. It's almost unreal. It just begs for someone to move in. Permanently. Let's move a little closer.

What's missing?

First you'll notice the Zodiac; Then there's the huge deck area with sunchairs. There's also a "winter-garden" with lounge chairs and spices growing in pots. If anything is missing it would be a windsurfer or some other small wind-toy. A Flying Fizz would be nice or perhaps a 2.4mR.

The spicy loungy area

It seemed noone was onboard, so I sneaked on board to have a closer look. Gotta try those lounge chairs and they are comfy. I could easily see myself having a nice little cocktail party here, but where's the pool? Oh, we'll come to that. First let's check out the bar...

The bar

You probably guessed it: It has everything. Fancy chairs, ice-cold champagne, loads of bottles with a diversity of liquids with which you can mix pretty much any cocktail or drink. In the back there's the captains chair with myriads of controls and stuff... way too complicated for me. I prefer a tiller and a couple of sheets to pull.

And there's two of these

Let's go find that pool. Here's a shot from the hall in one of the hulls. It doesn't look much like the inside of a sailboat, huh. In the hall there's a couch, stereo and TV plus lots of closets for all sorts of gear. Diving gear included. Note the oxygen-bottles on the "Winter-garden" picture.

Dining area

After a few cocktails or 25 I tend to get hungry. It's a good thing this cat sports a pretty nice kitchen and dining area. I didn't check all the drawers, but I have a feeling that not much is missing here either. It looks like an italian boat. There's a whole italian ham there at the back, and on the shelf there's one of those famous round italian winebottles with "straws" on the outside.

zzzzz

In the other end of this hull there's the master bedroom. Complete with huge closets, Botticellis Venus on the wall and the other wall is one giant internetscreen. Note the clock radio on the night-table, hehe. One of the things I love about sailing is that time is not important. I'd probably throw the clock radio over board.

The other hull

Here's a shot from the hall in the other hull. Not much to see here. It looks kinda like a bathing area. I cannot identify that picture there; Dunno if it is quite as famous as the Botticelli in the master bedroom.

Moving on...

The pool

Ahh, finally: The pool. It's perhaps not the perfect pool for a cocktailparty, but its' nice and loungy nevertheless. There are huge windows with remote controlled blindfolds so you can have privacy, or you can have an ocean view if that's your thing. What you (probably) can't see is the water running from the lion in the back. It gives a soothing sound of running water, and...

The sauna

... ofcourse there's a sauna. What's better after a nice swim in the pool to sit in the sauna and get overheated whilst enjoying a cool drink and a fantastic view out those huge windows. Push a button and blindfolds appear from the top. Just in case you're in the sauna with the love of your life. Too hot for you?

Shower the people

You can always get a cold shower to calm - I mean cool - yourself down. This sorta completes the tour of this totally unreal boat; Probably the best liveaboard vehicle I ever saw in this world. The only downside is that the harbour fee is gonna be rather expensive, but then again boats are made to sail not moor.

Sunset

What's that saying? Boats are safe in the harbour, but they aren't meant to be there. Something like that. Here's me enjoying the sunset from the deck of this giant cat; Have a great weekend, and go sailing... soon. Spring is nearing. Woohoooo!