SLSAILING.COM – The Portal Magazine for SL Sailing.

 
In RL sailing nothing happens – not a regatta, not a daysail, not an offshore passage – without a sometimes visible but more often than not transparent web of supporting organizations and individuals.  At one end of the spectrum are military or governmental entities, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, formed to serve and protect citizens afloat…of course they’ll take issue with you pumping your head overboard as well but hey, that’s part of the charm!  At the other end are individuals like Herb…a dedicated passagemaking consultant known far and wide to sailors venturing offshore for points south of the Northeast U.S.  You can read more about him here.  In between we have a host of volunteers, enthusiasts, instructors and sail makers, to name a few.  A multitude of characters without whom the sport and past time of RL sailing would not be possible.

In a similar way we have a group of dedicated organizations and individuals in SL Sailing who make the regattas happen, design the craft we race and cruise with, grow and maintain the sims we sail upon, foster the communities that organize and advocate for the issues that our important to SL sailors, capture photos and video that showcase our virtual sport, teach newbies how to tack, report on the races and events in the SL sailing community, patrol the waters of SL in order to map and survey the navigable areas…wait a second, we have an SL Coast gaurd?  Well, yes…

Witness Captain RJ of the SL Coast Guard on a mapping mission with his trusty 1st mate   Note the use of the proper PDF gear in the event that RJ hits a reef and holes his cutter.

As we begin a new year with high hopes that we’ll continue to see the SL sailing community grow and thrive…I think that it’s the right thing to take a moment to recognize and thank the many, many people who have been instrumental to our strength and solidarity.  Most of them are volunteers and even the ones who earn $$ from the community are dedicated enthusistas who add tremendous value.  Kudos to all of you and keep it up!  I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be one hell of a ride.

Fair winds,

LL

I was dancing over at the Mowry Bay YC the other night and ran into MTW…who readily acknowledged that I’ve been a little scarce on column posting lately. Thank heavens for Calamity Jane Fossett! She’s been carrying these pages. I have no real excuse save it’s that time of year – Merry Merry – and everywhere I turn there is something waiting to cross off the list.

Oh yes and I bought land again in SL…after selling a lush sailing plot on the East End of SLNE I swore off land ownership… mostly due to the painful trickle of the monthly tier. “it’s not THAT much money really but geez it adds up and shouldn’t I be saving it or buying my wife a gift or my kids a pair of shoes or something…”

But I was so impressed with the new Bar Harbor Sim in Sailor’s Cove (kudos to Iz on her terraforming) that I took the plunge again; a small parcel on the end of an island, water on three sides, pine trees and a very “coastal Maine” feel. The tier is manageable (at least for the moment) and once again I have my virtual sailing refuge. Here’s a snap of “Blue Hill.”

Blue Hill in Bar Harbor

It’s a lovely place…very restful and sanity-provoking especially given that, here in the Northeast U.S., winter is closing in. As I meandered about and rezzed objects that had been languishing in inventory for months I got to thinking…sailing in SL is loads of fun but there’s something about owning land in one of our many fine sailing communities that very much appeals to me. Beyond the whole “I have a piece of the rock” thing…owning a parcel with a dock where I can park my virtual yacht, a place where the seagulls cry, the sun shimmers off the deep blue water and crickets chirp in the quiet night – it’s a refuge from the madness of RL, a space that speaks to not just to my sailing passion but the lover of water and coastal moonlit evenings and fog choked sunrises (particularly nice with the new Windlight client). The sound of water lapping off the hull of my boat at dock.

What are your thoughts on SL sailing refuges. Creating them, owning them, visiting them for a moment of peace. What appeals to you about this experience, what doesn’t? And what does this say about the sort of sailor you are? I’d really like to hear your thoughts. And please come for a visit anytime: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bar%20Harbor/32/128/27

As always, fair winds.

LL

The numerous designers and organizers and patrons of sailing in SL have done a grand job of bringing us as close to the RL experience of sailing as is technologically feasible…given what we have to work with. A big part of sailing – the sense of community, the thrill of competition – stems from what one might term the “user experience.” The user experience matters a lot – both in RL and SL. We’re more aware and focused on this term in SL because, naturally, we like to think we are somewhat more in control of it. As mentioned, I believe that our community has done a tremendous job in shaping the SL Sailing user experience with the available tools.

Have a look at this snap:

The shot was taken yesterday – a self portrait of sorts – on a sunset sail under a pirate sky. Sounds pretty, right? Looks ideal. But what the hell does it mean?

I’m running the trial Windlight client. Witness some of the manifestations of this new technology. In essence it provides a huge leap in a more realistic, immersive environment – a user experience upgrade. The moon sparkles off the water. The clouds refract the setting sun and scud across the sky before a westerly blow.

If you have the graphics capability you can play with the editor, selecting all sorts of presets for the sky and the water…one of which the brilliant engineers have named “pirate sky.”

Sailing is something that occurs within and, in fact, derives its literal power from – the environment. It stands to reason that the more realistic and immersive virtual environmental technology becomes, the more powerful sailing in SL will become as well. Some years down the road fellow SL sailors…unlike ourselves…will not need to employ their imaginations as forcefully as we do now. They’ll step aboard their (virtual) boat, feel her shift under their weight, hold a finger up and test the prevailing breeze.

