SLSAILING.COM – The Portal Magazine for SL Sailing.

TRIUMPHANT JOURNEY TO TRIUMPHAL

Friends, you know this humble little sailor girl is admittedly not one of the explorers of the great unknown, she’s not really comfortable on the vast expenses of open water but prefers to stick to a small, confined area. In fact I hardly ever manage to survive one of the MBCC cruises in one piece. Optimistically starting out on my own boat I more often than not crash at one or the other point during the tour and have to hitch a ride to the destined location. Mostly it’s the intrepid duo of explorers, namely Chaos and Jane, granting me asylum and a safe voyage.

So it was with mixed feelings, that I accepted Charlz Price’s invitation to visit his Triumphal sim. It’s a rather long cruise from my temporary home in San Nicolas … plenty of opportunities to stray off course, lose orientation or just simply crash out. Nevertheless yesterday I had some time to kill (to kill myself?) and I have a new boat that desperately wanted to be sailed. Having only sailed it for like 5 minutes until now.

So, being the adventurous girl that I am, I jump onto my Leetle Cat and prepare for a long passage. Passing NYC I steer out into the Blake Sea and set course due west. 21 knots of wind and a reach course make the Leetle fly past the sims, past the Western Islands … and past the north coast of Nautilus. WIRRRRR!!! SWOOOSH!!! Boy I’m way too fast! In  fact so fast I need to drop anchor every now and then to open the map and set new waypoints. I guess this kind of express sailing was not what Jacqueline had in mind for the Leetle when she scripted it See, these oldfashioned heavy dinghies are not supposed to ever go faster than hull-speed, so I can hear the wooden planks crackle as the little catboat slams into the waves rather than riding on them. And is that mast supposed to be bend like an arrow? Okayokay, I’m abusing the little boat, guilty as charged.

After a time that occurs to me like not even 5 minutes I’m passing Horrorbag sim, where my ex-employer of days long gone, Flack Vollmar, operates his lovechild, the VIVO! Marina. I make a sharp starboards turn there, passing the marina entrance. And next sim to the north already is Triumphal. I’m there! I can’t believe it. After docking I carefully check the Leetle to see if anything came lose … but no, the boat is in immaculate condition, as if just released from the Trudeau boatyards. The gorgeous custom sail by bunnie Mills (Sails and Fishbones) survived the hammering gusts as well. It’s always a joy to see good sturdy craft(wo)manship. I’m impressed with boat and gear, and even a little bit proud of myself, having cheated my bad ISP out of the joy of crashing me on the lousy connection they’re providing me with. YIPPIE!

But I’m here, as usual, not to babble about boats – there are other people, much more experienced and educated about SL boating than me, to write about that. I am here as the occasional tourist, the happy-go-lucky weekender, to indulge in the views and take some snapshots.

 By now most of you know that I’m a sucker for the WildWind RCJ-44, so I’m more than just a little happy to find not one, but two of those yachts docked in Triumphal. One of them being gorgeously customized and of course belonging to Charlz himself. As does the rather huge steamship docked permanently between two rocks on the waterfacing northern side of Triumphal. Of course this fantabulous build grabs my attention so I go and have a look at it. It is Charlz’ private home (he refers to simply as his “paddle boat”) but open to the visiting public neverteless. I wander around the multiple decks and look at the tastefully furnished interiors. A rather huge aquarium I find especially beautiful and seducing. The tasty fishies in it can count themselves lucky as I’m not really hungry right now. So I rather enjoy the various lounging areas on deck.

After a while I decide to contact the king of the castle and ask Charlz for an informal chat. Not an interview, mind you. I wouldn’t dare intruding in Delinda’s field of expertise. Me, I’m just, as mentioned before, a curious boating tourist with a cheapo taiwanese plastic digicam dangling from her neck.

I meet Charlz Price and his co-conspirator Fiona Haworth at the entrance to the Triumphal Marina by the docks. Just to talk a bit. I learn Triumphal Marina does not only offer dock space and temporary moorings for your yacht but also has a small portfolio of tailor-made rental solutions, ranging from skyboxes to upmarket houses. Triumphal is also home to a yacht club, believe it or not. They have a beautiful club house and ample mooring space. I take some more snappies before I have to leave and be on my way home, which will take me much longer. Sailing upwinds is always a hard thing to do with a slow boat like the leetle. She doesn’t like to sail at 35° to the wind but feels much more comfortable and faster around 40°. Fortunately my dear friend Jessica joins me halfway through the ordeal and makes the tour a pleasure ride rather than a task.

