DPW - Department of Public Works

[#1]

The Blake Sea has been up and running for a couple months now. Lots of nautical activity happening -- the sailing groups have been running several races each week! Coming up in May is the "Fizz Cup", which looks to be the sailing event of the year!

Besides the opportunities to go down to the sea and "mess around in boats", the Blake Sea has some interesting areas to visit:

A ferry service will very soon (touch wood) be running from the docks in Barbarossa

to various points in the Blake Sea, including (with some luck) a seaplane:

Blake Sea - Spyglass has been rumored to shelter smugglers.

Blake Sea - Half Hitch is the sleepy center of the fishing industry in the Blake Sea. A sort of grandstand exists on the east side of the island for watching boat races; a tavern serves those who prefer to view life through the bottom of a glass. The upcoming ferries will stop at Half Hitch, on the south side of the island. On one of the docks there's a slop chest with objects and textures used on the creation of the Blake Sea.

Blake Sea - Windlass is a romantic tropical resort island -- fun in the sun! More small islands dot the sea nearby, some with strange secrets!

Near the center of the sea is Blake Sea - Crows Nest with its majestic aerial grandstand, affording a wide view of the boat races.

Elsewhere in the Blake Sea are strange fish, space debris, wreckage, race buoys, rezz zones, and other fun things! You can get a basic, free sailboat at the docks of Half Hitch ... why delay? Set sail today!

Update (3 November 2009)

Here's the latest revised chart of the Blake Sea area:

I haven't yet logged all the channel, hazard, mooring, race, etc. buoys; and no doubt plenty of undersea hazards are insufficiently marked. But it's a start! EDIT:  and of course routes, hazards, obstructions, marks and lights may all change.

[#2]

Can we fly aircraft there? It is impossible to fly over mainland without constant issues.

[#3]

What is the issue with the ferry system?

JonyBlade Codesmith and the folks from the touring company have a pretty good system that can work rez-on-demand as well as an endless loop.

I rigged up a display map to show each boat's location, too. Might be something fun to add at each dock/port.

-ls/cm

[#4]

It should be added that Susie Chaffe already runs an excellent ferry system with many courses, including one to Blake Sea. Some are very long. The one running from Whinlatter to Purple takes more than a hour to run. She deserves lots of credit for all her work.

[#5]

Flying is indeed allowed.  Ban lines are non-existent.  Just please keep it above the sailboats, except when landing at any of our fine airports.

[#6]

Updated with a chart of the Blake Sea area. The chart needs buoys added, with type and color notation, etc. I suppose I should include the Blake Sea group's race buoys, too ... and the start lines?

[#7]

More updates:   better ferry route, minefield indicated with a circle ...

[#8]

Micheal, what are you using to make these charts?  Are you doing it from scratch in Illustrator (or similar) and if so, where are you getting your font and symbology information from?  Or are you using some other package?

[#9]

It's done in Photoshop. Symbols are drawn from NOAA info, such as:

   http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm#toc

   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Admiraly_chart_colours.svg

I'd recommend a simple, Helvetica-ish font for the labelling; however, RL charts often use different fonts for title blocks, feature info, and depth numerals. The contour is at 10 meters depth, by the way.

Soundings were made manually; I haven't got the time or engineering resources to run an automated depth-mapping process. Various Residents have proposed some ingenious ways to get more accurate and detailed surveys.

Heh, we don't have "uncovering shoals" in SL any more, after the change in water/wave action a few years ago.

[#10]

Yes you can fly aircraft there.

I do it a lot when building seaplanes and flying boats.

Perfect test area, and I sell sea items with landmarks to the Blake sea, because it is user friendly.

I never fly over land sims because of the lag crash burn get lost and returned to lost and found while I'm sitting in darkness at great speed problem.

[#11]

Hello Michael.

What would be the possibility or implications of residents using this map in an HUD.?

For the purposes of navigation. Given all the legal hoopla about content use in SL.

Such a map would be ideal for submarine activities in Blake.

[#12]

Is that serious about a mine field ?

Wouldn't mind running my sub through there, if there is.

Get some photos, or even a movie of it.

[#13]

As they say in the movie Private Benjamin:  "Most of them are inert. However, some of them are ert."

Well, really, none are ert -- the concept of big explosions didn't appeal to everyone. But the mines are there, in the northern part of the Barbarossa region. I really should get one of the Moles to make up a heavy, metallic "bump" sound for them, though.

[#14]

Thats sad...

Im the only one intrested in big explosions..

*sighs*

What is this world coming to.

[#15]

Thank you, Michael!

I have recently discovered a love of SL sailing.  I'm a total novice at it in any world, but it is great fun and quickly becoming a passion for me.  I'm enjoying learning about a new skill and the language and even culture that goes with it.  However, the one thing I was finding frustrating was not having a map or chart of some kind of the open sailing areas.  Even just a glimpse that would let me get a vague idea of the sea was hard to find past what I could see on the general map.  When I saw the chart you put up, I was really excited.  Is there a larger world map?  Something that shows if or where one can sail around the mainland areas?  Heck, is there a world map at all that shows were the land masses are without having to wait for the inworld map to fill out?

It never seemed important to me until I started sailing and running into the edge of the world more than once!  As for filling out your chart, perhaps you could set up a group of seasoned SL sailors who would be willing to map sims in depth and send you the results?  All a volunteer effort of course.  Perhaps something the local yacht clubs and marinas could help promote?  "Map a Sea Sim Day!"

Just a few stray thoughts.

Thank you again.  I really do appreciate all your work on the chart.  Now all I have to do is learn how to read it correctly!

[#16]

I found three of them.

That seaplane in Barbarossa has quite a pitch going on there, to the point where screaming passenger sounds wouldn't go amiss..

(oops.. I mean flying boat)

[#17]

Explosions and such: it needs some way that a vessel can be identified as a valid target, so the people who want explosions can have them, and the rest can sail in peace. (It took a long time to clear all the minefields laid in the North Sea, after WW2, so the option doesn't imply active hostilities.)

[#18]

I know most of the NCI sites have a world map (At NCI Kuula it is tucked away on the other side of the freebie wall). It lags a bit, the "Big Fish" sims have filled one hole. Circumnavigating continents is tricky, impossible for some. Some of the yacht clubs might have more info.

[#19]

I think there have been a few changes down in the SW corner of that map. Is that Isle of Lilliput still there? (It would help is a few more region names were marked.)