Red sky at night. Sailors delight.

LL

Everywhere we turn these days…the word “innovation” applied to all manner of things from kitchen sponges to plasma televisions. Everyone and everything is “innovative” no matter how mundane or, at the other end of the spectrum, technically complex. More often than not these innovative products and services in the marketplace are, in large part, derivative…they take a concept or a category already well on its way, put a twist on it and voila, innovation! An example of this formula at work is the iPod. My first Sony Walkman, procured one Christmas in the early 1980′s, performed essentially the same task as the iPod…piped music to my ears. Arguably the iPod does it so much more efficiently and, as its market success attests, has generated a great deal of value by taking an existing concept and laying a truly innovative twist on it.

But what about innovation in sailing? Nautical electronics get slicker and more complex (all the better to fail, my dear, in a bash to windward). The basic concept of a keel is ever refined (liquid ballast is a terrific idea till the pump fails). Sail design, digital charting, satellite positioning devices that can spot you in the head…the wheel of innovation chugs onward in sailing, as it seems to in most things these days. Better, faster, fancier, more prone to conking out or pitch poling or broaching and yes, innovative…dang blast it!

Which brings me to the picture for the first official “Now Picture This” column…a simple snap that speaks volumes about a new direction that innovation is taking sailing. There’s a course being charted in Second Life that could have never been predicted in the 1980′s when I unwrapped my first Sony Walkman. Here is the shot…click on it and take a glance.

The photo shows SL yacht designer, Mothgirl Dibou, posing next to her new dinghy, The Flying Fizz. She showcased the FF at the recent boat show in Sailors Cove during a scheduled event where she discussed the craft and its new features, took questions from the audience, etc.

There is no question that Mothgirl is iterating on an existing concept…most of us know the history with early pioneers like Kanker, JT and such. But taking the broad view, the one that includes the whole of sailing in SL – from SL yacht clubs to Tako races to wind shadowing to the latest classic yacht from Trudeau and everything in between – and now Mothgirl is (as we all are in our own ways) participating in a larger activity of almost pure innovation…extending the concept of sailing to a nearly brand new virtual world. She is an important part of a dedicated and driven community of enthusiasts who will, together, continue to develop an entirely fresh way to participate in the larger sport and past time of sailing.

It interests me that when I bring up sailing in SL to people who consider themselves “real” sailors the reaction is often one of modest disdain. How can you call diddling on a computer sailing or associate it with “true” sailing, they wonder? There is no wind on your face. No salt spray. No laying in the bunk off watch listening to the wind howl. No diving on the anchor to be certain it’s set. I typically reply that there are none of these things exist in true form in, say, a book. Ever read “Dove” by Robin Lee Graham, I ask. Cracking good read. Well, yes. Did you get slapped in the face by a boarding wave whilst curled up in your armchair reading about young Robin’s circumnavigational adventures, I ask. Well, no. All “real” sailors generally subscribe to their choice of sailing periodical, I mention. Heads wag in agreement. Did you, perchance, hear the wind howl in the rigging when you thumbed your SAIL Magazine on the john this morning? Ummmm…no. OK I say and shrug. We shift to other topics…

The implications of our budding community are too numerous to list. But they are very exciting indeed! This is a thrilling time of discovery with near limitless potential and opportunity. A brave new world of sailing limited only by our collective imagination and passion for innovation.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

LL

My passion for sailing both in RL and SL often takes flight in photography. Capturing images of sailing craft has, for reasons that are more instinctive than conscious, always spoken to the artistic and aesthetic side of the sailor in me. But the sense of satisfaction taken in review of a perfect shot soon fades…unless the combination of time and place and image combine to either demonstrate or communicate something unique…as it relates to the sailing life.

I think that truly gifted photographers seek images with depth…meaning that what the viewer sees as visual is certainly essential but serves only as the first layer, an access point if you will, for a moment rich with time, place, motion and beauty – components of the vision that together advance the artistic. I’m not gifted but I enjoy the medium greatly…and appreciate the opportunity that nautical photography gives me to share my passion for rich sailing images of meaning and depth with other like-minded people.

When MarkTwain and I discussed this column he, like any good editor, focused me on developing a space for SLsailing.com that could offer our diverse and growing community of SL sailors a unique perspective. He agreed with me about the power of images and how this holds true for both RL and SL. And he agreed that a column written around specific images of sailing in Second Life…that explored the meaning and depth of an image as it relates to the SL sailing community was a worthwhile concept.

So here we are with “Now Picture This.” Being the sole proprietor of a photography studio (Zephyr Nautical Photography in Sailors Cove) I naturally come to the table with a wealth of SL sailing images but welcome suggestions from readers (with proper credit given where it’s due, of course). I can’t promise that everything I offer will meet the definition of “high art”…but I do look forward to exploring the sailing images we capture with the viewer “snapshot” button together.

Stay tuned for the first chapter of our visual sailing journey and until then…fair winds.

LL