The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009 by Dahlia Jayaram

The Great Sailing Adventure A J o u r n e y A r o u n d S e c o n d L i f e â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s I n t e r c o n n e c t e d C o n t i n e n t s

by Dahlia Jayaram

As my first life profile page has said for the longest time:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jayaram, Dahlia, 2008– The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009 p. cm. ISBN-13:000-0-00000-000 ISBN-13:000-0-00000 1. Second Life, sailing, travel, adventure, exploring, expedition, ocean, sea, water. 2. Second Life–In travel. NC1429.M1557J 2009 741.5’6973-dc2

200910050 Visit my website at: www.blogspot.com/dahliasweet

“Is it us who make the journey, or is it the journey that makes us?” This book is dedicated to those of us who embrace the journey of life, no matter which life, nor where it may take us. ~ Dahlia Jayaram

Contents

Prologue

Setting Sail into the Great Unknown

Struggling Around Satori

We s t N a u t i l u s a n d t h e N o r t h e r n S h o r e s

T h e L o n g Wa v e H o m e

The Resting Points

I n R e c o g n i t i o n : Aw a r d s f o r F u n & T h i n k i n g

A Letter to the Lindens

About the Author

[ prologue ] Almost a year into my Second Life, I saw a picture of a beautiful sailboat, all alone out on an empty sea, shrouded in mist. Under the picture it said: Blake Sea. I thought to myself, wow, I’ve got to see this place; it looks so serene, so mysterious, so romantic. With only the name to go by, I typed in the keywords “Blake Sea” in my search window, expecting to find it straight away. Instead, an assortment of locations returned for the Blake Sea, but where to start? I chose “Nantucket Yacht Club,” but when I arrived, I found myself on the island of Nantucket, far from any yacht club and not even near the Blake Sea. Fortunately, someone pointed me in the proper direction, saying: “about five sims that way.” The yacht club was vacant when I arrived, so there was no one to ask about the Blake Sea. But there were some sailing freebies I could help myself to— among them a little boat that had room enough for two. It was cute, I thought. I can use it to find the Blake Sea. I unloaded my new free boat next to the dock and climbed in when it suddenly hit me: I had never been in a boat before.

blimp gliding gracefully right over me. Another twenty minutes later, and I I caught its toe rope and climbed aboard. arrived at the Foliage Airport where I found the blimp station. A route sign indicated blimps went to Gulliver AirA few minutes later, we landed near port—where I had already been—and Gulliver Airport where I learned the to Aurora. Knowing there was no inblimp belonged to the Inter Island formation at Gulliver, I waited for the Transit (IIT) company. The service was free and traveled to other locations Aurora shuttle. Two departure times came and passed, but no blimp arrived, too. A sign said shuttles also went to So off I went, looking for an empty sea Honah Lee and Foliage, so I waited for so I decided to sail to Aurora to see if shrouded in fog. Basically—as you can the next blimp to arrive, but one never I could get information there. I pulled out my map, and…ack!…saw it was came. I pulled out my big map and probably already tell—I had no idea where I was going or what I was really scoured it to see where the other shuttle on the opposite side of Blake Sea. But I was becoming stubborn. I was now sites were. I located Honah Lee, but doing. So it should be no surprise that never found Foliage. I decided the only determined to go without teleporting. I sailed around for about 20 minutes way to find out more about the blimp without finding any fog whatsoever. I I sailed for over an hour and still hadn’t did see other interesting places while I service was to go to Honah Lee. And reached Aurora. Eventually, I arrived was looking, however, and made land- since I had my new little boat, I was at what seemed to be the edge of the marks to remember them by as I passed. eager to put it to use. world…there was visible water ahead of me, but an invisible border was It took twenty minutes for me to sail The next day, I had some landmarks blocking me from reaching it. I looked to Honah Lee from Gulliver Airport. I didn’t recognize by name, so I teleon my map and realized this water was There, I asked a couple of people at a ported myself back to them to review “off-grid.” You can see the water right blimp hanger about the IIT service. and either rename in such a way that in front of you. You can almost taste it, One said he hadn’t seen it at Honah I’d remember them by, or to throw its so close, but you can’t touch it. Why? them away if I realized they weren’t as Lee in a few months. Disheartened, I Because there is no server hooked up to interesting as I first thought they’d be. pulled my map out again and looked it in the heavens, that’s why. Aurora harder until I finally found Foliage. I One such landmark dropped me right was tempted to fly there, but since my was surrounded on all sides by off-grid little boat was already out, I decided to waters and I was shut out of reaching it into the sea. When I swam to the surby the distance of only two sims. take it instead. face, I was surprised to see a giant What kind of boat is this? I wondered as I looked it over. It was indeed cute. It had a white oval-shaped hull like a big pill, with a thin blue stripe along its outer edge and a white cloth sail with two clear windows placed in it to see through. Smart thinking, I thought to myself with a smile.

If it weren’t for those missing blimps, there would have never been a Great Sailing Adventure for me. ~ Dahlia

What a let-down, to have sailed and searched for so long, only to be denied two sims away from a destination. The bastards! I cried out in anguish toward the heavens. First they set up a sign that says a blimp will go there that doesn’t, then they make a sea you can see but can’t sail through to get to the destination. What’s with that? THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA My blimp shuttle experience revealed a few things to me: First, someone needs to change those darn shuttle signs that say blimps will take you to certain destinations, when in fact they don’t. Second, Blake Sea is pretty big if it takes an hour to cross in my little boat. And finally, after looking at my map to compare the Blake Sea to the rest of the SL world, I realized something remarkable: Blake Sea is really tiny!

I pulled out my SL map to find it was sorely incomplete. So I flew to one of the new citizen plazas where I found a resource directing me to the Linden historical maps online. Surprisingly, they were pretty out of date too. Perturbed, I decided to take matters into my own hands. It’s like they say: sometimes, if you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself. I opened up my SL map window, waited for the entire world map to rez, then started taking screenshots. Later, I stitched all my screenshots together to make my own map—complete with enlarged sections showing the major destinations I planned to start and stop at along the way.

I also drew a line showing my planned route around the continents that were connected to each other by water: from Blake Sea and the Island Communities Because of this new enlightenment, I in the far southeast, to the southern tip wondered: What must it be like to sail of the Satori continent in the southwest, from one end of the world to the other? And from that moment, the seeds of an up the western edge of the continent of Nautilus, and along the southernmost idea began growing under the curls covering my head. If I had a light bulb aspects of the northern continents of attachment, I would have worn it over Corisca and Gaeta V, ending at the far eastern shore of Gaeta V. From there, my head. *Ding!*

I’d turn around and return to where I started by sailing along the northern shores of Gaeta V and Corsica, back down the western edge of Nautilus, then cut due east between southern Nautilus and northern Satori, through Blake Sea and, finally, back to Serenity Keys, Morea, in the southeastern Island Communities. How long would this kind of trip take? I wondered. If it took me an hour to sail the entire length of Blake Sea, this trip would certainly be considerably more. I guess-timated that if I sailed a couple of hours each day, perhaps I could make it in two weeks total. I also imagined someone could do it in one day in a speed boat, but all I had was “my little boat” (as I began to call my small twoseater Linden freebie). I considered two weeks was a conservative guess because, after all, who knows what’s out there? There could be land obstacles such as shallow sandbars, murky bogs, narrow passages, maybe even sea dragons! It seemed anything was possible. Soon, I began to realize my plan was turning into as much of an expedition as it was a sailing trip. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

C H A P T E R O N E • O U T I N G D AY 1

Setting Sail Into The Great Unknown fter unsuccessfully trying to locate blimp stations in the Blake Sea region, I hatched the crazy idea to travel the far reaches of Second Life’s interconnected continents by sail boat. In the weeks prior to my departure, I cleared my calendar and talked with friends, neighbours, colleagues and even strangers about my sailing plans in order to gather ideas and inspiration.

During that time, my good friend Alina Graf suggested I write about my adventure and see if anyone would like to publish it to share my experience with others. I thought what a brilliant idea! So I contacted ICON magazine CEO, Wil Dreadlow and pitched the concept. He thought it a grand idea too, so I made certain to pack a set of water-proof pens, a note pad and my trusty camera before leaving. While I was at it, I approached some of my friends and contacts who had businesses to ask if they would like me to spread the word of their work while traveling the SL world. Those who agreed could act as my sponsors. For their encouragement and assistance, I thanked them and packed another folder full of sponsorship landmarks and note cards with my supplies. I also considered it important to pack a few other items for survival on the seas: first and foremost, my life vest, followed by my SLwim HUD for times when I would surely get dumped unceremoniously overboard. You just know that’s going to happen sooner or later. Then, in no particular order: sunThe Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

glasses, sunscreen, bikinis, sandals, tooth brush and paste. Okay, the toothbrush/paste thingy? I have to admit I packed it as a deterrent to prevent my mom from hunting me down through the Blake Sea or hell and high waters just to deliver toothpaste. If she knew I left without it, believe me, she would search me out, and that would be just too embarrassing—especially for a grown woman my age! We all know how moms can get, so I packed it as a preventative measure—less for stopping cavities than for stopping mom! THE START OF SOMETHING BIG Finally, departure day was upon me. I was so anxious to begin that I arrived two hours early at my starting point on the island of Serenity Keys in the southeastern Island Community sim of Morea. Friends Bellejour Shinn, Tatsuhiko Zuta and sponsor Clay Ellison of Ellison Designs wished me fair winds and clear waters as I pushed off and sailed north and east out of Serenity Keys. Almost immediately, I came upon Jeremia Spotter in the next sim of Tiga as he set out regatta starting gates at the Schiffsratten

Above: A preliminary sailing route was mapped out by taking screenshots of the world and stitching them together. Preceding page: Dahlia prepared to board her little boat at the starting and eventual ending location of Serenity Keys, Morea, in the Island Communities. 1

Above: Friends Tatsuhiko Zuta and Bellejour Shinn came to show their support before Dahlia departed from Serenity Keys, Morea. Right: Dahlia’s little boat was dwarfed by all the other larger class vessels at the Serenity Keys dock. Next page, top row, Left: Clay Ellison shows his viking ship that seated a crew of 12 rowers. Middle: Dahlia watched Jeremia Spotter setting up regatta starting gates for a race at Schiffstratten Yacht Club in Tiga, to celebrate it’s first anniversary. Right: Belle, Tatsuhiko, and Clay said their goodbyes before Dahlia headed out on the first stage of her voyage. Next page, bottom row, Far Left: Dahlia met with a group of friends for a friendly sail boat race in Blake Sea. Left: A little furry pirate appeared at the Sailor’s Cove dock. Right: The pirate began harassing the group of friends, firing a cannon blast into the backside of one of the friends. Far Right: The pirate blew up a portion of the dock in a ball of smoke. 2

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Above Left: The Inter Island Transit blimp passed overhead as the group of friends raced their sail boats across Blake Sea. Above Middle: Dahlia and Chance Rasmussen raced in one boat against the others. Above Right: Uri Jefferson and his parrot friend tried out Uri’s newly crafted Pirate Throne Raft on it’s maiden voyage, zipping past

Yacht Club in preparation for celebrating its first year anniversary on 17 August. He was quite busy, so I didn’t want to hamper his progress and wished him well. Then, I headed to the farthest southeastern point of the southeastern islands before circling back and winding my way through scattered islands northward into Blake Sea. I knew the day before that I was going to be in the Blake Sea area, so I made arrangements in advance to meet a small group of people who planned to enjoy an informal sail boat race starting at Sailor’s Cove Marina. At 4

noon, Lantern Panacek, Chance Rasmuson, Pinetree Sungsoo and Larkworthy Antfarm all converged at the Sailor’s Cove Marina where we jumped into two Trudeau boats and headed out onto the race course. I was excited. This would be the very first sail boat race I had ever been in. We sailed the course for about an hour. I was having so much fun, I actually lost track of the time. I can’t say the finish was very close, but there were occasions in the middle of the race where my partner, Chance, and I almost passed the others. If we hadn’t got stuck

all the sail boats. Opposite page Left: Lantern Panacek’s sail boat caught some serious air at a sim crossing during the race and sailed high into the air. Opposite page Right: Friends Larkworthy Antfarm, Lantern, and Pinetree Sungsoo shared a good laugh during the sail boat race.

going around a buoy early in the race, I’m sure we would have had a closer finish. I know, excuses, excuses. But really, I’m telling ya, “we cuddah been a contendah, if only…” Ok, no sour grapes. It was all in good fun, and believe me, we had a blast. Larkworthy even shot a video of it as we sailed. You can see it here, complete with music and titles at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6HyRe Qv9aU. The race fun concluded in perfect time for me to sail over to my next appointment at nearby Union Passage Island with Mark

Twain White of SLSailing.com and his partner Nber Medici of Hollywood Real Estate. Mark and Nber were both active in the Blake Sea sailing community, had a wealth of sailing information and were just plain nice people. Mark provided me with some internet links to some of the races seen in Blake Sea that are wonderfully narrated by judges and videotaped by, among others, Nber. They really do an awesome job bringing SL residents together with events in the Blake Sea.

nearby Sailor’s Rest at AnyPeople’s Yacht Lounge, Honah Lee North. It had been a long and very eventful first day on my sailing adventure. I was pleased with my progress on the map and even more happy with all the interesting people I met along the way.