When you are in a touring mood, why don’t you drop by Triumphal Yacht Club and enjoy this nicely layed out and always changing sim as well as Charlz’ hospitality. And better use a hop-on boat since there are no rezz permissions for non-members – and making the way back on nothing but the ridable part of a boat would look just too silly wouldn’t it?

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A CLASS OF ITS OWN

Jane reviews many different boats on the pages of SLSailng.com, but she’s not the only one who has a tendency to fall hard for anything with a fancy keel and a good set of sails. This little photographer-turned-ink-splotter has some favourite boats as well. Right now it’s just one boat. A boat that will maybe take your attention away from all those Flying Tako- Trudeau- mutations.
Please let me do some promotion for it.

Introducing the WildWind RCJ-44!

corry Kamachi is a rather prolific japanese shipwright. She brings out new boats all the time without much talking about them, without much of a warning to the public … * PLOPP * One New Boat!  Her boats are rarely discussed in the forums or on the docks of the various yacht clubs. Why? Not only because of the language barrier but more likely because there is not much to discuss. Her builds are simple and flawless, her scripts are running smoothly and not hogging all available ressources. Windshadowing, apparent wind, all works flawlessly.

Also ALL her boats are fast, indeed much faster than one would expect. Supernaturally fast!!! While some may call it a scripting problem I think it’s just a matter of personal taste

The RCJ-44 is a good example of that. A typical WildWind. Continue Reading »

Since my fellow mowgurl and travel companion VenusMari and me didn’t really got any further in our attempt to circumnavigate Gaeta V, and I have a new boat to test anyway, I decide on a whim to attempt a little excursion on my own again. I say ‘little’ since this tour won’t even make me leave the Blake Sea. So it’s not a real tour but just a relaxed cruise through the neighborhood. In fact I want to pay a visit to the islands in the western sims of Blake Sea. Dunno about you guys, but I mostly just pass by them without even looking twice. Today will be different though. I pack a few water bottles and my favourite sunset camera and off I go on my brandnew WildWind RCJ-44. Although the 44 is rather a racer than a cruiser I love this boat so much I just have to use it.

I decide to start working up the chain of isles from south to north. My first stop is Sirens Isle which is one sim to the east of the other islands. I however count it as part of the western islands.

There is not much of any civilisation to be found on Sirens Isle. Heck, it is not even a isle so to speak but just a group of scattered rocks, looking like sprung from a volcanic eruption once … back when the stones where still soft and we women had tails. Oh wait, many women in SL are still wearing tails, and are proud of them. And one of the better known boat builders in SL is mostly to be found in the shape of a saurus. So Sirens Isle might not be as old as it appears. Anyway, with some fantasy you can make out where the caldera of the volcano must have been back then. Ugh, maybe it wasn’t really a volcanic eruption but a meteorite … well, best forget all of what I just told you. Yours truly has always been a lazy student and really has no clue about geology.

Continue Reading »

(Editor’s note: I’m delighted to welcome Orca Flotta as a contributor to SLSailing.com. Orca needs no introduction, but if you’re new to the SL Sailing community you can get to know Orca by reading Delinda Dyrssen’s August 2008 interview . Welcome aboard, Orca!  /Jane Fossett, Editor SLSailing.com )

 Touring for beginners: Around Nautilus with Orca

by Orca Flotta

It’s early morning, the sun is just coming up behind the horizon, as I step onto the not very well maintained docks of Yamms’ harbor in the northwest of Nautilus continent. Slipping my brandnew WildWind SC-27 takes not much time and after some reading in the typically japanese user manual I’m kinda good to go. The 27 is not yet christianed but will probably be named “Nevertheless” as a sign for my will to sail, regardless of my wobbly, high-pinged internet connection and nearly 6 months of absence from active sailing. It’s not such a primbucket as the Tetra and was suggested to me by fellow german sailor Manul Rotaru, he of much touring experience, excellent boating know-how and overall nice guy.

