The SkipJack

The Chesapeake Bay Skipjack
Come and Visit us at:


SkipJack Quick Start
Here is the Seating Chart.
There are Four seats Three Passengers that have helm, hike and trim control and a Pilot that has access to the Command Sets.There are two seats that are static and strictly for fishing.

1. Sit on the Steering Wheel for the Skipper
2. Bench Seat for the Trimmer 1
3. Wheel Gear Seat for Trimmer 2
4. BowSprit Seat for the Trimmer 3
5. Sit on Left Rail for static fishing pose
6. Sit on Right Rail for static fishing pose
Hint: the skipper must be seated first

Wear the HUD
Hint: Obtain a HUD by typing hud in local chat while seated as the skipper

BUTTONS
(Little Red Button on the left toggles the active cam)

First button to RAISE the sails
Second button turns on the AUTOTRIM
Third button activates the automated HIKING
Fourth button activates the MOTOR
Fifth button MOOR the boat stops all motion

Hint: In Manual Mode for best speed
the Sail Angle should be 1/2 the Wind Angle

The apparent wind needle is a wind vane. It points in the direction FROM which the wind is blowing.

Hint: The boat will slow down and stop when the wind is in the red or green area because the wind is blowing into the bow of the boat.



------- COMMANDS
The commands can be entered into Local Chat.
    * Raise - Raise the sails
    * Lower - Lowers the sails
    * Moor - Lowers the sails and park the boat
    * autotrim / Toggles Automatic Sail Adjustment when in Cruise Mode (Disabled in Race Mode)
    * Motor - Diesel Motor Power
    * c - Sets Camera Angle
    * notecard - sends user a link to the webpage
    * hud - sends user the sailing HUD
    * Up/Down arrows when motoring increase/decrease the throttle.
             when sailing it increase/decrease the sheet angle.
             (hold down the pageup button or the e button to increase the rate of change of the sail angle)
    * idxxxx / sets Race id.
    * id off / turns off Race Mode and activates Cruising Mode.
    * set dock - stores the current position of the boat on the boat
    * dock - moves the boat to the position set on the boat with set dock.
          Must be within 10M of that position.
    * skipper Firstname Lastname - sets an alternate skipper who can take helm control of the boat.
          Only one alternate skipper is allowed at a time.
    * anim - toggles the automated animation setter on and off
    * camera - toggles between Active and Inactive Camera
    * switch - switches the trimmer to the helm seat and then back.
    * alpha - sets the transparency of the Mainsail and the Jib.
          alpha 100 is Solid
          alpha 80 is a good setting
          alpha 0 is completely transparent
    * PageUp/PageDn - Page up moves the trimmer or helm to the port
          Page Down moves the trimmer or helm to the starboard.
    * park only engage when you've docked the boat and you're leaving it for awhile. The park command Moves the sails out of the way completely. Folding the Jib up to the stay, and the mainsail and mast down to the deck. For best results: Moor the boat BEFORE you raise the sails from the parked position.
    * fish This command opens and closes the cooler and moves the skipper to a Rail pose on the port side of the boat that is appropriate for Fishing, Talking or perhaps even watching a race go by. Type fish again to move your pose back to the helm position at the wheel. This also provides a way to allow your passengers to stand up on the boat and enjoy the freedom of walking around on the deck.
    * eject partial passengername It occured to me that there may come a circumstance where the skipper may need to unsit a certain passenger. Perhaps that passenger has gone AFK, or perhaps you've acquired a griefer. Or maybe just someone who wanted to have a little ride on the boat but did not think to ask. You can just type at the local chat "eject firstname lastname" or any part of the name in lower case the passenger will unsit from their seat.

 The Chesapeake Bay Skipjack
Come and Visit us at:

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States it borders three states on the MidAtlantic coast. Cutting Maryland in half, it borders Delaware on the north and Virginia to the south. The skipjack is the State Boat of Maryland with a long history of commercial fishing.

The name "skipjack" is said to have been derived from fish, such as the skipjack mackerel or skipjack tuna, that jump in and out of the water because these boats can sometimes resemble the fish as they come about quickly making continuous passes or "licks" over oyster beds.  Another possible origin of the name is an archaic English word meaning "inexpensive yet useful servant".  The typical cost of a skipjack in 1905 was $3,000.  