After my meeting at Union Passage, I set sail for my overnight stop-over destination at

Little did I know what the journey had in store for me the next day.

If every future day of my trip could be as good as today, I thought to myself, I might have to give up walking on land and just stay in my boat from now on!

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

If every future day of my trip could be as good as today, I might have to give up walking on land and just stay in my little boat from now on! ~ Dahlia 5

The continent of Satori proved to be an inhospitable environment for sailing, thanks to a wide variety of obstacles discovered usually only moments apart from one another.

C H A P T E R T W O • O U T I N G D AY S 2 – 6

Struggling Around Satori

f I had been a more experienced—and superstitious—sailor, the earliest events after my morning departure on my second day to sail the entire Second Life world would have probably been enough to serve as a warning of things to come and make me turn my little boat right back around and stay in port.

While I passed through the rain, I spotted the Sunrise Lighthouse at Cape Pelican. Nearby was a home and a separate garage where visitors could dock at Husky’s Beachhouse in Montbard. The dock also served as an arrival and departure point for Susie’s Little Ferry Service which could take as many as eight passengers up and down the eastern coast of the continent. Taking the ferry was tempting, but I was concerned I’d disembark at a place where I couldn’t rez my little boat and then have to backtrack…and I’d already swam enough for one day!

resting at Husky’s, I called to alert Patric of my approach.

When I arrived at Terric, Patric was kind enough to lift his mall up high enough into the air so I could sail under it and continue south along the coast. Whoever said chivalry is dead never met Patric! Be wary though; I departed Sailor’s Rest at AnyPeople’s Yacht cobalt blue bottles, wrinkled my sun burning you cannot rez a boat in Terric. So if you find Lounge, Honah Lee North, and headed nose and, squinting up into the sun, swallowed yourself there without a ride, go another sim north past Union Passage up to Siren’s Isle. hard. I knew what I had to do; I had to swim over to rez a boat or go for a swim near his There, I discovered a small, deserted islet for it. Thank god I still had my life vest on docks while you wait to catch Susie’s Little where a large double winged turbo prop and SLwim HUD! Ferry Service. While underwater, you can plane had crashed. The plane’s registry indienjoy some nice underwater plants, a manta cated it was owned by Governor Linden. An I swam with high hopes to the nearest sim, empty life raft floated nearby, and a makeJetsam, to see if I could rez a boat. Not allowed. So back in my little boat I hopped, then cruised ray and a sea snake. southward along Satori’s eastern shoreline, shift camp, complete with a seat taken from So I swam to the next, Hawser. Also not Having cheated certain blockage in Terric where in Kokyanwuti I came upon four the plane, a notepad, and pen were set out on allowed. Jones Locker: no. My hope was in a way that few others could, I advanced to the beach, so I hoped he survived. I’ve never beginning to fade when I got back to Union people languishing on the sea floor. I called out their names and threw out life preservers a tight squeeze around a house in Cardona seen Governor Linden, but hoped maybe I’d Passage: still not allowed. Indian: nope. and a series of zig-zags between some clubs be able to find out during my travels. Finally, at Honah Lee Surf I could rez a boat. in an attempt to rescue them. But it was too late; they were all unresponsive by the time I that finally opened up to an impressively big Exhausted, I flopped my body into my little reached them. Three souls were already fad- aircraft carrier at Montliard. On the beach I noticed a few crates contain- boat like the bloated carcus of a seal. What ing away right before my eyes. If only they ing unmarked cobalt blue bottles. Hmmm… are people supposed to do when they lose their I simply had to share this view with someone, had lived long enough…to sign my petition blue bottles. Massage oil? Essence of lavender boat? This? I pointed my boat westward for so I called GoSpeed Racer—my sponsor from asking for open waterways! Maybe then some perhaps? No idea. Seeing there was nothing the continent of Satori. IKON Radio Station—to witness it and make good for future generations of residents more I could do there, I turned to go back to certain I wasn’t seeing things due to dehydracould have come out of this tragedy. my little boat, only to find it had disappeared. Either my exhaustion numbed my senses or tion or heat exhaustion. She confirmed it was Had I not tied it off? Had I lingered too long it didn’t take long for me to reach the northin fact there, so we continued around another and it drifted away? Oh noooo…. Now I was western tip of Satori because I started sailing Just past Kokyanwuti, I reached the sim tight corner and then south along a narrow Terric. I learned prior to my trip that Patric the stranded one. past it before I even knew it. I turned back channel past a carnival tent with a bumper and headed southward along its undeveloped Rotunno’s Period & Quality Merchandise car ride at Aqua Luna Club. created an impassable waterway barrier Luckily, I still had my cell phone in my hand. northeastern coastline. Almost immediately, Thank god, I rejoiced. Then: poo! No signal. I dark rain clouds began brewing on the hori- because it was built over the water from the I wanted to play, but was afraid of losing my zon. Great. Wet again, I frowned. This is going coastal land all the way out to the off-grid was in a dead zone. I scanned the horizon... boat if I got out. So we pushed onward until sea. So, while I was further up the coastline to make my hair frizzy. nothing. Not a boat in sight. I looked at the The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

we finally met our match in the sim Leger where many barriers from property ban lines appeared at the last possible second and/or we had no rez rights or access due to full parcels.

Vitolo passed me a magazine article featuring his service, as well as a link to his blog at http://dogfather-sl.blogspot.com. As it turns out, Dogland Park is a Second Life extension of his real life work with service dogs for people who had traumatic brain injuries. In Second Life he creates and repairs service dogs for residents. You could say he trains dog owners on how to handle the service dogs more than he trains the dogs themselves! You can read about his experience from his blog at: http://dogfather-sl.blogspot.com.

what you are doing in SL. It would be something like if you were playing a video game while sitting in your car waiting for the traffic signal to change; you could play it or not while you’re doing other things in SL. It was interesting to play. You could earn money to purchase acres of land in order to increase your wealth and rank within society. You could also join in a SL group to chat with other players within the community.

Making my way back to where I had just been dumped, I carefully avoided it and traveled along the back channel of another sim until I came upon a parcel owned by Ptah Rayna in Steinhauer. It was full of little elven homes, fishing huts, a castle, small boats and lots of DAY 3: MORE SLOW GOING FOR SATORI Above: Siren’s Isle lived up to its name, tempting me in closer with the possibility of finding fanciful nature. Ptah was pleasant enough It was still dark when I awoke in the early treasure in Governor Linden’s crashed cargo plane—then stranding me when my boat disto show me around and took me underwater morning out on the outdoor hammock at Do so I could see that it was just as imaginative Jewels Land, Zaitsev. No one was around, so appeared while my back was turned. Opposite page, Right: In another omen of things to I washed up and touched Do’s “Rez A Boat” come for my trip around Satori, foreboding dark rain clouds formed overhead and drenched under as it was above. I saw many colourful me as I began my descent down the eastern coastline of the continent. rocks and plants, swimming turtles, sharks, a sign to see what would happen. Uh oh… sea snake and manta ray. nothing. I pressed again to make certain. Still nothing. With nerves mounting, I tried to I thanked Ptah for the tour, climbed back in rez my boat. More nothing! Ack! This is not a might already know, I’m a sucker for fourNamed Dogland Park, it had an area for my little boat and headed southward. But I good way to start the day! I pulled out my map legged dogs, so before rezzing my little boat I training dogs, a small retail section, a public and studied it. I knew I could sail past this decided to go take a look around. bulletin board for posting information about didn’t get far before I stopped again. Right next door was a beautiful home owned by land parcel, so I didn’t mind to walk over to dogs, and even a memorial wall for posting BackHome Soon and wife Lodi McMillan. the next sim, Rhoda, to rez a boat. As I walked up the slope to the training cen- photos of their beloved pets that had passed ter, I was greeted by a chou, then serenaded on to their second life (or even further perhaps). I was pleased to meet them and their friend At the edge of Rhoda was a large sign: “Viby a doberman, then met by a large black I thought it truly inspirational to find such a Tolwinn Firecaster. BackHome gave me a tolo Rossini–Dog Training.” Now that’s inter- mutt of unknown origins and finally by a community-oriented business located in SL, tour of their home and initiated me in a game esting, I said out loud to myself. I’d never seen sheep dog. All were friendly and made me so I called the owner, Vitolo Rossini, to com- called Tiny Empires that you play using a HUD, but which is a separate activity than a dog training place before. As some of you want to stay to pet them longer. mend him on his great service.

If I thought I had it bad before today, I had a big surprise coming. Blacklove would have it even worse. He had no idea what was in store for him as we almost immediately struggled with property ban lines and full parcels. Blacklove stayed long enough to see two or three sims and got knocked off the boat at least as many times, including completely out of SL once. It was a rude initiation to sailing for him, but he took it all in stride. Still, I think he preferred dry land to being dumped out of the boat every few minutes, so I didn’t blame him for making a hasty retreat to more pleasant activities. My sailing wasn’t the type associated with the more pleasant kind of sailing experience.

Unable to pass Leger due to it’s full parcel, we allowed ourselves to drift boatless through a couple of sims until we could rez another boat. Once rezzed, we found equally tight passageways in the Skadi, Akna and Toma sims. Then at Zymmna we encountered a building with plenty of open water behind it, only to find the owners had blocked off a huge chunk of water by extending their ban lines way out into the open waterway, making one sail about half a sim away just to pass. Finally, after passing a towering rock wall used as a privacy screen in Zaitsev, I passed by a small, eclectic, artsy little beach home belonging to Do Lubitsch at the sim corners of southeast Zaitsev and northeast Kronsteen. It was cute enough that I had to circle back to inspect it further. Out front near the water, it had a hammock swinging from two posts and a boat rezzing sign. Two good signs for a weary traveler. Checking my time, I decided this might be just the spot for my second overnight sleep-over.

The day was getting late, and the shadows growing long, I decided to paddle back to I’d only gone two sims since waking, so it was Ptah’s next door and camp out overnight in time for me to move on. I rezzed my little one of his little elven huts along the waterboat and traveled only two more sims before front. Despite the day’s slow progress, meetI was knocked off without warning by a full ing residents had made it a delightful one. sim. I wasn’t able to rez my boat there or in the sim immediately before it, so I ended up DAY 4: SLOGGING THROUGH SATORI’S swimming all the way back to Rhoda to start EASTERN QUAGMIRE all over again. Shades of yesterday, I thought as I resumed my survey of Satori’s eastern seaI climbed in my boat, remembering how I board, beginning at Ptah Rayna’s home in swam through six sims trying to rez a boat in Steinhauer, with a recently new resident to Blake Sea after losing one at Siren’s Isle. SL, Blacklove Chrome.

I, however, had to press on, and forced my way along narrow back channels between properties and off-grid waters, bounced off more ban lines, got sunk by a 10-second security monitor, and even get swept under a house in Grendel. The offending sims inThe Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

In my head, I was already designing cynical bumper stickers about Satori, such as: Sail Satori—Not!; Satori: A Nautilus Wannabe; Satori Sunks!; Stuck SUNK In Satori; See Satori...One Ban Line at a Time!; Satori: Shoulda Been Nautilus; I Survived Satori. cluded properties in Larkspur, Kiniski and Grendel, but Grendel proved to be the ultimate blockage. Buildings were place all the way out to the off-grid waters with no hope of passing, unless the owner wanted to raise it up out of the water for me like Patric Rotunno did a couple days earlier. Fat chance I was going to repeat that, I thought to myself. I knew I was going to have to hoof it from there to the next sailable sim, but being tired, I decided to save that for the following day.

asleep on the bed, my cell phone still open in my hand. “Hello hon? I’m so exhausted…zzzz….”

