Two years gone

So I totally forgot my blogoversary. This guy reminded me by email. In fact he almost complained about it; Really sorry. Here's a late blogoversary post then, - with the requested view in the rear mirror. However, I'll start with the cake. Two years of blogging from sailing in SL calls for cake.

Gotta love that cake

So what's happened? Despite the sad fact that we've lost the Sailing Academy, virtual sailing seems to be in pretty good shape. The technical problems with sim crossings in SL seem to be under control. Mesh begins to look good. It's geeky, but mesh allows for much more detailed boats; New boats have been introduced by well known boatbuilders such as the Melges 24 from Qyv, the Zeeschouw from Rene, the Oceanic from Motor, the Spark from Becca, the 2.4mR from Qyv, Victors Dragon and let's not forget Nomads Nemo III.

The Ktaba 20

Trudeau Yachts has also released a couple of boats. I haven't sailed any of them, but they can be seen on the Trudeau site. There are probably even more new boats out there. Some of these might be built on Beccas BWind sailing engine, which was has launched in a much improved version 2.0. Sadly, we've also lost a few builders. Balduin Aabye, builder of the Bolero, left us. So did Corry Kamichi, builder of Wildwind boats, though it seems she is back again.

The VO65

Some of the most interesting new boats are probably Craig Ktaba's Ktaba 20, and Dutch Kain's VO70 and VO65, and why? The VO65 and the VO70 are simply majestic builds, and despite their size they actually sail pretty well. The Ktaba 20 is differently classy, but she sails so nice, and the Ktaba 20 has - as one of the very few boats in SL - sheets on both the main and the jib.

My absolute favourite still, the Flying Fizz

In general, most boats - if not all - are still playing catchup with the now three year old Flying Fizz. Pretty amazing really. If you clicked the link and read about the Fizz, you'll see it is a pretty complete  package. Not entirely perfect though; There's no bailers, and you cannot change the mast rake. So, there is room for improvements; I have a wishlist on the page called real sailing. I'll send it to Santa.

Racing the Q2m

So, do I have a favourite post of the year? I absolutely do. The picture above is from that post, and it is called Q2m feel good race. That post shows not only the beautiful Q2m. It also shows really good virtual racing. However, my favourites aren't everybodies favourites. The three most popular post this last year has been a friend lost, sailing is sailing and at the beach. Pretty different posts. Not sure what I can learn from that, except it is impossible to know what will become popular posts. Which is good, because then I can just go on posting without chasing "hit posts". BTW: Requests are welcome. Can't promise anything, though.

Thinking about the future

The future? I dunno, - who knows really? I have a feeling, a good feeling, that SL Sailing will evolve into an even better simulation; There will probably be even better wind systems, more advanced sailboats and sail engines that are easier to use, and somewhere along the road these three things will form a much more realistic sailing experience. It all sounds very exciting, and I really cannot wait to see it all.

The blogging? I absolutely love it. It has become more of an addiction than I ever anticipated. I am sure I still have loads of boatly stuff to blog, and tons of blogstuff to learn; Those inspiring blogs, where I lurk to learn blogger tricks and to read about sailing, they are in my blogroll. The quests? How about the quests? On the realism quest, I am seeing good progress. Sadly, the virtual Strawberry Margarita hasn't materialized. I'll keep looking for it...

 Don't care much about all the talk? Just wanna gaze at the sailing pictures?

Gazing

You can... Just click this link here, and you'll see the entire blog as a photoalbum. 

Photoalbum

The link is also available in the sidebar. Enjoy...

Destination Paradise V

Back to the Destination Paradise story, final episode. If you are lost, then catch up with the former episodes of Destination Paradise here:  One, Two, Three and Four. Ok, so after a few Tequilas in the bar, we went out to explore the island. See the sights or rather - see if there were any sights.

The blue lagoon

Of course there were. After just short walk through palms, flowers and sand we discovered this little blue lagoon. Sooo beautiful. We simply had to sit still for a few minutes and just be in it. Birds singing, insects humming, waves splashing; There was also a distant hum from a small fishing boat. So relaxing...

The sleepyhead in total relaxation

I started to feel sleepy. Maybe it was the Tequila. Maybe it was the long sail, I dunno. Sailing is known to have that effect on people. Whatever it was, that floating thing out there looked really inviting. No sharks around? Let's go...

No sharks but lotsa fish

Sometimes I get emails from sailors in other virtual worlds. They usually go: What's the surroundings made of? Are they just pretty pictures? The answer is absolutely not. Here's an underwater shot showing the water isn't just blue paint on glass. Seeweed and fish can be found many places in well made locations. There are entire sims dedicated to scuba diving, but that's another story.

Another sweet and magical spot

Behind the blue lagoon there was a cliff; It was almost covered with palms. We walked around for a few minutes till we found a hidden path into the palms. It lead us up to a plateau with the most spectacular view over the ocean. Two chairs were there, and they almost begged us to stay and see the sunset... 

Sunset from the plateau

So we did. The sound of ocean waves splashing on the shore was still present, but up here soundscape were dominated by birds and crickets. We really didn't have to say anything. Just a look and we both knew, this was one of those secret magical spots. Our spot.

