WILDERNESS

Three years ago, a worldwide pandemic changed all of our lives, even in Second Life. As we floundered about, trying to make sense of it all, one photographer discovered his new passion.

BY JASON CANUCCI

WHEN 2020 CAME the world seemed to stop for a moment. We each dealt with the pandemic in our own little idiosyncratic ways. For me, it was my photography. I’ve been a photographer in Second Life since 2017. Every one of those years, from then until now, has been fantastic in terms of personal growth and artistic expression. During lockdown, it was an outlet to put all my fears and anxiety into.

And then I met my wife, Maria. I could go on and on about her, but I won’t bore you with my doe-eyed expressions of love. Three years on, we’re still together, living what she and I euphemistically call “The Blake Sea Life”.

If you think “The Blake Sea Life” sounds a little contrived, you’re not alone. I certainly did up until three years ago when I became not only an addict, but a fullyfledged, signed-up-and-paid member of the lifestyle.

You sea (pun absolutely intended - I’m renowned for my dad jokes), my only interaction with the Blake Sea till that point had been rezzing my boat and sailing around the waters for an hour or so. When I met Maria, however, and learned that she too was an avid sailor, everything fell into place. My adventures upon the Blake Seas took an amazing turn.

It’s common knowledge that residential areas within the Blake Sea – Second Norway, Sailors Cove, Hollywood and so on - are coveted and deemed to be rather exclusive because of their Land Impact to Linden Dollar ratio, where the norm is around 1:2. While that seemed pricey by comparison to other Estates on the grid, Maria and I agreed that the value we’d get for our money would far outweigh the cost. Imagine living within more than a hundred regions that are all sailable by Blake Sea residents and nonresidents alike.

So, we stopped being visitors and became residents. For our new home, we chose Sailors Cove, which is a collection of regions in the Blake Sea area. It’s really a remarkable neighborhood, and I do say ‘neighborhood’ because our friends are within a short boat ride away.

Think about how you navigate Second Life. Most of us just teleport from place to place. But you don’t have to live in the sky, or on an isolated standalone region or homestead. There are many reasons for such arrangements of course, and I’m not discounting them. But the sense of community you get from living in a region like Blake Sea is so much more profound.

What if you could hop in your boat and sail or cruise to your friend’s house to have a chat, or drop by a coffee shop? In Blake Sea, it’s possible. Here, you can easily buy seafaring vessels - sailboats, speedboats, or yachts. Most boat creators have harbours (their stores) dotted around the regions where you can go and demo one of their many boats before buying.

Exploring the Blake Sea by water is an adventure in itself, but being able to live in an area where you can choose among multiple modes of transport is a real privilege.

Indeed, Blake Sea is more than just a place to sail your boats. I know of at least six airports within the Sea’s residential areas. Some are full blown ‘International

Airports’, like the one in Second Norway, set within FOURTEEN - yes, I said that rightFOURTEEN regions, which cater to a fully immersive international travel experience. There’s a check-in desk where you grab your boarding passes There’s even a rail system that not only runs underneath the airport but also around the whole of Second Norway – to smaller, bijou airstrips like the ones in Sailors Cove and the Rainforest regions.

Each airline has its own terminal and lounge. While the smaller ones are usually unsuitable for Boeing 737-sized planes, they normally have smaller hangars where you can easily lease and fly your smaller jets and seaplanes.

If sea legs and wings are not your thing, there are roadways for vehicular travel. You can also go by horseback up ‘Cooper Mountain’, set within the truly picturesque Rain Forest region, rich in vegetation and waterfalls. There, you can relax and marvel at lots of stunning focal points.

Or grab your skis and snowboards and plan for a vacation to Aspen, a standalone vacation spot that spans four regions dedicated all-year-round to winter. Here, you can rent one of the beautifully decorated Lodges or Chalets and enjoy the coziness that Aspen offers. You can partake in any of the free activities there, including skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing and more. Then, top that off by taking the lift to the café that sits atop the mountain and enjoying some après ski refreshment before retiring to your vacation abode.

So, why do we call it “The Blake Sea Life”? Well, it really is a lifestyle and an umbrella community, encompassing many smaller communities. For starters, there is a sailboat racing community, a motor yacht community, and an aviation community. We have regattas that come down the channel in front of our house. On occasion, there’ll be a flotilla of Second Life Coastguards in perfectly aligned formation coming out of their station in Second Norway.

The Blake Sea has its own Mer Community, set within two gorgeously decorated sims. You wouldn’t even know they were there if you weren’t looking for them. It’s not unusual, however, while sailing around, to find one of the Merfolk playfully swimming alongside your boat, greeting you while trying their absolute best not to get caught in the tangles of the copious amounts of Anglers that converge upon the Seas of the

Blake.

The widespread Angling Community is in every corner of the Blake, be it someone fishing from their residential dock, or one of the many who come together at Siren’s Isle.

Siren’s Isle is the social gathering place for everyone on the Blake Sea, whether they are visitors or residents. There, you’ll find boats, yachts, jet skis - in fact, any seafaring vessel you can imagine. Their passengers often choose to disembark and enjoy the land and its surroundings while angling for that all-important ‘whopper.’

For people who might not necessarily want to partake in the nautical side of the Blake, there are at least two other meeting places to enjoy.

Salt & Siren is an extremely charming hangout that sits out of the way of the Blake’s main traffic. It hosts DJs and live performers alike. Even when there is no event happening, they always welcome sailors and aviators to hang out and have coffee while watching the world sail past.

Schooner’s Pub is a livelier venue that hosts DJs around the clock. It’s set upon a large Schooner-style ship in Snug Harbour, just off the main Blake Sea Channel.

What really sells “The Blake Sea Life” for us, though, is that sense of community. That feeling of while being alone, you’re never lonely, as you watch sailors and aviators go about their business, having fun. Here, we have neighbors all around us, a good deal of which are our nearest and dearest friends. We’re all placed within a few SIMs of one another, which gives us all our privacy but still allows us the sense of neighborhood that we love. I think it’s that passive interaction of people coming and going that makes the experience of community.

“The Blake Sea Life” really is one to behold and, as many of its residents will tell you, once you have lived it, you’ll never want to live anywhere else. g