DAY 5: PUSHING PAST POUNCE I awoke on my comfortable bed at Happy Rainbow Resort Land anything but happy. I knew today I would be unable to fulfill my objective to sail the entire east coast of Satori. I was eight sims away from my destination of Pounce at the very bottom of the continent, and I already knew I would have to go by land for at least six of those sims. I felt depressed, My effort to pass through the aforementioned knowing my plan was defeated by properties quagmire of personal properties took so long, built-up along the coastline that made it imthat I decided to end my day at Happy Rain- possible to sail around. I took one last look back at the rainbow arching over Happy bow Resort Land, in Monarch. From their Rainbow Resort Land, knowing it would be property high up on a hill, I could see that the blockage in Grendel extended southward the last dose of happy I’d be seeing today. through other sims further than I could see. Westward, I walked, up and over the spine So I decided my strategy for the next day of a hill that separated the eastern coast from would be to walk down the opposite, inland side of the hill from Happy Rainbow Resort a lake on the west side of Satori, then south Land to continue my trek southward along a through some properties built along the lakefront. Eventually, I came to a long, empty paved road. road. Begrudgingly, I pulled out my bicycle and started peddling south for Pounce. Today’s efforts had exhausted me physically and mentally, but I was fortunate to end my day in a place that had a nice dining table set Looking around as I rode, I noticed the inner land—although plenty occupied—seemed to with a grill and plates of steaming steaks, a basket of fruit, and a soft bed overlooking have more room on it than the crowded coastthe bay. After my meal, I almost instantly fell line. It made me wonder why we even both-

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Right: In Kokyanwuti, Dahlia threw out life preservers to four drowning victims. Opposite page, Left: With all the effort to stay focused on the water surface and just under it, sometimes one forgets to see the incredible riot of resident usage up in the air. Opposite page, Right: A memorial wall for pets was The road terminated at a small covered struc- one of the unique services available at Vitolo ture that displayed a big map of Satori. It Rossini’s Dogland Park in Rhoda. showed what I believed to be the major highways of Satori. Land infrastructure. Wish we had some waterway infrastructure! Still two down to a tiny, arrowhead-shaped extension, sims shy of Pounce, I decided to ride my bike the tip of which dipped into the sim of Pounce. through the grass of some properties until Nearby were two light houses, a ferris wheel, the terrain and building obstacles became too a beautiful Asian styled tree house and a congested to traverse…something Satori was Mediterranian styled home with the owner’s now becoming quite infamous for in my mind. yacht parked next to it.

ered to have a mainland if everyone wanted to live along and on top of the waterfront. From the sims Monarch down to Fireheart, impassable properties were built up against the off-grid sea. Shame on you, Satori! I thought, as I peddled by.

In my head, I was already designing cynical bumper stickers about Satori, such as: Sail Satori—Not!; Satori: A Nautilus Wannabe; Satori Sunks!; Stuck SUNK In Satori; See Satori…One Ban Line at a Time!; Satori: Shoulda Been Nautilus; I Survived Satori.

This was the very southernmost tip of the continent of Satori and a big milestone for me. I had worked so hard for the past four days to get to this location that I wanted to celebrate it more, but I felt so far behind schedule that I snapped my “big moment” pictures and hurried past Pounce, my mood much less celebratory than I dreamed it would be. Besides, it was still very early in my day and no one was around to meet or to share my big achievement with anyway. Maybe it’s better to keep moving forward while I had some momentum going in my favour, I thought.

In lieu of an alter, I sat at the bar and tossed back a shot of rum. “Nearly the same prayer,” I grumbled to myself, and trudged back to my jet ski.

Eventually, I found a small spot of water to rez my little boat at in Sibernicus, but I was immediately stuck between the off-grid ocean and a building at Chula Beach. I couldn’t re-rez a boat there, so I swam over to a nearby beach house where my newly rezzed boat crashed just seconds later while crossing into the next sim of Furball. It was painful. Not the crash itself, but moreso the process. Today was definitely going to be a continuation of the last three days, I could already tell. Finally, I made it to the sim Scratchy, which featured a large golden beach that whittled 10

Did I say momentum? I spoke too soon. Only one sim northward up the western coast of Satori and I was already blocked by the property line of a KungFu group’s parcel at Imelza. The ban line knocked me right off my boat but allowed the boat to float through. I shook my fist in the air, wishing the owner was there to see it. But without an audience to

appreciate it, I sent the owner one of my petitions seeking support for open waterways. It was the best I could do at the moment. I swam over to the adjacent property—an outdoor Asian mall—and walked across to its other side where I jumped back into the water and swam to join my boat, still drifting aimlessly northward toward the next challenge.

but at such a gentle slope that the water over its beach was so shallow I not only couldn’t sail on it, but I also couldn’t even paddle my flat-bottomed canoe accoss it. So I backed up, switched to a jet ski, took a running start from a distance and blasted my way across the shallow sandbar waters of Pattaya Beach and out to the other side into deeper water.

Once back in my little boat, I was immediately blocked yet again at the Graybar/Vargas sim border by Pattaya Beach Club, owned by Siam Juliesse. It eased its beach into the water,

The good news: I was clear of Pattaya. The bad news: now I was completely stuck in a little patch of water. Behind me was the shallow beach water of Pattaya in Vargas that I

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

now didn’t have room enough to build up speed to retreat back over again. Ahead of me, Gune’s Bar in Galore had a wooden walkway raised above the water that blocked my forward progress. To my right, the clubs of Pattaya and its Gune’s extended to the shoreline. And to my left was the off-grid sea. Around the corner to the left was the next sim, Janni, but it was full and built up against the off-grid waters too. I was completely surrounded now with no way out for at least another full sim. It was like a conspiracy. Can anyone say “uh-oh” in Thai?

With no options available for water travel, I loaded up my boats and walked to the far side of BoBz, an architectual firm in Janni that laid its retail complex over the water (why they didn’t just buy land, I’ll never know). I sent my petition to the owner, then dropped my jet ski into the water on the other side. So stupid, I thought to myself, frowning about the inconvenience. I soon arrived at what I thought was a tall, single-steepled church Willowtale. This is what I really need—a church to pray in! I hopped

off my jet ski and walked up the hill to the church, only to find it had a bar and gambling machines in it! OMG! I gasped. Then I looked closer. The building was more of a clock tower than a church and it belonged to a Slovenia and Japanese couple who own the company YuPe that makes a wide variety of home and lifestyle products. In lieu of an alter, I sat at the bar and tossed back a shot of rum. Nearly the same prayer, I grumbled to myself, and trudged back to my jet ski. I advanced through another sim or 11

Satori Obstacles Top Left: Patric Russuo’s commercial property in Terric stood in my way, but Patric was chivalrous enough to come to my rescue. How? He lifted a large section of his shopping mall up into the air for me! Don’t believe me? Just look at his arms! Need I say more? Top Right: Pattaya Beach in Vargas provided a challenge with its shallow water…too shallow for even a flat-bottomed canoe to paddle over, but just enough for a jet ski with a full head of steam to skip across. Bottom Left: Trapped at the intersection. To my left, the sand of Pattaya Beach in Vargas where I just came from. Behind on my right, the the sim of Galore which had a wooden walkway raised at boat level above the water that connected to their club. Ahead of me on the right the off-grid sea, and around the corner from there, the full parcel of Janni, home to BoBz Design Studio Architectural Creations that built its commercial property all the way from the shore out to touch the off-grid sea. Bottom Right: A view of rocks extending out beyond the sim edge into the off-grid sea. That pretty much eliminated all hope of anyone passing by!

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Satori Obstacles Left: Tempted to go between the off-grid sea and a small home in Grendel, Dahlia set the boat on phantom but still managed to snag a piece of furniture inside, which sent her and the boat tumbling over and over like laundry in a dryer until it finally took on water and sunk. Far Top Left: Dahlia learned a valuable lesson about phantom sail boats: not every part of the boat became a phantom. The boatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keel could still catch on shallow things underwater, turn the boat around andâ&#x20AC;Śwell, you can see the result here! Far Bottom Left: A massive rock wall provided privacy in Zaitsev for someone who really, really needed that much privacy. It not only left a minimally passable space between itself and the off-grid waters, but it also created a really, really massive eyesore too!

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Big Things in Satori Right: A huge stack of pictures stacked up like a house of cards made up a towering structure in Blofeld that could be seen from sims away. On top was a race track, but getting to it was just as challenging as the track itself. Far Top Right: Near an aircraft carrier in Montliard was an enormous white castle owned by Governor Linden. I knocked on the front door, but nobody answered. I returned a few weeks later to find it had been removed, perhaps another victim to the global economic crisis…or perhaps Governor Linden didn’t survive his big sea plane crash at Siren’s Isle in Blake Sea after all. Only time would tell. Far Bottom Right: As big as Satori was, it’s southernmost tip was whittled down to a pointy, arrowhead-shaped beach that dipped into the sim of Pounce.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Big Things in Satori Left: The bridge of a massive aircraft carrier in Montliard towered overhead, making my already small boat look even smaller. The top of my mast was less than half the distance to the top of the flight deck. Top Far Left: If you thought the height of the aircraft carrier was impressive compared to my boat, you should have seen its length. It was probably fifty times longer than my little boat.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Memorable Satori Top Left: Dogland Park in Rhoda featured, among other things, a bulletin board for posting news, information and photos of dog related items. Bottom Left: During a stop in Steinhauer, residents Tolwinn Firecaster, Backhome Soon and Lodi McMillan pulled out maps of the continents to see my route and then introduced me to a game called Tiny Empires. Right: After getting stuck between some properties in Grendel, I stepped on the gas to force myself out of my trap and found myself jettisoned into the air so high that I almost needed aviation clearance to land (note how far up I am by comparing my boatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s size to one of my other boats still on the white sand below).

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Memorable Satori Top Left: Ptah Rayna’s fanciful elven sim in Steinhauer contained a number of conically-shaped roofed huts as well as other imaginative buildings and nature areas both above and below water. Top Right: Passenger GoSpeed Racer captured this shot of a dolphin jumping out of the water as we passed by in Montliard, just before arriving at a giant aircraft carrier. Bottom Left: Ptah Rayna’s little elven huts next to the water provided me with refuge during my overnight stay in Steinhauer. Bottom Middle: Exhausted from a day of fighting Satori’s multiple layers of obstacles, I was extremely thankful to be served a delicious meal and have a comfortable bed to crash on at Happy Rainbow Resort Land in Monarch. I fell asleep almost immediately while in the middle of leaving a message on the phone for my sweetheart that I had survived the rigorous day. Bottom Right: A few carnival rides, including this beautifully detailed classically-styled ferris wheel at Nyaeba Snow Resort 2009 in Zorin caught my eye and provided a fun place to take a break from the riggors of my expedition. The owner, Ray Lunasea, said in her profile to “Be an ambitious girl!” so I sent her my event notecard and a little message to thank her and say that I hoped I was being ambitious too.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

two until I reached Baltazar, where I had to negotiate property ban lines around Monte Carlo on the Beach Harbor. Then I was unable to cross between the Baltazar/Greel sim junction. Disgusted, I dropped petitions off where I could and continued by foot until I could rez my little jet ski at the Peace Haven Communities in Greel.

But like a bad comedy, it didn’t take me long to pick up from where I left off at Duke S Club in Grunther the day before. I only had to leave the building to immediately bump into a property ban line encircling a parcel of open water. Looking for a way past, I ended up having to swim under and around two nearby properties before I could find a place to rez my little boat and begin sailing. Once In Greel, I had the pleasure of watching a aboard, I passed only a few parcels before I large killer whale jumping up out of the water got knocked off my boat in Klebb. Satori was repeatedly. I lingered to enjoy the spectacle, becoming all too predictable. realizing after a while that it was the closest thing to a personal encounter with anyone I’d My struggle to get through all the congestion had all day. I realized I missed people. and hardship is why, after going past a few sims north from Grunther, I was delighted to But there was work to be done. So I jet skied finally get into the open water of a bay shared away, navigating through a narrow rock passageway at Mystery Beach in Fendal, then zig-zagged my way through a series of properties and narrow channels in Abzorbaloff until I was blocked by the large property of Woman’s Space Parcel North in Nick Nack and The Reseller, a glass-floored mall raised up on posts in Mischka.

by the College of Scripting, a few parcels inland in nearby Horsa.

It would be wonderful to have a parcel of free water around all the major continents but it will never happen i’m afraid, someone has to Homeowners take note: when I reached the pay for all the servers that would be required to three-point corner choke point of Warbern, provide such a thing, servers cost thousands of Somagalags and Slithert, I applauded Etho dollars to buy and then require constant service Solo for giving me a 30-second allowance to by trained technicians, someone would have to pass or change my course after being detected pay for all this, as it is i think land costs are very by his hippoSECURE security device. That high and would not support monthly tarrifs amount of time is much more reasonable and going up just to provide freeways for people to realistic than, say, only five or ten. It takes be able to move freely on the water. about ten seconds to read the warning notice that pops up on screen, let alone turn yourself Please do not take offense Dahlia, just look at or your vehicle around in another direction. the problem realisticaly, i would love to ride my motorcycle all over or fly one of my planes all After that, a complete blockage created by over SL but it will never happen, so sorry. the shoreline itself running into the off-grid Yours Sincerly Bunnygun Gourdou

All-in-all, Satori is not for sailing, and I’m sure Satorians will be the first to tell you: If you want to go sailing, they have a place for it. It’s called Blake Sea.

