What's your style

So much to see around Tradewinds these days. I am not much into powerboats, but hey... gotta try something new from time to time...

Classic I

So here's Charlotte... A little too small to be a true liveaboard, but big enough for a weekend cruise or perhaps a few days more. There is a nice bedroom in the forepeak... Lamps, clocks, books and drawers.

Classic II

Very classy if you ask me, but let's have a look at something entirely different. Something bigger.  Something more modern... Meet the Hurricane 200...

Modern I

It starts with a well equipped bar and dining area. The woodwork looks great, though it is a bit too dark for my taste. Kinda like those mass produced Irish Pubs that pop up everywhere. Don't get me wrong. They're nice, but they all look the same.

Modern II

Besides, that irish beer is also a bit on the dark side, right? I'd much rather have a Hefe Weissbier with a flowery taste of summer and light winds. In any case, this one I could live on for a few weeks... Besides these dining and living quarters, there's another area with a fireplace and lounging plus a huge bedlike arrangement. Bathroom in the middle through the door...

Speedy I

And then we have these guys. Huge engine, claustrophobic cockpit, no fireplace or bathroom and absolutely no bar either. Drinking and driving is a bad cocktail - even at sea.

Speedy II

See? Totally claustrophobic! There isn't even a cupholder. Too bad it is locked. I would have like to just hear it power up and slurp like a gallon of petrol just warming up. And then shut it down again, hehe... 

So what's your style? Classic, modern or speedy? Or is it crazy, sexy or cool?

Here's a bit more about powerboats at Tradewinds...

A giant cat

Been wandering around Tradewinds Boatbuilder Show to see if there's any new stuff around. Yesterday I found this giant cat. Luckily it has no teeth, so I dared to get a few closeups. I've seen it before somewhere... dunno if it was in RL or in SL.

A giant cat

It could be a live aboard. Clearly it is big enough, but it appears to be more of a party boat. The bar seems to have been very important to the builder. Here's a shot from the inside.

Tequila anyone?

This next shot might give a better impression of how the bar is sorta in the center of the living room, - ehm... living deck...

I am sure the bar has just about everything

Lotsa space on the outside too. Sundecks and tanning spots everywhere, but I wonder... would it hold together in a North Sea storm? Probably not... It looks a little too transparent and glasslike, right?

Lotsa tanning spots

But who cares about the North Sea? This is clearly built for Mallorca or even Ibiza. All we need is power, an amp and a couple of huge speakers. Party hard... Tequila works wonders on hangovers, right?

Which button?

So, what button do I push to start the disco? I'd expect giant speakers to emerge from hidden compartments in the hull and ofcourse a mixing device up here in the "captains corner".

Giant means huge

Ok, just one more shot, - to give you an impression of the size of that cat, and then that's it for now.

Here's a more dangerous cat, and if you're a cat person, - here's a fun cat...

A few new boats

The Tradewinds Boat Builders Show is still running. More and more boats appear by the day. Here's a few shots - just to give u an impression of it.

Boats everywhere

Above you see Motor Loons latest... It's the fat one in the center. Amazing what they can stuff into a 30-footer these days. The Ktaba to the left is almost the same length, but it looks so petite... Talk about classic beauty.

Closer look

Here's a closer look at the Motor Loon boat. It's way too wide for my taste, but the interior, - oh the interior. This boat has everything plus lots of sailorish details. There's one exception though. The flag, - Dannebrog, it's supposed to be a split flag on a boat. Anyway, I'd better do a full review sometime.

A new kid on the blog, ehh - block? 

This little red thingy is also new to me. It was trying to enchante me with very boatly sounds, and it succeeded. Interesting. Very interesting. It's strange how so many virtual boats have only rudimentary sounds. Walking a marina is a fantastic soundscape as everyboat has its own mooring sound.

One for the boyzzz

Here's one for the boys... I am sure it will sound like a V12, once powered up. Stink like a powerplant for a midsized suburb too. All this while it consumes 200 gallons of gazoline per hour. Yuck.

Ooopsidaisy

Whooopsidaisy! That's more like it... It looks like a Melges 24. I better try that one out and see if it feels like a Melges 24 too. Much more on that. Soon. I hope. Ok, I have one, so I will be back with more. The big white one to the left? It's a VO70 in the works...

VO70

And here it is again... The VO70... this time it's been updated with colours and many more details. Very nice. Too big for little me, but it looks pretty much like the real ting, so maybe I should try one of those too.

Feel that boatly hunger? Check the Tradewinds Boat Builders Show and get your satisfaction... Bring your own food, cause there's no icecream booth... tsk tsk...

What's in a Windex?

I always thought a Windex was a plastic wind indicator at the top of the mast, guaranteed to break once a year when you set the mast. It still is, and we still miss it on so many virtual boats. I will get back to that in another post.

Woohooo

However, - googling for a windex I just learned two new things. The first one is really not that interesting. It seems Windex is the name of some sort of glass cleaning liquid. Hmm. Booring...

Duh

The second thing is way more interesting. Apparently, Windex is a drink! Now, I seriously doubt that it is able to compete with my favourite drink, but I will be looking for it next time I hit a bar...

Yeah!