Catching the last sun rays

Eventually we climbed down; walked the other way around the island, and there we found another nice spot; We sat down to catch the last sunrays and watch the seagulls catch their dinner. The view over the virtual ocean can be so amazing it's mind boggling; Or is it "buggling", when it is a virtual world inside a computer? Never mind. I works like total zen... Funny how so many people have stressfull moments at the computer... Virtual sailing is the opposite. 

Breaking up

Time to go home, or back to RL even. Here's the sunset that greeted us, when we arrived at the pier. Somehow we both knew that neither of us wanted to make the move. This was when I said something like "I never wanna leave". Marin mumbled something about a virtual paradise, and that's why I called these posts Destination Paradise.

Bikini sailing in the sunset

But first, we needed to sail back home to Tradewinds in my trusty Flying Fizz; Sails up, gennaker too and woohooo up and away. Needless to say we also had a great cruise back home. Thanx Marin... It was a wonderful sailing experience, and it was also an interesting experiment into cruising and exploring.

Sometimes it is a little worrying how much this world gets to you. It really does. If u go with the flow, it's an amazing and mysterious world. There are so many beautiful places to see, so many fun things to do and sometimes there's a surprise, because not everything is what it appears to be. SL Sailing is definately more than racing. It is possible to sail for hours and continuously see new and beautiful places.

(Continued from Destination Paradise IV)

Flying Fizz Haiku

sail the Flying Fizz 

sweeter than creme de cassis

oh what sailing bliss

...

We're in the middle of the Flying Fizz Cup 2012.

Pictures from the Fizz Cup 2012

We had some good racing going on this last weekend. I wasn't there to watch group 1 & 2 on saturday, but I understand the saturday races were very good too. These shots are from the group 3 races on sunday.

Coasties, balloons and Flying Fizzes...

Here we're getting ready for the first race; The coastie is en route to the top mark. In the back there's a handfull of Fizzies waiting to start, and further in the back the balloon show is hovering over Tradewinds YC.

Waiting...

Here's a closer look at the racers. Still one missing; Not sure what happened, since the racers are required to register a half hour in advance. However, being late is in the RD department, which was being taken care of by Liv. I was there to sort matters in case of rules drama; Judge.

Bang and away

Anyway, we finally got off to a good start, - or at least a spectacular start. Two boats capsized right before the gun, so the crowd had fun too. As there was only five racers in this group, the other three easily managed to avoid the capsizers. Above you see most of the fleet away on the first leg.

Top mark rounding

It turned out that the sailors in group 3 of the Fizz Cup 2012 qualification were on very different levels, so after the exciting start, there was little action; It looked like - as a judge - I was gonna have an easy day with the boats spread out, minutes apart. Only rarely did they meet...

Todays fastest was Ronin Zane

The fastest sailor today was Ronin Zane; Here he is in his black boat, completely controlling the fleet from a windward position. However, Ronin had gear problems in the first race, so there was room for a nice surprise.

Kris Hollysharp going for the kill

Kris Hollysharp produced the surprise by taking first place in the first race; It is always nice to see new faces at the top of the fleet, and while Kris couldn't keep Ronin behind her in the next two races, she sailed very consistently and ended up with a series of 1-2-2. Nice work there.

Most consistent sailor: Colin Nemeth

The most consistent sailor of the day was Colin Nemeth who was very happy about his three thirds; Woot woot! What a great day at sea. Not without trouble though. The course took longer than anticipated, so we used a shorter course than the one announced.

Night sailing

In fact we ended up sailing the last race in moon light. Romantic racing? I don't think so. It's even harder to keep track of the opponents and the marks in darkness. Still, the crowd seemed happy. I guess they were having a party up there on the spectator platform.

Spectator platform

Well, that's it really. Three races and I was ready for bed, but that's just my timezone. Here we are, waving goodbye to all the coasties; They're always helping to keep the race course uncluttered and that's really great. Results and finalists available on the official Fizz Cup 2012 site.

PS: Still dunno what the Flying Fizz is? Check here and here.

SL by balloon

This is so unboatly, yet sooo amazing I just gotta blog it. I arrived at Tradewinds, - still full of airships, when I noticed something new on the round table: So there is a roasted turkey, a cute little blimp and there's Fizz Cup 2012 results, but look at the book:

The round table at Tradewinds YC

It's a real book, - several books actually, about the most amazing journey around all continents of Second Life in a balloon. Tasha Kostolany of Tradewinds did an interview with the balloonist, Dahlia Jayaram. Read it at the Tradewinds blog, where you'll also find direct links to Dahlias fantastic books;

If you always wondered just what is the Blake Sea, then here's a direct link to Dahlias journey around the Blake Sea area. It's full of pretty pictures and descriptions of the sights. If you just wonder what all this balloonatics are about, then here's a bit of an explanation...

And then it is back to sailing...

Red October at Tradewinds

We saw some good racing at Tradewinds this weekend, and I'll get back to that in a bit. This post here is about a giant submarine that surfaced - right at the starting line - minutes before the sunday heats. It was only visible for seconds before it disappeared into the depths of the virtual oceans:

Red October (?) south of Tradewinds

Before it vanished, I managed to take this one picture. Not entirely sure what it is, but the sheer size of it made me think: Red October. I googled for that, and I think it could be right. Look at the size of that thing. It is huge. The little boat in the center is a Flying Fizz. There is a shadow behind the stern, which is one of those big coastguard boats with helipads.

More shots of subs here...