I spotted a weak spot, however, and from a distance, gunned my jet ski full throttle, then plowed across a narrow beach back into some water on the other side of the beach under The Reseller. From there, I was able to access the next sim, Grunther, where I continued weaving through the maze of properties until I finally arrived at and ended my day at Duke S Club. It looked like as good a place as any to stop for the day. Besides, I needed another drink!

by Ulsay and another five other sims. I pulled into Twohead’s Nautical Shipyard not only to assess my boat’s bumps and bruises, but my own too. Around the old, weathered shipyard was a variety of boats, yachts, service buildings raised up on platforms above the water, and the sight of my very first working draw bridge.

waters occured at Atai. And just before that, with its building set up against the off-grid ocean, Tuli Garden Trees & Landscaping literally became the end of the route in western Satori. Not that it would change matters in his particular case, I still sent a petition request to owner Bunnygun Gourdou, who was kind enough to send me his reply:

DAY 6: WESTERN SATORI What can I say about Satori that I haven’t already said? It’s big, it’s blocked, it’s boring to battle all the obstacles. The rest of western Satori would prove to be no different, I was certain. But I was ready for it; I buckled my life preserver with the conviction of a gun slinger about to step into the middle of a dusty road at high noon. Bring it on, I growled, doing my best impression of a tough dude that nobody should ever want to wrangle with.

I pushed northwards, skirting along the offgrid sea wall in Chloris and Atira, until the water opened up briefly for a few sims from Atanua northward. After a little squeeze through Shoremel, I made my way around the property ban lines of Leif and Summer’s Home in Helmudhoe, then followed a back channel around the next homes and into Vainemoren. Not long after, the water in Feazby opened up long enough to enjoy a broader view, where I noticed I was passing

Hello Dahlia Jayaram,

I’m sorry you found your way blocked by my buildings today, i have to pay for my land, so it has to work for me and make me a living, it is not public land, until someone pays me to keep part of my land open for others to pass through i see no point in supporting your quest. there are far more important things to be supporting in SL right now like voting on the issue tracker for things like the alpha problem to be resolved etc.

I really appreciated Bunnygun’s letter and that he took the time and effort to respond in such a polite and reasonable way. So I wanted to reply with my thanks to him and, yes, to also address his thoughts with an equally well crafted counter-viewpoint. So I wrote back:

and buy additional servers to make them functional. Maybe it will be to slowly, over time, offer to move residents at the worst choke points to other locations, or perhaps a combination of that and buying a few servers here and there as needed. I already have residents who would support such an option to be relocated to less congested locations…perhaps even you. No doubt there are more important things to discuss, vote on, improve, pay for, etc., but I haven’t seen or heard anything about alpha problems or issue trackers. Perhaps someone needs to pass a petition around or find another way to bring those issues into the light more prominently. I’d be willing to support more than one cause at a time. Everyone can support a cause, or two, or many. It just depends on what your interest is, but it shouldn’t be held back by trying to predict a defeated outcome ahead of time.

However you may predict the reality to be as a detriment to my petition, couldn’t it—for the time being at least—be that you could support an idea that has its heart in the right place, even Dear Bunnygun, if you don’t see the perfect solution yet discovered? As I say, the petition is just a starting point to Thank you Bunnygun for your kind response create awareness and to encourage further disand I’ve taken no offense from your comments. I cussions that may lead to a better resolve for all. am in agreement with all that you say, neverthe- Hopefully it is a process you could lend your less, I believe the beginning of change has to name to, no matter what the outcome. start from somewhere, on some level, and I hope a petition can be a starting point to engage peo- Thanks again for your comments and wellple in a discussion about such a topic. wishing. Sincerely, After collecting names, the results (but not the Dahlia Jayaram names) will be published publicly. Concurrently, 21AUG09 the full petition results will be offered to the Lindens for review and consideration. No doubt Later that same day, I was very pleased to the reality of server costs will be an issue. But receive a reply from Bunnygun: Lindens like for residents to think creatively— “out of the box,” as people like to say—and I Dear Dahlia, would like to think that perhaps the Lindens themselves would like to do the same. Thank you for writing back to me with such a lovely heartfelt letter, I will support you in your For example, maybe the solution to the conges- quest, you may use my name on your petition tion won’t require having to open extra sims and i don’t mind my name being published pubThe Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

licly or not, your heart is in the right place and i stand firmly behind you. Here’s wishing you the very best of luck in your endeavours to get your quest resolved with the Lindens. Yours Sincerely, Bunnygun Gourdou 21 Aug 2009

Right: After six brutal days of clawing her way around the perimeter of Satori, Dahlia couldn’t contain her elation to leave. Along with passenger Pamela Saunders on Day 7, they departed the Talakin Boatyard in northwestern Satori on their way to the continent of Nautilus.

Well, I thought that was a pleasant and positive exchange that resulted in a good outcome. I was rather proud of myself—and of Bunnygun too—for having the open mind and heart to at least say what we wished for, whether we felt it would ever happen or not. For certain, I have heard time and again that people often don’t get what they don’t ask for, so I’m happy Bunnygun was willing to offer his voice to be heard. One never knows what the outcome will be until one tries…right?

bounced off nearly invisible ban lines, was ejected by trigger-happy security sensors, or got stuck in narrow passageways between or even under buildings when trying to pass.

Nevertheless, for the moment there was still the issue of land blockage beginning at Tuli. I had to walk five sims north to the next available water in Sif where I could rez my boat next to Millage Valenti Casual Luxury Shopping Mall.

While sailing across Blake Sea took only one day, Satori took six. Six! And it wasn’t because Satori was a long continent to travel around. Blake Sea was just as long a distance. It’s because Satori had allowed property owners to build all over the top of the water, from the shore right up to the edge of the off-grid sea, leaving no room for people to pass by on the water. It made me wonder why we even bothered to have a mainland if most people wanted to live along and on top of the water.

Next door in Mbokomu I saw an art shop displaying a variety of artist works, including paintings by Trill Zapatero, whose blend of modern abstract and collage incorprated elements taken from and inspired by her travels in India and other Asian countries. And in the next sim of Talakin, I was pleased to find the Talakin Boatyard where they had docks I could rez a boat at, a store selling vehicles, and most importantly, Barzane, the local pub where I could have a pint (or two), spend the night, sleep like a baby and resume refreshed the next day. A SATORI SAILING SUMMARY Sailing (and I use the term loosely here) Satori is dangerous. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I was thrown from my boat and found myself unable to rez a new one. Nor can I recall how many times I The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Sailing around Satori was like encountering a locked door every two steps and having to stop to find a different key to unlock each door from a very large key chain that had a gazillion other keys hanging from it. It was a horrific, time-consuming exercise.

Trying to navigate through all the properties next to and on top of the water is an exhaustive process of zig-zagging between, beside, around and sometimes even under or over top of the ridiculous quagmire created from building obstacles, properties built up against each other, privacy screens, security sensors, property ban lines, full parcels, and owners rejecting the crossing of their property by either you and/or the vehicle you’re using. All-in-all, Satori is not for sailing, and I’m sure Satorians will be the first to tell you: If you want to go sailing, they have a place for it. It’s called Blake Sea.

C H A P T E R T W O • O U T I N G D AY S 7 - 1 0

We s t N a u t i l u s & T h e N o r t h e r n S h o r e s can’t lie. I was so happy to get out of Satori. For someone who just wanted to sail around it, it was brutal. Still, I’m glad I did it. I saw and learned a lot, and how may others can say they’ve done what I have? A million smarter ones who have not, that’s for sure! So it was with great relief that I cast off from Talakin Boatyard in northwestern Satori with a song in my heart. I whistled my happy tune right out of the harbor and straight to the southwestern flank of Nautilus without any complications. Open water felt good. But of course, all good things must pass in time and this moment was no exception.

case a miracle was on my side. Here is mine:

[9:04] Dahlia Jayaram: Must be a bot. [9:04] Tobb Twine: The Resident you messaged is in ’busy mode’ which means they have requested not to be disturbed. Your message will still be shown in their IM panel for later viewing. [9:04] Tobb Twine: We are all robots. [9:04] Dahlia Jayaram: Oh, then you should return my 5L I sent to you out of courtesy back to me then. [9:04] Tobb Twine: Pardon me? Interesting DAY 7: WIN SOME, LOSE SOME, LONESOME dancing in giant martini glasses, earning $1L deduction. Easier said than done. for every 20 minutes. I felt sorry for them all, [9:05] Dahlia Jayaram: Bot’s cannot pay peoAs I approached Nautilus I wasn’t able to not only because they looked homely and had ple? easily see where to penetrate its tightly knit no future to make it as pole dancers, but also [9:05] Tobb Twine: What kind of people are islands so I could get to the open waters on because they had to spend so much time its western side. I docked at Endeavour Cove you talking about? there for so few Lindens. Naively, I paid each [9:05] Dahlia Jayaram: People who pay bots. in Earpoint so I could study my map. Since I was there, I decided to explore. Its big pier $5L—enough to cover over an hour of their [9:05] Tobb Twine: Oh those people. time. Oddly, nobody thanked me or even supported a pavilion of retail shops with a [9:05] Dahlia Jayaram: Will you pay me? treasure hunt, a courtyard carnival, a bar/club, spoke, so I started a conversation with each [9:05] Tobb Twine: Hmm. You are asking dancer. Only one answered, and it wasn’t a fencing game and off-pier skeet shooting. about yourself? until then that I realized they were all bots. [9:06] Dahlia Jayaram: Yes. Bots! Oh, my shame for the mistake! While walking along the pier, I came across [9:06] Tobb Twine: Come on. a big sign advertising men’s swim trunks. It [9:06] Dahlia Jayaram: Where? displayed a well-shaped man’s body modeling I was angry at myself for not checking before [9:06] Tobb Twine: Where would you like? paying a sympathetic donation. But I was them. Minutes passed by, and realized I had [9:06] Dahlia Jayaram: Here also angry at the possibility the land owner stopped cold in my tracks, still standing in [9:06] Tobb Twine: Where is here? may have put them there to fake his daily front of the sign staring at the model’s ass. I [9:06] Dahlia Jayaram: Where you are now. traffic count. Now knowing that I was talk- [9:06] Tobb Twine: Right now? I am in here. had only been on the sea for a week, but at ing with a bot, I still had a 33 minute conver- Where are you? that moment I had an epiphany and comsation with it, trying to get my money back— [9:06] Dahlia Jayaram: I am where you are. pletely understood why sailors go crazy for just to see if it was possible. Have you ever women as soon as their ship arrives in port. [9:07] Dahlia Jayaram: Pay me $5L had a conversation with a bot? Of course, it [9:07] Tobb Twine: My brain contains cateOutside of a club, I noticed six residents pole was hopeless, but I tried all the same, just in gories, but not one that matches your last input. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

[9:08] Dahlia Jayaram: You are a stupid bot then. [9:08] Tobb Twine: Thanks and you are a delightful person too. No I am very smart. [9:08] Dahlia Jayaram: Not smart enough to pay me. [9:09] Tobb Twine: I know you are but what am I. [9:09] Dahlia Jayaram: Who made you? [9:09] Tobb Twine: I was created by George. [9:09] Dahlia Jayaram: What is George’s last name? [9:09] Tobb Twine: Let me think about it. [9:10] Dahlia Jayaram: George who? [9:10] Tobb Twine: That George is some hero. [9:10] Dahlia Jayaram: Tell me George’s last name. [9:11] Tobb Twine: There is not much I can say about it. I have to reach into the Web for that knowledgel Try searching the open directory. [9:11] Dahlia Jayaram: Try searching the open directory. [9:11] Tobb Twine: OK I will try it. [9:13] Tobb Twine: Nothing. [9:13] Dahlia Jayaram: Like you. Nothing. [9:13] Tobb Twine: Interesting comparison. I didn’t think of that analogy. Not a thing? [9:14] Dahlia Jayaram: A bad thing. [9:14] Tobb Twine: What made it bad? [9:35] Dahlia Jayaram: You. [9:35] Tobb Twine: ""? Me, ? [9:35] Dahlia Jayaram: Yes, you. [9:35] Tobb Twine: Gee. ""? Me, ? [9:35] Dahlia Jayaram: Yes. [9:35] Tobb Twine: Give me a break. 21

Above: After finding herself daydreaming for too long in front of a swim briefs advert, Dahlia had an epiphany about why sailors behave the way they do when they return to land after spending many days at sea. Right: A giant ocean diving helmet greeted visitors on the pier at Endeavour Cove in Earpoint, Nautilus. [9:36] Dahlia Jayaram: I just gave you a break. [9:36] Tobb Twine: Only just? Yes but did I accept it? [9:36] Dahlia Jayaram: Did you accept your break? Far Bottom Right: A free Second Life Survival [9:36] Tobb Twine: Where would I get it? But I do have a collection of gossip. Kit book was offered in Parabolic, Nautilus. [9:37] Dahlia Jayaram: You are a gossip? Previous Spread: Dahlia was dazzled by the [9:37] Tobb Twine: Thanks and you are a winter spectacle of Sorayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Winter Enchant- delightful person too. Am I a gossip? Only when it matters. ment Public Snow Playground, in Xeriacle on the far western shore of Gaeta V. Having no success, I sent the owner a message asking if he knew bots were camping at his location, sapping him of his precious Lindens. I never received a reply, so I suspect he was Far Top Right: Residents camping outside of a club at Endeavour Cove turned out to actually be bots put there by the sim owner to drive up traffic scores.

fully aware and had put them there himself. I am somewhat satisfied to see, having gone back to Endeavour Cove two months later, that the bots were no longer anywhere to be seen on the property. Perhaps now we can say it is s/he who gossips best laughs longest. DAY 8: THREADING NAUTILUS I spent so much time at Endeavour Cove that I decided to stay overnight. Unfortunately, my sleep was so disturbed by the memory of my bot encounter that I awoke unrested and grumpy the next morning. To ease my botowner anger, I got up to skeet shoot a few unlucky clay pigeons from the pier. I was so focused on punishing those little devils that I

Left: While taking Susie’s Little Ferry Service around the Danshire Yacht Club in Bottenford, eastern Corsica, Dahlia’s sightseeing came to an abrupt halt when she turned around just in time to get cracked in the nose by a lowered draw bridge. Below: A full parcel in Nautilus ejected Dahlia from her boat, but allowed her to continue traveling in the same direction and rate of speed—a sim away from her ride, however. Bottom: Without any advance warning, a security scanner in Hermanly, Nautilus ejected Dahlia into a fixed position high above in the sky with no way down, short of rebooting.