So what's in a Windex? It seems everybody agrees on lots of ice and Vodka. Then add some orangy stuff like Cointreau or lime juice. Add Blue Curacao to get the right colour, - et voila... You can now drink your own Windex!!

There is another drink called Between The Sheets. Landlubbers incorrectly assume those are bed sheets, but sailors know better. I'd expect bartenders to develop a whole new line of drinks with catchy names such as Mega Capsize, On Layline and The Kicker... I am sure there's loads of sailing terms suited for drink names...

A Q2m feel-good race

This is just a feel good post about the beautiful Virtual 2m from Qyv, aka the Q-2m. Not only is it cute, - it sails so great you simply gotta love both the boat and the virtual sailing.

A little prestart trimming

So here we are, "noodling" around in the hectic prestart, trying to figure optimum trim for this weather. It's Victor Cruiser at the helm. We really met to talk about the Dragon. Then this race was announced, and we rushed off to get the Q2m ready. We made it but...

Need better timing

Our timing wasn't very good. We started like a minute after the gun. Victor has no Speedpuck or other timing device in his boat, and he didn't ask me to time the start. Me, I didn't think of it. I am used to the Flying Fizz, which has that built-in timer. I looked through my fizzy-posts, and I realize I never really photographed that instrument in the Flying Fizz... The best shot is probably the current top image or this seanemagraph.

Started

Despite the fact that the Q-2m has no compass, vane or telltales, it is a fun racer. It supports most of the WWC features, so there is also a nice degree of realism. The racing feeling is definately there. Just take a look at the picture above.

Definately racing

Here's another shot.Oh yes, - we're definately racing. Victor and me, we're last... small boat kinda like in the middle of the picture. However, - we were given a chance to catch up. This next shot shows the second boat rounding the top mark. The first boat is sailing off in the sunshine...

Second boat rounding

See what's gonna happen? We're the boat to the right, - way behind. Before us we have four boats in a close race approach... Hehe, - opportunity of a life time. This next shot is the perfect reason why it is great to crew. There's so much more time to take pictures, when you're not steering.

ROOOM !! 

Sadly, - there was only little chaos and little shouting, Duh... these racers need to get their pulse up. That would give us in the back a chance to come forward, hehe.

Samlara rounding

We didn't pass anyone. So, - here's a shot of Samlara rounding the next mark. I love the customizations she did to her boat and sails. Looks like she is sheeting out a bit early. Maybe she wants to make sure it's a close rounding.  Dunno.

On to the finish or...

Here we are on approach to the finish line. We almost made it, but 50 meters before the line Victor crashed. The boat sailed on, but I was unable to grab the helm and correct the course, and we missed the line by 10 meters or so... Maybe - in the next version of the Q-2m - the crew can take over when the skipper crashes? That would be a very useful feature, but then there is rule 47.2... In any case, the Q2m is such a nice little boat. It's gonna be hard to beat.

Here's more on the Virtual 2m.

Ktaba platinum

It's not really a Ktaba 20 Platinum, but it is a Ktaba with a few improvements over the last edition. Last time  the Spinnaker had autotrim. It still does autotrim, but now I can tweak it. Here's me watching the spin as Craig trims it.

Trimmable autotrimming spinnaker !?

Trimmable autotrim spinnaker? Sounds a bit weird, but it seems to work pretty well. Another thing is the flotation height. On the photo above you cannot see the bottom paint. On the next shot you see it.

Blue bottom paint

What you cannot see is that the other side "sinks" down correctly, as if the boat "sits" in the water, - not on the water. Dunno what the blue stuff is though. It sure isn't VC17m.

Gybing with boom

What also works now is gybing. Now the spinnaker boom will actually switch side. What's left to work with is the spinnaker shape. This is reportedly one of those very special and difficult things to adjust.

Poses

There's also a couple of nice poses available. Not only will the boat make you feel good because it sails nicely, - it will also make you look good. I like. All in all there are lots of small improvements. Small but vital for the overall impression. Oh, and it is stable. Good sim crossing, low lag and very few  crashes.

Cruising

What's still missing is the vane. In the picture above it seems ok, but it still flaps aftwards on a downwind course. A couple of telltales in the jib  would also be very nice.

My favourite spot on a cruise

About the windsystems... We tried switching back and forth from BWind to WWC a couple of times. It works well, but more testing is needed in order to determine if the boat has full WWC support. Wind, waves and currents. Right now it seems to not support waves. We didn't have time to check the currents. More on that in a post near you...

Here's more on the Ktaba 20.

Boat builders show

There is a boat builder show at Tradewinds. That means all kinds of boats are moored there. It's the perfect activity for a weekend, so get your docksides on and get going... This is the view from the boatshed:

The view from the boatshed

There's quite a few boats to check out, and I'd expect to see even more next week, once builders learn there is a boat builder show. Here's another shot:

Lotsa interesting projects

Here's a shot from the "back-side"...

The "back-side" view

And finally... an overview:

Woohoo, a houseboat

Note the liveaboard, which I will definately need to check out. These are a rare species in SL, but I have seen another one. Check it out here. If you're a boatshow nut, then click here for more boatshows or even show with boats that fly.