The wavelets slapping at the hull of 27 (as I’ll call her for now) sound even more tired than me, but with the sun rising higher the calm winds are freshening up a little. So when I leave Yamms’ outer harbor 27 and me are already doing a good speed.
So, what am I up to, where will my virginal tour gonna take me? Well, Nautilus is not a terribly big continent, rather a large island indeed, so I’m thinking about a circumnavigation of said landmass … as a starter.

Directly after leaving the Yamm harbor area I’m hoisting the spin and unsurprisingly the 27 turns out to be a rather lively and quick sailboat. It’s a joy to steer her through the flat coastal waters as we rush along the coastline. First noticable waypoint for me is Cape Bynuthi, which isn’t of much landscaping amazement but a turning point in the tour, since I need to haul the spin in and set the jib.
Now a long and tiring beat upwinds along the south coast awaits me. But again 27 surprises me with the ease and speed she’s sailing close to the wind.

Passing Limmoth sim I notice the antique waterwalls along the coast. I wonder whoever built those. Where the Romans here or the Greek? Maybe even Phoenicians? Ashamed I must admit to myself how little I know about the history of our pixelated world.

 Anyway, no time to reflect, I came here to sail, and I have a goal and no time to waste. Next up comes a little island in Howe sim along the South Channel. Seeing that I make good speed I round it quickly and are on my way again in no time.
The south coast of Nautilus isn’t a very spectacular sight, rather flat and empty. Not the high cliffs I’m used to from sailing the old continent. But before the tour gets boring I’m already nearing my next waypoint: Cape Ysthyalm marks the southernmost point of Nautilus and offers a nice anchorage, protected by some small islands. Perfect place to indulge into some sandwiches, take a snapshot and scribble a few words in the log book.

I continue beating up against the wind along Nautilus’ southern channel, which is very simple sailing. No surprises, no navigational hazards along the way. I’m surprised how close one can sail up to the the land without running aground. Shortly before coming to Cape Ychibarcu I notice a very small bay, not even a few meters before this turning point. Another good opportunity to follow mother nature’s call And again I’m happy to have decided to do the trip with this rather humble yacht. The bay hardly leaves enough room for the 27 to anchor and makes its way out again.

After passing Cape Ychibarcu I notice a strange building “gracing” the coastline in Byth. A building of questionable taste, owned by the almighty governor Linden and supposed to be a garden mole or so. It marks the entrance into an obviously man-made canal which runs straight into Nautilus. I just stop for a minute to take a photo of this atrocity and am on my way again. Here to sail afterall, not for sightseeing.

Spin up again after passing Ychibarcu I’m making good speed along the northern coastline on Nautilus. Good speed??? In fact the 27 is sailing faster than windspeed … under spinnaker??? Maybe the good Corry should think about her scripting again … dunno

Apart from the joys of speed the sailing is quite boring and I’m quite happy for every unusual sight along the way. In Bomilcar I come along a place where someone has put an old pirate ship displayed. On land! Imagine how much sweaty work was needed to pull the ship all the way up there. But okay, enough of bad taste for today, I don’t even waste film for snapping that. Anchor up and off we go again!

The last leg of my little tour proves no further surprises, we wizz around Cape Alonim in a breeze and heading down south to get to Yamms again …

… BUT NO! While whistling a happy song I’m passing the outer harbor of Mlachthi, wondering about the kitschy statues in the water and the very very antique looking galleon harboring there, when BOOM! … suddenly my trusty 27 disappears in a cloud of fairie dust and the poor skipperess finds herself sitting on the ocean floor, wearing the remnants of her yacht as a necklace

 No rezz place around? Honestly I’m too frustrated and pissed off right now and decide to  fly the last few hundred meters by myself. What a sad end to a otherwise encouraging tour.

So, what have we learned?
Manul knows how to make girls happy Thanks for suggesting this boat to me. The WildWind SC-27 is the perfect touring boat, easy and stress free to sail, no (very often failing) gestures needed, very forgiving but speedy nontheless. The absence of a tiller is an interesting design feature. Steering by telekinesis does work quite well
Nautilus as a continent, may it be ugly and boring as it be, is an easy to sail area. No disturbing banlines or other navigational hazards, except the mysterious one happening to me … yet.
I don’t know, and neither do I care, if other sailors have done the “Round Nautilus” trip before me. Yeah, they most probably have. Kudos to those pioneers then. I did the tour not for fame and glory but only for myself. Babysteps. Orca has got some of her self esteem back and will be found sailing more often from now on.