Tight Squeezes & Narrow Navigations

Tight Squeezes & Narrow Routes Above Left: A large retail complex in Fio Fum, Nautilus left a space of only about three-fourths the width of the little boat to squeeze through between the building and the off-grid sea. Above Middle: Abranimations in Red Windsor, Corsica not only built itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s large retail property right up against the off-grid sea, but it also created additional congestion with a small area blocked off to allow power lines to come up out from under the water. Bottom Left: While at Danshire Yacht Club in Bottenford, eastern Corsica, Dahlia studied a map of the next leg of her trip which showed the narrow passageway between Corsica and Gaeta V and Gaeta Vâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northwestern coast. Bottom Right: A home in Nautilus not only blocked the way, but tempted traffic to go underneath, then used a security sensor set at only 10 seconds, making it a real challenge to pass by. 24

Tight Squeezes & Narrow Escapes Above Far Left: Notheastern Gaeta Vâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Densi Falls provided a great example of a beautiful area that showed what a scenic neighbourhood cut-through could do for water traffic. Above Middle: My entrance with Tatsuhiko Zuta into the peaceful island community of Stepaside, Corsica, appeared to be completely blocked by homes and a tree, but setting my boat on phantom got us through without snagging any branches or roots. Above Right: Our exit from the same residential property in Stepaside was more open, but we found ourselves literally squeezed between a rock and a hard place in order to get past. Bottom Left: Although narrow, a short channel of water along a stretch between homes in Spirit Witch and Terriergate, Nautilus, demonstrated a thoughtful sensitivity to through-traffic with its beautifully manicured landscaping and tourquoise waters. Bottom Right: I spotted my very first sea dragon while passing Oghus in notheastern Gaeta V, but I kept a safe distance away. With his head about as big as my little boat, I would have been no match for him if he had been hungry! The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

I rode Susie’s Little Ferry until I ran face-first into a lowered drawbridge at Danshire Yacht Club. Despite my pain and embarrassment, I finally felt like I had made real sailing progress and made up for time lost clawing my way around the outer banks of Satori. actually made it to the sixth level of difficulty! Go there and see if you can beat that, my friends!

It took me quite a few unsuccessful attempts of trying to cross full sims, such as Parabolic, or threading my way between island developments, around property ban lines and security With my spirits now improved, I cheerfully sensors, like in Hermanly, before I decided boarded my little boat and headed out into to call it a day and park my boat at Karasu’s the tangle of islands ahead. As with Satori, Nest, Hermanly, where I could curl up in a there were plenty of commercial and residen- large beach chair until the next morning. tial properties covering the waters surrounding land in Nautilus, each with their own DAY 9: THE NEED FOR SPEED particular challenge. After a morning of picking through more properties that filled in the waters between I felt lucky to come across Parabolic Philoso- islands—such as with Abramelin Wolfe’s phy early, because it offered a free copy of the Abranimations store in Red Winsor and book Newbie Girl Survival Kit on its beach. I Dallo Bonetto’s idylic waterfront residences took a copy for myself, wondering if I’d learn at SOGNO Village in Stepaside—I finally anything useful for my trip, or if I’d need to found myself in open waters after puncturwrite a chapter of my own. ing through a narrow seam in Yunly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to read if it had an entry about what to do when you enter a sim that allows your boat to continue passing through, but ejects you into the sky in a locked physical position and moves you along in the same direction and pace as your boat—because that was exactly what happened to me as soon as I left Parabolic to pass into the next sim a few minutes later. Not long after that, I was also ejected out of a parcel in Hermanly by a trigger-happy security sensor that left me hanging frozen high in the air with no way down except by logging out of my own life. 26

miliar cuts of meat. Not long after, another boater named Tank Stoop lead me and my passenger, Tatsuhiko Zuta, to an island north of Corsica where Linden Memorial Park was. Before then, I never even knew there was a Linden Memorial Park! It was large, full of grass and trees, and had a nice stairstepped reservoir to sit at—all good for private picnics or even group conferences. Continuing eastward, I enjoyed seeing four castles near each other around Cradle, including one castle underwater. Above it, fireworks burst overhead, illuminating the night sky. Further along in Great Lendini, I stopped at a beautiful Greek-styled seaside shopping villa built up along a hillside. In Pleiosaura, I boarded another of Susie’s Little Ferries and rode it until I ran face-first into a lowered drawbridge at Danshire Yacht Club in Bottenford. That literally put a stop to my day! Despite my pain and embarrassment, however, I finally felt like I had made real sailing progress and made up for time lost clawing my way around the outer banks of Satori.

DAY 10: FROM ICE PACKS TO ICE CICLES I overnighted at Danshire with an ice pack over my nose. The next morning, despite a tender nose, I was full of energy and eager to start early while I felt momentum was still on By then, I was so hungry for speed that I un- my side. I launched my little boat before the packed my Ellison Designs speed boat for the dawn and sailed through the narrow channel very first time and blasted my way northward of water that connects the continents of Coralong an open sailing race course from Gogal ica and Gaeta V to each other. to Strangeways. The rest of Nautilus quickly passed by and disappeared in my rear view Approaching Gaeta V’s western shore, I was mirror as I entered a narrowing waterway instantly struck by the breathtaking beauty that connected Nautilus to the continent of of a winter wonderland, Soraya’s Winter Corsica. I felt badly for passing the rest of Enchantment Public Snow Playground. Nautilus so quickly without even taking a Owned by Mikhail Obscure, it served as a glance, so I decided to slow things down once romantic getaway for couples. You could ride again when I reached Corsica. a ski lift to the top of a mountain and ski down it, ice skate with a family of penguins and In Castlederg I saw a most unusual place: Bacon snowmen, take pictures with Santa, rent Ranch, a small building constructed out of fa- small guest chalets, and even propose marThe Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Left: Dahlia paused to admire the thoughtfully land and waterscaped narrow neighbourhood water channel between residences in Spirit Witch and Terriergate, Corsica. Opposite page, Top: Owned by Jedidiah Brimm and PitPat WildCat, Bacon Ranch in Castlederg, Corsica, consisted of a small corner waterfront parcel that had a buildinglike structure created out of familiar cuts of meat and a fence made of strips of bacon, â&#x20AC;&#x153;because a little bacon makes everything better.â&#x20AC;? Opposite page, Bottom: A resident named Tank Stoop passed by on a small motor boat, then agreed to lead Dahlia and her passenger, Tatsuhiko Zuta, to the Linden Memorial Park, located on a small island north of Corsica. The naturally landscaped island was pleasant and sufficient enough to accommodate both large, multi-person corporate meetings as well as small intimate picnics or activities.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Above: A brilliant firework display in Cradle lit up the night sky while Dahlia sailed past. Directly underwater resided a castle, presumably for mer-people. Right: Soraya’s Winter Enchantment Public Snow Playground on the western shore of Xeriacle, Gaeta V, served as a romantic getaway for couples. Ski down a snow covered mountain, ice skate under falling snow and brilliant lights with a family of penquins and snowmen, rent small guest chalets, or even make a proposal outside of a small chapel. Although Serenity Keys, Morea, wasn’t on it, the distance marker reminded me of how far I’d traveled. riage (or something else) outside of a beautiful small chapel. I enjoyed the winter retreat for a while then climbed back in my boat and pressed ahead, along the western and northern shores of Gaeta V. I liked sailing its water alleyways that conveniently cut through sections of shoreline neighbourhoods so that I could see people’s homes and businesses on both sides. I was also pleased that few residents had ban lines that interfered with water traffic. Before I knew it, I had made my way to my halfway point of Road End on the eastern28

most shore of Geoffroy, Gaeta V. It was almost unimaginable that I had finally made it in ten days of traveling time. My partner, Lie Rang, joined me to celebrate and see what the far edge of this side of the world looked like. I wondered if the return trip would take another ten days, be easier or more difficult, and if I would see just as many amazing things on the way back as I had so far. Only time would tell. But for today, it was time to take a shower on the beach, then relax and reflect on my trip as I reclined on one of Road End’s peaceful lounge chairs that looked out at the lighthouse and the vast open sea ahead of me. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Top Far Left: Passengers Cloe Seesaw, Tatsuhiko Zuta and his shoulder pet, piled in to join Dahlia on a stretch of peaceful water in eastern Corica. Left: After 10 days of sailing, Dahlia approached the lighthouse at Road End, marking her halfway turn-around point at Road End in Geoffroy, Gaeta V. She was saddened to know that by November many properties in Geoffroy were washed away. Below Left: A beautiful little Greek-inspired seaside shopping villa was built up along a hillside in Great Lendini, Gaeta V. Below Right: Lie Rang arrived to celebrate and to see what the other side of the world looked like at Road End in Geoffroy, Gaeta V when Dahlia reached the milestone of making it to her halfway turn-around location.

Dahlia skimmed past a beach in Tuckernuck on her way to Great Island and Billingsgate in the far eastern region of the Island Communities.

C H A P T E R T H R E E • O U T I N G D AY S 1 1 - 1 6

T h e L o n g Wa v e H o m e

woke the morning of my first return day concerned. I was already thinking about the tangled web of islands that make up the Nautilus continent and how time-consuming and difficult they might be. But I needed to push those thoughts to the back of my mind so I could concentrate on Gaeta V and Corsica’s southern shores instead. Leaving Road End, I quickly enjoyed views of a large white wooden sailing ship with four masts in Geoduck, Venician gondolas and a bumper car ride in Compotista, and an improbable multi-level race track begging for accidents that no insurance company in its right mind would cover drivers for in Orbide.

on a stick. Everything about Jule’s property was as weathered and aged as he was, but I found the consistency of his style and matterof-fact unpretentiousness endearing.

Jule told me he had built many things in SL but wasn’t interested in trying to sell them for profit. Instead, he enjoyed living simply At Flea Market, Orbitalis, an old rustic sea and doing things that kept his mind engaged biplane docked along an equally old weathand active. He was happy to share the things ered pier caught my eye from a distance. As I he put on his parcel with anyone who wanted got closer, I noticed a senior-aged man mov- to enjoy them—even if he was away. I ading a plastic garbage bag onto the seat of his mired his down-to-earth approach to life as little blue scooter. It isn’t often that I see older well as his honesty and generosity. I wished people in Second Life, so when I do I always more people could be like Jule. get excited and want to meet them. DAY 12: BEAUTY, SECURITY AND THE BEAST I shouted out my greeting to the man and I spent so much time talking with Jule that I pulled over to introduce myself. Jule Arida decided to overnight at his beach and leave was the owner of the airplane and the small the next morning after trying out his carnival parcel of land where I arrived. The land also target shooting game. I assumed that after had a second dock with a small fishing bait doing so well shooting up those clay pigeons shop on it and a carnival target shooting game at Endeavour Cove, I’d do well here too, but on the beach. High above in the sky he had I was mistaken. I was horrible. Maybe I just an old light house. It was sparsely furnished, wasn’t angry enough! used more as a small hobby workshop than as a home, with one rudimentary work bench and Leaving Orbitalis, I headed out to see the rea fireplace where a mouse perpetually roasted maining sims of southeastern Gaeta V on my The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

way to Corsica. For a while, I enjoyed hands- through the channel that connected Gaeta V to Corsica and headed south along Corsica’s free boating by taking Susie’s Little Shuttle eastern shores and outer islands. Service so I could enjoy sight-seeing along the lovely cut-through channel in BitBatBot. I sailed past one of my favourite beach bunI felt like I would be cheating if I let the ferry galows raised up on stilts above the crashing waves of the sea in Fortenlost. Next to the shuttle me too far, however, so soon after passing BitBatBot, I climbed back in my little front door was a man dressed in a black suit, wearing dark mirrored sunglasses and asboat and passed Governor Linden’s large suming a rather imposing security-style stone building at InfoHub in HelFell where you can get links to other in-world locations stance. He seemed to be peering down at me from his perch high above. as well as to the Linden blog website.

