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.

Topmark roundings

This one's pretty fresh too. Same event actually. Two boats approaching the top mark. Green on port tack enters the zone clear ahead. Yellow on starboard tack hits green as Green tacks right in front of Yellow.

Top mark blues

The collision at position 3 was hardly unavoidable, but Yellow would need to luff pretty wildly to avoid hitting Green in the back. Almost no damage. Green protests! What did the jury say, and what should green and yellow have done?

Sailing today

Something is happening in sailing today. It's changing. Sailing is changing. It used to be a gentleman sport. Being in the game and sailing by the rules was the most important thing. Much more important than winning. When I was a kid, we always took our penalty turns with no quarrel, no questions. Today, it seems grown men have problems admitting they made a mistake.

It's a beautiful day out there

It's happening everywhere. Local races, Nationals, Worlds, Olympics. Ofcource the socalled "showcase of sailing" has the problem too. Right now the entire AC circus is in Limbo, because the Oracle team is awaiting a rule 69 investigation. Yes, it's about rule 69. Gross misconduct. This rule is becoming the single rule of sailing the crowd understands. It was there in Perth 2011. It was murmured at the Olympics 2012, and now it's in the AC circus 2013. What's on peoples mind, what's in their memory, is sailors quarreling about who's being unfair. Not good for sailing.

A perfect spot for contemplation

The reality would - under normal conditions - be the defending team looking at a two year ban from sailing. Isn't that a laugh? Team Oracle unable to defend the title! The AC circus isn't normal. It is a freakshow, and the show must go on. I am guessing they will end up picking a scape goat and carry on with business as usual. After all, - it is Larry's show. Question is: Who will want to be in that show when the host is - hmm - not entirely trustworthy? How can trust be restored? Can trust be restored?

Virtual or real

What seems to be the problem is grown men with too much testoterone. Is there too much at stake? Would it be unbearable to loose? Unaffordable even? Is that what's causing the problems? Are the stakes so high that the participants cannot see clearly and determine what's right and wrong? Has sailing become about winning at any cost? Pathetic, don't you think? Grown men outgrown by their own game? Even if this is just about 2.5kg there is no excuse. Cheating is cheating. The real problem is - what happens at the big games is copied by our kids and junior sailors in those smalltime races and nationals, because their socalled "heroes" are doing it. Now that's bad for sailing.

I think I'll chant Elvtrøms famous sailing philosophy and go sailing in RL. The AC sailors need to chant it too, or they might as well shut it all down. 

Rounding the downwind mark

Here's one that's fresh from the racetrack. Two boats on port tack approaching the downwind mark. The first boat gybes to starboard (2) right at the edge of the zone. This kinda opens up the overlap zone. Both boats carry on and at the mark (3) Yellow yells "no room" and tries to close the gap. Blue seeks the space between the mark and yellow but fails to execute the turn and slams (4) right into yellow. Yellow protests!

Fresh from the race track

What did the jury say? What should yellow have done? What should blue have done?

PS: That Boat Scenario program is supereasy to use. If only those animated files could be made smaller.

Ernestina meshed up

I was just in for a short break at Tradewinds YC, when I saw a familiar hull. Masts, sails, fittings and everything else was missing, but it looked pretty much like the Ernestina hull. I walked over there and sure enough. It was the Ernestina.

The Ernestina will be meshed

The Ernestina is a world famous Schooner, - at least in SL. Here's a gallery by her builder from sometime in 2008. She's been blogged numerous times. Jane Fosset took some great pictures and told the story of the virtual Ernestina back in 2009. She looked amazing already in 2008, and it will be fantastic to see the level of detail that's possible with mesh. I'll keep an eye on the boat yard...

That question

So... The times of wonderful summer cruises are over. At least for 2013. It's august, and it's back to work. Some call it the chaingang, others call it the treadmill. Whichever name you prefer, it is true that it's somewhat of a transition: From a mindset of complete laissez faire to a stressfull workday with goals, deadlines and bosses bossing you around.

Relaxing in Havna

I've been offline for almost a full month. No phones, very little internet, just a few papers and lots of water. It's most recommendable. After a few hectic days back at work, it's great to hop online and just sit and relax in Havna. I think I'll go there for a sail one of these days. It kinda reminds me of Nyhavn i Copenhagen, except Havna is more quiet.

Beautiful Berdav cruiser

I found this beautiful Berdav cruiser. It looked very inviting, so I sat there and just enjoyed a magical moment. No stress, no people, just me, the waves and the virtual sun-up to the east. That's when that question popped up. Not fair actually. I mean, I am just back from my vacation, and this question usually pops up some time in february. I tried to make it go away, but I couldn't...

The question is

The question is: Why don't I sail more. Right now it is raining in RL, so it is more of a work day than a sail day. The thing is, this question is pushing for an answer, which I cannot provide. I begin to fear that I'll have to make changes so that I can sail more. RL & SL. The more I think about it, the more it seems right. Sailing is the answer to so many questions.

The answer is

Hmm. I'll start planning for more sailing today. No wait. No time for that today. I'll set a deadline for when I start making plans for more sailing. Hmmm. It is nice to get back to work, but sometimes the vacation mindset just won't leave. That makes it hard work gettting back to work, dont' you think?

Windshifts and stuff

There's so much talk about windshifts in this virtual world. Some people hate them, some people love them. We have that extra challenge, that our virtual windshifts cannot be seen. They can only be "felt", when they hit the sails. This makes the discussion somewhat theoretical.

Over at Impropercouse there's a couple of really great shots showing just how much effect shifts and puffs can have... If you're a virtual sailor only, - go see...

I've added Impropercourse to my blogroll. Already there's good sailing stuff over there, and Doug told me there's more to come.