Back! Sort of.

I've spent a long time away, and when I got back, I found joy and relaxation again in SL thanks to sailing.

I have been busy in real life, but I have peeked in a couple of times. It's usually very long stretches of time between visits, but it's nice to be in SL as a visitor having fun instead of a stressed out landowner. There is great pleasure in this level of freedom.

I also note that there are a few new Trudeau yachts out that have come since I was last here regularly. When I departed SL, the last yacht I was aware of was the Patchogue. Since then, Jacqueline has released a number of vessels - Rozinante, The One, and a new Leetle Cat, Leetle Cat II. Sucker that I am, I had to get a new boat. I chose The One, for its styling. I probably should have gotten the Cat since it's a little more advanced, as it has reefing. But I prefer the One, as it's a nicer looking lady, and can hold an extra crew member over the Cat.



So I started off at the lovely Triumphal Yacht Club, one of my favorite places to launch. Sailed down to the Bingo Strait. The Bingo Strait is my favorite stretch of water, it's comforting. I rode out to Trudeau yesterday, bought The One. Mine is now named Oriel, which means "golden beauty."

The One is very different from the other yachts, because it forces you to sail by the senses. I thought it would be more difficult, but it's not as hard as I thought to pick up. I dare say it's actually teaching me things I never really learned about SL sailing, and sailing in general by extension.

I'm learning how to use the spinnaker, and am beginning to internalize the role of apparent wind and how it works. I think I have previously just been too excited and wanted to get on the water with these lovely boats, and the notecard info never really sunk in. Not until now. A little extra reading and some trial and error, and I think I'm finally getting it! lol.

The second picture above is entitled "Headed for Knaptrackicon." Yes, I decided to visit my old nemesis and things changed so much for the better! No more crazy obstructions, and a large protected channel to preserve the crucial North-South passageway. It looked like there was a yacht club there too, or at least some kind of boat launch. Very different from the series of humper bunkers there before, with the only channel mercifully cut by a well-meaning individual or two, but ultimately still difficult and almost useless.

Let me remind you of what it looked like the first time I went through.



That cutesy little marina off to the right was private and not passable. If I recall correctly there were banlines up. Even though the channel was wide enough for the Twenty, it was shallow and there were obstructions, possibly from the shallowness of the channel itself. That isn't a problem today. After the land was sold off and generously donated to the Lindens, the Lindens preserved a channel. It has now gotten even better since I revisited Knaptrackicon after the first Linden setaside. The difference is striking.

So I made it a good distance before finally crashing. And now I physically need to crash, I'm tired. But it's good to be back. I'll be back a little more often.