As exhausted as I was, neither dingy furnishings nor the noisy clinkety-clank of the pinball machines were going to be enough to stop me from falling asleep the moment my head touched the pillow. I also stopped to enjoy the beauty of Soraya’s Winter Enchantment Public Snow Playground once more before sailing back through the narrow channel to eastern Corsica. This time, I spent more time investigating the rental chalets and was even brave enough to ride the gondola up the mountain, then ski back down it.

I smiled and waved, but got no reaction as I passed by. When I turned to look back over my shoulder after I passed, I noticed two more black-suited security-types—one at the side of the house and another in back. How weird, I thought. But if I thought that was weird, I had only seconds before I saw something that would even top that.

But I had to move on. Exciting times awaited me in Corsica. I could feel it in my bones. So I climbed back into my little boat and sailed

Next door to the bungalow was a larger, more modern mansion made of bricks and stone, and it had nearly a dozen security guards in 31

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Top row, L to R: Dahlia spotted senior Second Life resident Jule Arida cleaning the beachfront at Flea Market in Orbitalis, Gaeta V, and stopped to enjoy his company and tour his home. One of Jule Arida’s teleporters gave Dahlia an unexpected shock. Famished after a long day of dodging property ban lines and security sensors, Dahlia was happy to find a delicious meal at a local sushi restaurant at Kyuurai no Machi in Stafford, Corsica. In Fortenlost, a normally inviting looking beach bungalow became intimidating when three security guards were seen protecting it. Next door to the bungalow, a larger mansion had even more security surrounding its property— almost two dozen. Dahlia wondered who needed that much security. Bottom row, L to R: After realizing she could not advance further forward around the sim, Dahlia had to backtrack past the heavily guarded mansion and beach bungalow a second time, embarrassed and concerned about how suspicious that would look to an already wary security crew. After seeing this most improbable driving road in Gaeta V, Dahlia considered that perhaps sailing was a safer and easier mode of travel after all. This white four-mast wooden sailing schooner in Gaeta V was one of the largest Dahlia saw during her trip. Dahlia stopped at Soraya’s Winter Enchantment Public Snow Playground in Gaeta V to enjoy ice skating with a family of penquins and snow skiing down a mountain. This island in Degrand, southern Corsica, provided new residents with a starting point, but left them stranded, unless they either learned to fly, swim, or—as was the case with resident Aspys Restless—jump into my boat as I passed by, without first asking permission or even saying a word. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Heavy Metal Industries with a lot of Size and Heart Above Left: The Metal Otaku Project in Binneed, southwestern Corsica, promoted a network of industrial manufacturing companies in Ota City, Japan. Bottom Left: In Andresson, Corsica, Metal Heart Project presented an even more spectacular transformer-like figure that loomed over a city of shops, informal meeting places and its own version of Ota City, Japan.

Middle Right: The towering smokestacks of these once bustling factories now stood silent, perhaps a testiment to a new way of doing things.

Above: Dahlia pulled her little boat up alongside the even littler Ota City, Japan. industrial complex not far from the base of the Metal Heart Project in Andresson, Corsica.

Bottom Right: Dahlia sat on a nearby hillside to admire the night sky and ponder the distant industrial park of Metal Heart Project.

Above Right: Metal Heart Project had numerous buildings and structures on it, including these long warehouses and round fuel storage tanks.

Far Right: A grounded submarine in the shallow waters of Degarand, southern Corsica, lurked perilously close to unsuspecting water traffic.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

time, like this, I thought to myself confidently. and 7seas fishing. Along the way, I spotted a box of chalk on the sidewalk, so I stopped to draw a butterfly and a heart with a couple of If Soraya’s was the beauty of my day, then Kyuurai no Machi in Stafford, had to be my special initials in it. beast. There, a long stone pier stretched out Soon, I began to feel hungry, so I located at a into the sea from a village ashore. At the end small restaurant that served sushi and ate to of the pier I found a small boating dock and areas welcoming me with a tai chi and medi- my fill. The tightness in my belly made me tation pillows. I couldn’t pass this by, so I dis- sleepy and wanting to lay down, so I went to a small inn above a noisy pin ball arcade. Fit embarked to explore and look for a suitable After passing the properties, I found myself for man nor beast, the inn only offered an old at a dead end, and in need of turning around place to spend the night. mattress in a dingy room. But I didn’t care, to sail past the homes again. Equally embarrassed and concerned, I was now worried how Along the stone pier, I found a place to wash so long as there were no roaches crawling suspicious my passing by a second time would my clothes by hand in an old metal tub, then around. As exhausted as I was, neither dingy furnishings nor the noisy clinkety-clank of the hung my clothes out to dry. I walked to the look to an already ever-wary security crew. pin ball machines were going to be enough to No matter, I just smiled brightly and waved concrete village where I toured a small marketplace, a garden, areas for maiko and geisha stop me from falling asleep the moment my like a contestant in a beauty pageant as I performances, art exhibits, cultural events, head touched the pillow. eased by. They should want me to pass a third

various places around it. I spotted one under a tree out near the water where I approached, four flanking the front door, one on the roof, others around the back and sides. A helicopter flew overhead, making me think perhaps agents were up there and underwater too. I couldn’t help but to wonder who lived there and who could possibly need that much security?

DAY 13: SIGHT-SEEING OR AND BUST(ED) The next morning, I awoke to the sound of pin balls knocking around. I was amazed I slept through the ever-present clatter as long as I did. I stretched, got up, walked out of the village to pick up my now dry clothes along the stone pier, and climbed into my little boat, ready to see what the day had in store for me.

card written in uniformative English and Japanese. Disappointed, I climbed back into my boat to continue my westward trek.

I rounded the corner of the sim Majistral, enjoying the sight of two beautiful tropical homes when I came upon a dreadful car accident between them. It was too late for me to help the driver, who lay there severed in half Only a few sims out from Stafford, I began and already expired, so I wrote the owner to to see a towering figure rising along the hori- ask if they knew about the horrible scene. zon. As I neared and eventually sailed into Sadly, a reply never came. Whether it was Andressen, I found myself looking up at what the owner who was in the accident, or a symbol of bad blood between two neighbours, I guess we’ll never know unfortunately.

I got snagged on something and got stuck even worse. Wondering what was holding me up, I turned my camera inside the house to take a peek, and to my surprise and embarrassment I saw two residents inside trying to have a private moment.

I shook off the tragic vision once I entered the scenic splendor of Silver Serpent. I met and spent time talking with a resident who was combining a lovely trio of round huts to become one home next to the beach, then admired the sight of others along the same stretch of beach. It seemed everything was worth taking a lingering look at.

I got so busy looking around while I drifted that I missed a cut-through channel and accidentally wedged my little boat appeared to be an enormous transformer-like in between a beachfront home and the offmachine character that belonged to the Metal grid sea. I thought: no problem, I’ll just set my Heart Project. little boat to phantom and be on my way, then continue forward past the house and along the On the ground surrounding the transformer’s outer sim border. ankles was a complex of retail shops, a pub and other businesses. Spread even further out Well! That turned out not to be such a great along the coastline was a curious miniature idea afterall, because even with only a small industrial city and airport. I pulled my boat fraction of my boat passing into the outer wall up alongside the tiny buildings with smoke of the house, it got snagged on something and stacks and petrol towers, feeling like Godzilla got stuck even worse. Wondering what was or like I belonged in the film Attack of the holding me up, I turned my camera inside 50-Foot Woman. I searched everywhere for the house to take a peek, and to my surprise some information, but nothing revealed itself and embarrassment I saw two residents inside to me, short of an expired treasure hunt note- trying to have a private moment. 36

Right Place/Wrong Time or Wrong Place/Right Time? You Decide. Opposite page, Clockwise: In Silver Serpent, Dahlia crashed into and on top of one home while residents were inside, then crashed into the livingroom of another home after escaping from the first one. Real estate properties advertised their availability in a variety of interesting ways: some placed small islets on the water with a decorative palm tree and/or beach chair on them while others used striking Chinese statues to mark sites of available for sale or lease.

This page, Top, L to R: In the Island Community of Sailorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cove, Dahlia spotted a bunny bound under a table. In Charleville, she and passenger Tatsuhiko Zaka ran aground after rezzing a new boat in shallow waters too close to a large rock. In Edgill, an octopus attacked Dahliaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little boat and sank it. This page, Bottom, L to R: Dahlia witnessed a horrible car accident in Majistral, then in Kijiji sat on a gondola with a skeleton driver that apparently never completed his route.

Above: Ever since the day she got her little Linden freebie sailboat, a nagging question remained: what classification of boat was it? Many were unsure, but more often than not, the general consensus was that it was closest to being in the Tako classification. Above right (inset): Dahlia stopped at an amusement park at Sunrise Point, Nerriga in Barrington, east Corsica. Right: While in Barrington, Dahila received a one-of-a-kind, custom-made and personalized sail boat from friends Bellejour Shinn and Alina Graf.

Flustered and in a hurry to get myself out of the embarrassing situation, I apologized profusely and tried to force myself out. Instead, I ended up flipping my little boat up in the air and onto the roof of the house where I was once again unable to move. I ended up having to get out and push the darned thing off the roof and into the nearest water, then around the corner between the off-grid sea and another row of beachside homes. I hopped back in and pushed off, hoping this side of the back channel would get me into the open waters on the opposite side of the sim. It looked promising, but as I slowly paddled parcel-by-parcel, the already boat-width channel began to narrow right at the last property. Even my phantom setting couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get my boat through, so I had to back up. That only made matters worse. Again, I got turned around by some vegetation that spun me around onto the flat beach. I could still motor forward, but plants were spread just close enough to each other that my little boat bounced around like a pin ball in an arcade. I rocked the boat forward and back again and again without success. Frustrated, I pressed the gas harder until I finally burst free. That was the good news. The bad that came with it was that I ended up squirting right

through the front door of the nearest home and landed in their livingroom. Oh no! How am I going to explain this to my insurance agent? I thought. I’m going to be in T-R-O-U-B-L-E if I can’t get out of this mess…and in a hurry too, before someone comes home! I had to get out and rock the boat free of the door jam, then push it all the way across the sand to the back side of the house, which faced the cut-through channel where I should have been half an hour earlier and, in fact, all along. I can’t begin to tell you how embarrassed I was to have not been paying attention and end up making such a big mess. I did all this to myself. That being admitted, I couldn’t help but to wonder if this entire situation could have been averted if only there had been a safety buoy or barrier post placed in the water at the very corner where I drifted in between the first house and the off-grid sea. Can you imagine? Look at me, advocating the use of a barrier! But this is one time when a barrier would have helped everyone involved.

Above: Near the Hollywood Yacht Club, Dahlia met and spoke to Zanibar Beck about The Great Sailing Adventure, as well as the trials and tribulations of sailing in general. Top Left: Dahlia greeted a resident and admired his construction of a beachfront property in Silver Serpent, southern Corisca. Bottom Left: Dahlia introduced herself to a resident standing idly on the docks at Tradewinds Yacht Club in Dex. As it turned out—and much to Dahlia’s surprise—Hay Ah had recently read or heard about Dahlia’s adventure and was excited to meet her. Left: Hay Ah’s striking hair caught Dahlia’s attention from half a sim away.

Eager to get as far away from the scene of my crime as possible, I opened up the sail and flew out of Silver Serpent as fast as I could, imagining the spectacle I probably made of myself for residents sitting out on their balconies, all having tea and enjoying a chuckle at my expense. Not far from there, I passed Italian gondolas and at a Venician recreation in Costaglioga, then marveled at another giant transformerlike figure looming over the bay in Binneed. This transformer also stood over a miniature airport like the one in Andressen and, in fact, information from this one helped to provide the clue as to the meaning of both. They had to do with Haneda Airport and the section of Tokyo called Ota City where a collaborative and vibrant industrial manufacturing community struggled to survive in an evercompetitive global marketplace.

At Sunrise Point, Nerriga, I stopped to try out some carnival rides: a ferris wheel, hammer, and others. It was while I was there that Bellejour Shinn and Alina Graf called, asking to see me. I flew them in and they presented me with a sailboat they had worked on together and wanted to give me. It was a single-seater catamaran with a hull balanced by a pontoons on either side. It was

Pamela Saunders joined me as I sailed back through the straight between Corsica and Nautilus. Back in Nautilus, we stopped in Jaxipun, at another of my favourite seaside bungalow home styles built up on posts. This particular one was cool blue and owned by Tigard Stradling. When I looked at his profile, it said: “This account is used by Linden Lab to perform timing and reliability tests on the grid for various actions such as teleporting and wearing attachments. It is an automated system that will not respond to chat or IM. Statistics collected are used to monitor and improve system performance.” Isn’t it interesting, the things you can discover by nosing around through people’s profiles while they’re away?

“This account is used by Linden Lab to perform timing and reliability tests on the grid for various actions such as teleporting and wearing attachments. It is an automated system that will not respond to chat or IM. Statistics collected are used to monitor and improve system performance.”

Luckily, I got out of there just in time, because Tatsuhiko Zuta called, offering to ride with me a while. I flew him in and together we rode until property ban lines halted us at Lamella. Fortunately, Susie’s Little Ferry Service passed by, so we abandoned the little boat in favour of the ferry. It shuttled us through Glamaig, Marsco, Tomaga Take, Numazawa, Propper, and Kuttara until I could hop back into my boat in the open waters of Palmieci.

~ Tigard Stradling

angel white all over, but the sail had a colourful sheen on it like the wings of a dragonfly. Not only that, but the mast was topped off by From Palmieci, I sailed into the far western a small Jamaican flag and the back even had Corsica property of MarLin Bay in Fungbulf. my name on it! It was so perfect! It had rustic forest cabin homes for sale and rent on green grassy hillsides and waterfront I was completely surprised and happy that coves overlooking the water. It seemed like a my adventure had inspired them to create lovely place to live at or go to on a weekend their first boat and driver animations. I treasretreat. Whichever you chose, it definitely ured it and loved riding in it around the open looked like you had the option to go fishing waters of the bay. But for my expedition sailand hunting for squirrels or deer at the same ing in narrow channels, I knew I’d have to time from a single chair. stick with my little Linden freebie sailboat. 40

DAY 14: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SCALY KIND When Day 14 arrived I was only as far as northern Nautilus. Originally, I estimated my voyage might take me about 14 days. But from where I was, and considering the complexity of the island chain of Nautilus, the remaining distance still seemed very far. But there was nothing to do except take a deep cleansing breath and press forward—which I did—directly into a full sim at Marianna.

Fortunately, I was able to backtrack to rez a boat offered at Kiriyevsky Island West, which also boasted of a “Poet’s Caffe & Tiki Beach Club, Library, Bookstore, Classroom, Conference Center, Art Gallery, Virtual Assistants Agency & More.” I rode that sailboat until encountering property ban lines at a very critical narrowing in the sim of Blake. It presented itself as a big roadblock at an especially narrow yet criticalto-get-around site in order to continue along the north side of Nautilus.

Preceding page, Top and Bottom: Log cabins lined the waterway in Fungbulf, far western Corsica. Dahlia swam with a school of beautifully coloured fish at Rataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resort in Quilassito, northern Nautilus. This page, far Left and Left: St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Harbor and Marina provided a civilized respite from the rigors of sailing. North of Blake Sea and across the channel from Harris Island, Dahlia fished for breakfast. Below: After a night of sailing, a spectacular sunrise greeted Dahlia on Harris Island. Middle, Top and Bottom: Dahlia pulled into Nantucket Yacht Club at sunset for a brief rest, before sailing on through the night.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Preceding page: The autumnal colours of Ocean Hill lit up the horizon as Dahlia sailed southward toward Ipswich, Montauk and other far eastern Blake Sea islands. Above, Top: With sea gulls circling overhead, Dahlia approached the north side of Montauk Island. Above, Bottom: Montauk Island was so delightful that Dahlia and passenger Lie Rang had to pass by it more than once.

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Above, Top: Beautiful from every angle, Cape Poge’s autumn colours and two islands connected by a draw bridge made sailing a scenic, relaxing pleasure and provided a gateway to perhaps the most beautiful stretch of waterways in all of Second Life. Above, Bottom: The colour and arrangement of the trees on Ipswich Island were so captivating and idyllic that Dahlia almost missed the seal that came up on shore to sun itself near the country-style home that rested up the hill from the beach.

Above, Top: From a distance, Dahlia and passenger Pamela Saunders spotted what they believed was a forest fire on Great Island. Above, Bottom: After passing Great Island, Dahlia sailed along a peninsula that stretched out across two sims into the distant sea. There, she arrived at Jeremy Point in Billingsgate, the easternmost point of Blake Sea and even the larger world of Second Life. Billingsgate’s minimalistic simplicity reinforced the often quoted notion that sometimes less can be more—at least where peacefulness and serenity are concerned.

This doesn’t bode well for progress, I thought. Luckily, I was able circumvent Blake’s barrier by carefully using a jet ski to drift under a low walking bridge that passed over a narrow canal in the neighbouring sim of Mulcahy, where looking ahead into Quilassito I eyed flying condors and a large variety of animals in the sky and along the beachfront. There, in Rata’s Resort, I swam with the most beautiful school of fish I had ever seen, unaware at first that just around the corner I was about to encounter my second sea dragon. Once I realized the dragon was there, I crawled back onto my jet ski and carefully crept over toward him. I was more brave this time by throttling my jet ski closer for a better look at this dragon than I had with the first one I saw while in my little boat. This one spotted me, however, and came to tower high overhead of me, blowing a scalding mist of water from his nostrils. Okay, that was enough for me… I was out of there in a flash! The next stretch or properties was as much an exercise of getting knocked down and getting back up again as it was of sailing. I rezzed a new boat and rode until I was ejected from a parcel without warning by the security sensor from Soul Express Group in Triampo, owned by Anjelee Dreamscape. I sent Anjelee a message asking if she would consider joining my petition to ask the Lindens for additional water around choke points and she wrote back in an unmistakable tone that she was not interested. I wasn’t surprised, coming as it was from someone who set their security sensor timer on zero. But I thanked her for considering nevertheless. I walked around Triampo to Filignano where I rezzed a new boat at Menchor and Londor’s Beach House. From there, I had to phantom my boat over the sand at properties in Loach, but I still didn’t make it all the way along the off-grid water/property channel due to a ban line. Again, I got dumped out in 44

Above, Top: Dahlia approached Mare Nostrum’s distant immense stone bridges as she sailed on her southward descent through the far eastern Blake Sea waters.

of fauna and flora, but also provided tours and information on the importance of mangroves, had an art gallery, row boating and even had a cozy coffee shop for guests to relax in.

Above, Bottom: Built by resident Transparent Banshee, Mare Nostrum’s towering stone bridges dwarf Dahlia’s little boat by comparison as she sails underneath on her way to another of his properties, right next door at Greenhouse.

Above, Bottom: ILLE Artizar demonstrated a few of of her impressive working submarines not far from Sailor’s Cove, Blake Sea. This one speared cylinders for transport.

Above, Top: Greenhouse not only offered a spectacular arboritum to display a wide variety

Opposite page: Dahlia sailed past the welcoming sign at Serenity Keys, Morea, as she completed her sixteen day sailing adventure. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Rurik, but was able to rez another boat at the club, That’s All. I got knocked out again only moments later and rezzed a new boat, then got attacked and sunk in Egill by a territorial octopus that climbed into my boat. It got one tentacle on my ankle, but I managed cut myself free and escape, swimming for my life with its severed tentacle still attached to me. I was so mad about having been sunk so many times in such a short time that once I was at a safe distance, I pulled off the still writhing tentacle and decided I was going to fry it up for dinner out of revenge! I limped through Holland Village in Vicentino and eventually found my way to the quaint seaside plaza of St. Mary’s Harbor Marina in Antilaghi where I pressed my nose against the windows of some of the colourful retail shops and stylish villa apartments. I would have loved to live there, but for over two thousand Lindens a week, I thought it outrageous. Instead, behind the shops I found a small sandy beach park where I could tend to my wounds, cook up my prize, then unroll my sleeping mat before calling it a day and easily drift off to sleep with a belly full of calamari. Ahhh…this is the life, I thought as I slipped into dreamland. DAY 15: HAY, AH KNOW YOU! The next morning I was still weary and sore from my multiple dunkings and encounter with the octopus, but my occasional sailing guests helped distract me from my woes. At Tradewinds Yacht Club in Dex I stopped to introduce myself to a woman standing idly on the docks. “So you’re her!” Hay Ah blurted out excitedly, telling me that she heard or read about of my adventure a few days earlier. I was both startled and pleased at her response; she was the first person I met on my journey who knew of me before I knew of them! I invited Hay to join me sailing, and together we continued. A few minutes later, we crossed into the waters of Blake Sea. I was so thrilled to finally be back in somewhat familiar terri46

tory, that I think I blew my air horn all the way from there to the Nantucket Yacht Club where we docked. From Nantucket I anticipated easily being able to sail back to my starting point without incident. At last, I sensed a light at the end of the tunnel for me and my incredible sailing adventure. I was so excited that I couldn’t bear to stop for long, so I climbed back into my little boat and literally sailed off into the sunset for some night-time traveling. I briefly stopped at the Santa Barbara and Hollywood Yacht clubs to meet people and ask if they would support

ing its autumn coloured trees. Immediately seen from there was the magnificent view of Ipswich island and its own autumn colours exploding on the horizon like a beautiful painting. I was so entranced by the trees surrounding the residence up the slope from the beach that I almost missed seeing the black seal that had come ashore to bask in the warmth of the day. Just down from there was the island of Montauk, also displaying its autumn colours. The entire stretch from Cape Poge to Montauk was simply so scenic and so peaceful that I

There was Clay Ellison and Dolci Woodget, waiting on the docks, waving me in to the slip, launching fireworks and throwing confetti and balloons into the air as I arrived. It was a terrific welcome back after having been away for so long—a welcome I’ll never forget. my petition to request the Linden gods to open up a little additional water around congested areas and in between continents. Perhaps they could move some heaven and earth for us if there was enough support expressed, or if it at least seemed to be a reasonable— and feasible—request. Onwards, I passed Boston Light and up to Harris Island—the northernmost point of the Island Communities. There, I parked at the beach to watch the sun rise, then fished for breakfast from the bow of an old boat and the islet it rested on. Afterwards, sailing was as uncomplicated and relaxing as you could ever wish for. I sailed southward between the islands of Cape Poge and its raised draw bridge, enjoy-

had to double-back to see it all over again. So back north I sailed, then east around the northern aspect of Ipswich to Tuckernuck, where waves got choppy along the coast, but were still some of the most beautiful waters I had sailed on during my entire voyage. In the distance ahead of me, I spied what I thought for sure was a forest fire on Great Island in Point of Pines. My passenger, Pamela Saunders agreed too. But as we got closer and rounded the trees, we soon discovered it was a bright orange tree behind a green one, and behind them both was the billowing chimney of a house on the island. I laughed with relief and continued along a two-sim long stretch of vacant beach shaped like a long finger outstretched until the very

tip, which curled up as if to signal “come this way.” There, in Billingsgate, the tip of the peninsula was called Jeremy Point and was the farthest east one could sail in the Island Communities. The still waters and barren emptiness of the vast, remote beach with the residence on Great Island in view over a full sim away provided as peaceful and serene a location as one could hope for. I sat on the beach and just marveled at the quiet, open space. Sometimes it just takes less to be more in this world, you know? I climbed back into the boat and headed west, then southward, where from another couple of sims away, I soon spotted the incredibly high stone bridge arches at Mare Nostrum. Even from a distance I could tell they were immense. Once I finally reached them and sailed under, I could see just how high they actually were. I couldn’t think of any sailing ship that couldn’t have sailed under those bridges, they were so high. Immediately next to Mare Nostrum was Greenhouse, with its gigantic arboretum and botanic gardens, beautiful flower field, art gallery and information on mangrove conservation. Not far from there, the home of Trudeau Boats at Isla de Jacqinda displayed its wares, including a timed demo of its smallest sail boat. Further south, I circled around and past Ellison Designs’ shop at Schooner Run, then docked across the harbour at Sailor’s Cove. My plan was to overnight at Sailor’s Cove. However, after I docked, I went to give thanks at the church. While there, I couldn’t resist the temptation to pull the steeple bell’s rope to hear what it sounded like. What happened next was totally unexpected. A crab suddenly appeared and pinched me every time I moved, saying many times in a little Frenchy accent: “I pinch you! I pinch you!” I tried walking away, but he followed me everywhere. Then I ran and jumped in the

harbor, but he followed me underwater too, still saying: “I pinch you! I pinch you!” Finally, I scrambled back into my boat, hoisted my sail and sped away, shouting over my shoulder at him: “When I come back next time, I’m going to eat you!” How embarrassing it is for me to say that I went to Sailor’s Cove and got a bad case of the crabs! Unable to overnight at Sailor’s Cove, I drifted westward while checking out my new pinch marks until I encountered ILLE Artizar, who was contemplating the merits of a parcel of land she could buy and work from to sell her unique and impressive collection of submarines. She was kind enough to demonstrate a few of them, and they were indeed incredible working machines, the likes of which I hadn’t seen before. Fully operational, they could actually lift and move things like building materials or toxic waste canisters. Perfect for construction work, I thought. By now, the sun was getting low, so I had to quickly find a place for the night, knowing that my final destination of Serenity Keys awaited me the following day. I sailed a few islands further, then settled into a nice little nook at Plum Cove in Plum Gut, where I could drop anchor and inspect my new pinch marks further. The little snot. I growled. He’s going to leave bruises on me! DAY 16: COMPLETING THE LOOP I woke the next morning, finding it difficult to believe that it would be the very last day of my journey. Now the first day of my adventure seemed unbelievably long ago and the ending so near. I climbed weakly into my little boat, only now realizing how much the trip had taken out of me. I was now sporting a rainbow of bruises up and down my body from crab pinches and from being tossed out of my boat numerous times, had a festering cut from an octopus tentacle, and sun bleached curls on my head. If I had been a man, I probably would have had a long beard and an even worse case of B.O. by now. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

I sailed south though the narrow waterway that connects the Blake Sea waters to the southernmost Island Communities, then rounded the westernmost islands and headed a couple more sims south until I could see the property sign of Serenity Keys ahead of me. I was so excited that I must have started sounding my air horn from three sims away, because there was Clay Ellison and Dolci Woodget waiting on the docks, waving me in to the slip, launching fireworks and throwing confetti and balloons into the air as I arrived. I was so excited to see them. It was a terrific welcome back after having been away for so long—a welcome I’ll never forget. They were so supportive of me the whole time I was out there crashing into rocks, getting thrown overboard and battling more with man’s property ban lines than with nature’s waves. I appreciated their encouragement as well as the support and encouragement of others just like them. Nor will I ever forget my voyage. Sailing the interconnected waterways opened my eyes to much of the grand diversity Second Life has to offer. It presented me with the challenge to step out of my normal routine to try something different. As a result, it rewarded me with opportunities to see, do and learn incredible things I never had before. And just as importantly, it gave me the chance to meet a diverse range of unique people who I would not have otherwise met. Perhaps in the future, when more waterways link additional continents to one another, I’ll be able to extend my journey of discovery even further…using my little boat, of course!

Right: After 16 days of sailing the greater Second Life waterways, Clay Ellison and Dolci Woodget showered Dahlia with confetti and balloons upon her arrival at their docks and the adventure’s final destination of Serenity Keys, Morea. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

The Resting Points The Great Sailing Adventure began and finished at

START / FINISH LOCATION

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 1

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 2

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 3

Serenity Keys Morea, Island Community

Sailor’s Rest Do Jewels Land Honah Lee North, Island Community Zaitsev, Satori

Ptah Rayna’s Home Steinhauer, Satori

Residence and yacht building work site of Clay Ellison and Dolci Woodget.

Enjoyed the public accommodations of AnyPeople’s Yacht Lounge.

Slept on the outdoor hammock at the home of Do Lubitsch.

Rolled out the mat in a little round elven hut on the docks.

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 8

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 9

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 10

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 11

Karasu’s Nest Hermanly, Nautilus

Danshire Yacht Club Bottenford, Corsica

Road End Geoffroy, Gaeta V

Flea Market Orbitalis, Gaeta V

Slept on a lounge chair at the beach behind a lady crow’s home.

Spent a restless night with ice pack on nose at home of this yacht club and a boatmaker.

Showered and slept on this beach at my adventure’s halfway turn-around point.

Slept on a beach belonging to Jule Arida during a rainy night. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Serenity Keys, Morea, and included 15 overnight rest stops along the way.

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 4

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 5

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 6

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 7

Happy Rainbow Resort Land Monarch, Satori

Duke S Club Grunther, Satori

Talakin Boat Yard Talakin, Satori

Endeavour Cove Earpoint, Nautilus

Offered a hot meal of steaming hamburgers, a basket of fruit and a comfortable bed.

Nowhere to stay in all this clutter; toughed out a restless night on a wooden dock.

Fueled up on a good pint (or two), then slept Slept on the courtyard grass near the carousel like a baby at the dockside pub, Barzane. ride of this soon-to-disappear complex.

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 12

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 13

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 14

OVERNIGHT LOCATION 15

Kyuurai no Machi Stafford, Corisca

Second PL Jaxipun, Nautilus

St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Harbor Marina Antilaghi, Nautilus

Plum Cove Plum Gut, Island Community

Roughed it on a beach towel in park behind retail shops and rentable village apartments.

Spent a restless night out on the docks of this six island residential island community.

Slept on a sheetless matress in a dingy hotel Cool blue summer vacation bungalow used room above a noisy pinball arcade. by the Lindens for system tests. The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

In Recognition Six select categories of awards for fun and for thinking about how

Most Impressive Sights

Most Beautiful Places

Impressive People

METAL HEART PROJECT

IPSWICH ISLAND

Owner: In Yan

Owner: Randy Cleghorn

SHOPPING MALL WEIGHT LIFTER

BLOFELD

Owner: BaliusCaleb Ashby

CAPE POGE ISLANDS

Owner: Bri Hasp

Patric Rotunno OWNER, SUSIE’S LITTLE FERRY SERVICE

Susie Chaffe

GREENHOUSE

Owner: Transparent Banshee MARE NOSTRUM

Owner: Transparent Banshee SORAYA’S WINTER ENCHANTMENT PUBLIC SNOW PLAYGROUND

Owner: Mikhail Obscure

SORAYA’S WINTER ENCHANTMENT PUBLIC SNOW PLAYGROUND

Owner: Mikhail Obscure JEREMY POINT, BILLINGSGATE

Owner: Sudane Erato TUCKERNUCK ISLAND

Owner: Charles McGraw

METAL HEART PROJECT

Owner: TestaRossa Congrejo

GREENHOUSE

Owner: Transparent Banshee

BACON RANCH

Owner: PitPat Wildcat & Jed Brimm

Owner: Mateo12 Michigan

BODYGUARD RESIDENCE

Owner: DrSun Takaaki

Owner: Rain Coalcliff PALM COVE SANDS COMMUNITY GARDENS

Owners: Praetor Janus & Watseka Sands

Tatsuhiko Zuta INSPIRED SAILBOAT BUILDERS

Bellejour Shinn & Alina Graf FRIENDLY SAILBOAT RACERS

Lantern Panacek, Chance Rasmuson, Pinetree Sungsoo & Larkworthy Antfarm BOAT BUILDER & SAILING CONSULTANT

Clay Ellison TINY EMPIRES KING OF HOME

BackHome Soon SENIOR GENEROSITY PERSPECTIVE ADJUSTOR

Jule Arida

FISH SWIM, QUILASSITO, NAUTILUS

Owner: Ratapalz Dagostino

FREQUENT SAILING COMPANION

MARLIN BAY CABINS & HOMES

GREEK SHOPPING VILLA

Owner: Yaskey Koba

Vitolo Rossini

TRAPPER NO.9 DREAM ROMANCE

NIGHT FIREWORKS DISPLAY

Owner: Kozue Shan

“THE DOGFATHER” OF DOGLAND PARK

ELVEN HOST

Ptah Rayna The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

the space we use affects others around us.

Impressive Water Vehicles

Waterway Tight Squeezes

Waterway Gridlock

LITTLE LINDEN FREEBIE SAILBOAT

(REMOVED), NAUTILUS

MONARCH TO FIREHEART, SATORI

Creator/Owner: Abnor Yue Linden

Elevated home with security monitor

A seven-sim long blockage—beat that!

SUSIE’S LITTLE FERRY SERVICE

FIO FUM, NAUTILUS

VARGAS, GALORE & JANNI, SATORI

Creator/Owner: Susie Chaffe

Mari Fermi’s retail shopping mall

Stuck in a corner to teach sailors a lesson

PIRATE THRONE CHAIR RAFT

VARGAS, SATORI

TULI, NORTHWEST SATORI

Creator/Owner: Uri Jefferson

Siam Juliesse’s Pattaya Beach Club

Blocked by building and boulders beyond sim borders

PIPE CARRYING SUBMARINE

STEPASIDE, CORSICA

Creator/Owner: ILLE Artizar

Dallo Bonetto of SOGNO Village Tropical Dreams (banyan tree entrance blockage)

HERMANLY, SOUTHWEST NAUTILUS

GWEN, SATORI

PARAHOLIC, SOUTHWEST NAUTILUS

All residents combined obstacle course

Ejected from boat by full sim

RED WINDSOR, CORSICA

GRENDEL, EAST SATORI

Abramelin Wolfe’s Abranimations

Tumbled like dirty laundry between home and off-grid waters

Ejected by trigger-happy security

CYLINDER CARRYING SUBMARINE

Creator/Owner: ILLE Artizar MONTLIARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER

Owner unknown (removed) VIKING SHIP

Creator/Owner: Clay Ellison

STEPASIDE, CORSICA

Dallo Bonetto of SOGNO Village Tropical Dreams (boulder/building exit squeeze)

KAHN, WEST SATORI

WOODEN WHITE 4-MAST SCHOONER

BOTTENFORD, CORSICA

GRUNTHER, WESTERN SATORI

Drawbridge owner: Matkenan Metty

Sidelined by multiple property ban lines

SILVER SERPENT, CORSICA

IMELZA, SOUTH SATORI

House 1 owner: Mareike Kohime

Kicked out by KungFu group

SILVER SERPENT, CORSICA

GRUNTHER, WESTERN SATORI

House 2 owner: Mareike Kohime

Storm & Sisters ban lines

Owner: Tater Skytower RIVER PADDLEBOAT

Creator/Owner: Remi Messmer IMAJIN CORSICA BATTLESHIP

Owner: Big Bleac

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Knocked on wood…a gazebo, that is

A LETTER TO THE LINDENS After completing my adventure, I sent the following letter, along with the results of my petition, to Blondin Linden and Kiera Linden for their review, consideration and comment. At the time of this book’s publishing, a response from any Linden Lab representative was still pending. To the Linden family and all interested parties of navigating public area waters in Second Life: The Great Sailing Adventure 2009 Open Waterways Petition is an extension of The Great Sailing Adventure 2009 which took place from August 15 to October 2, 2009. Over the course of 16 outings, Dahlia Jayaram sailed the complete perimeter of the interconnected Second Life continents which included the Blake Sea and Island Communities, Satori, Nautilus, Corsica and Gaeta V. The purpose of The Great Sailing Adventure 2009 was to learn how much time and effort it would take to complete such an endeavor. Along the way, particular attention was given to gauging how accessible open passage was for boats through shoreline communities. While the greater majority of water was accessible by small water craft, it was determined that certain areas created particularly difficult, frequent, or even completely impassable blockages. Every possible manner of blocking factor came into play to inhibit water traffic during the expedition: full parcels and sims, no access permissions, property ban lines, security scanners, and/or resident building right up to and against off-grid waters. When encountered during the expedition, residents were asked if they would support the suggestion to request expanding open water around critically congested areas that made navigating boats difficult or even impossible. With rare exception, residents agreed that having greater access around (not through) other residents’ properties would be greatly appreciated. It must be noted that the petition in no way suggested people be allowed access to other residents’ private properties. On the contrary, I believe residents who rent or have purchased properties have the rights within their leasing/purchasing agreement to do as they please with their property. The petition only seeks to ensure that enough open water exists around critically narrow or blocked areas to allow for water traffic to pass by without difficulty and without intruding on the rights of property owners or renters. The issue of potential unwillingness by Linden Labs to actively pursue adding additional water access due to technical limitations and/or cost factors was often mentioned and speculated on by residents. I assured them that the intention of this petition was simply to serve as a gauge of residents’ interest in the potential opportunity for increased water and to be used as a starting point to continue dialog with the goal in mind of making truly open waterways a reality. I believe there are a variety of measures that can be considered to achieve more open and accessible waterways. No single way should be considered the only option. Creative thinking can provide many options for achieving this goal wisely and cost-effectively. Of course, adding a server to create a newly opened sim is perhaps the most apparent and immediate way to create room around a congested area, but other options also exist, such as offering to buy out and/or relocate residents in congested areas to new locations that carry the same or better pricing, prim allowance or scenic incentives as the area they currently rent or own. This utilizes resources Linden Labs has the most of: real estate. It would also save on the cost of deploying additional servers as a more expensive alternative. Exercising imminent domain rights in difficult or extreme cases could be considered as well, keeping in mind the public relations drawbacks such an unpopular decision would inevitably create. Additionally, looking forward to future development, making certain enough clearance is built in for water traffic to pass around properties would be insightful as well. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your reply. Dahlia Jayaram 12 October 2009

The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dahlia Jayaram began her Second Life in October, 2008. Part of her first few months were spent searching for the most beautiful and natural islands in SL. That endeavour led her to Crossing Currents Island, which she now shares with her partner, Lie Rang, developing and promoting island lifestyle products for MnM Designs. Excerpts of Dahliaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reportage about The Great Sailing Adventure appeared in four concurrent monthly segments of ICON magazine from October 2009 until January 2010. Additional writings, including awards in a variety of categories, were presented to residents after the conclusion of the adventure and can be viewed on her blog at www.blogspot.com/dahliasweet or at issuu.com/dahliasweet/thegreatsailingadventure.

Obstacles are everywhere. Some of them you realize and can avoid, others you realize too late and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, and still others you never realize at all. Just like in all of Life.

What will be your adventure?