The Chesapeake Bay skipjack fleet is the last commercial sailing powered fishing fleet in North America. The Oystermen needed a light, inexpensive boat with a shallow keep that was easy to construct and could navigate the shallower waters of the Bay. The skipjack's wide beam, hard chine, and low freeboard provided a stable, large, working and storage platform. The single-masted rig, with sharp-headed mainsail and large jib, was easy to handle, powerful in light winds, and capable of coming about quickly without losing way.  All these traits made the skipjack ideally suited to performing continuous rakes over the oyster beds. The skipjack was also so simple to build that even house carpenters could construct one.  As a result, hundreds of skipjacks were built when they first came on the scene in the 1890s and during their heyday there were as many as 2000 skipjacks on the Bay.

JS Classic Boats Skipjack

JS Classic Boats offers here a work in progress which is a tribute to the Chesapeake Bay Skipjack for the Second Life Sailing audience. She will sail with a crew of two who can work together to trim and steer the boat as well as maintain the balance. The reliable and stable RM engine will cruise thru the SL Sim changes easily. Working parts include the steering, the rudder and the engine propeller. The deck is fully walkable from bow to stern to allow a clear path to fish off in the various fishing enabled areas. The Sail and Boom will park to the deck when docked to provide a clear path with no hidden parts to impede your sight path. 
I thank you for your interest in the the JS Classic Boats Chesapeake Skipjack and I look forward to completing this boat for the Second Life Sailing Community.


  The Chesapeak Bay SkipJack incorporates the RM8 engine with many features that add to the SL Sailing experience. The ReneMarine Sailing Engine has been reworked from stem to stern. The new engine has some features that make it a generational improvement from previous releases. Technical improvements have made this boat very easy on the sim changes. There is a Command line assignable skipper. There are passenger trimmer and steering controls, Rider balance adjustments and penalties, sail drag penalties, Low Lag, High Performance Luffing Sails. Sail it in Mouseview it looks great! Set the transparency on the sails so you can see where you're going. We've built in autotrim and autoanimation functions to ensure that you have time to relax and explore. Rez it over land and it mounts to a boat jack assembly. There is a dock command so you can dock your boat precisely on your favorite build. For your enjoymment there's even a Six Pack that you can texture with your favorite beverage refreshment tucked away in the finely crafted storage units under the deck.

Digital HUD

Luffing Sails
 The Digital HUD has been updated with a text hud to give you the wind angle and sail angle and other relevant information in the most convenient fashion. The Needle points to the direction from which the wind is blowing. This means that the red/green areas at the top of the apparent wind indicator are relevant as Port and Starboard indicators of No Sail area indicators. This is the area of the dial where the sails will not sufficiently fill with wind to pull the boat forward with any consistency, and the sails might begin to Luff in the wind. The Race Mode allows you to join races and it turns off the Automatic Sail Adjusters Autotrim.

The windsetter simply sets the local wind and gives you a Local Chat Ownersay Notification of the local wind conditions. When the boat sees a windsetter it simply accepts the parameters as the local wind and proceeds under that wind power.

The Chesapeake Bay SkipJack is carefully crafted within a 32 Prim budget to maximize every prim. If you have ever sailed before, operation of the SkipJack is easy. You'll have plenty of opportunity to chat with your friends as you control this easy to handle vessel. Guide your friends to the most lovely spots and spend time with them there. If you are new to sailing, then I suggest you find a really big body of water and just play around until you get the hang of it. I hope my notes make it easier to learn. Please IM me (Jethro2112 Sands) in game if you have problems or have found a bug.

First SkipJack Release Features
    * Digital HUD with a functional buttons
    * Command line assignable skipper
    * Switch seats to put the passenger at the tiller!
    * Wind Setters are automatically recognized and displayed
    * AutoTrim and Automated Balance adjustments.
    * Wind Sensitive Flag atop the mast    
    * Adjustable Sail transparency
    * Dual Steering Controls and Dual Trimming Controls
    * Weight and Balance PageUp PageDn buttons control the AV position on the boat. Maintain the boat Level to maximize speed performance.
    * Boat Jack Stands, Rez it over land and the boat automatically rez the Jack Stands.
    * Innovatively scripted and crafted to achieve the highest level of detail and functionality with the minimum number of prims.
    * Pivoting Tack Cam moves the camera view to the windward side when you turn the boat with the wind.
    * Race Mode and Cruise Mode are automatically activated when you set the boat ID# to register for a race. Activate Competition Mode by entering 'id' followed by the number of your boat (ex: id 25) in public chat. Motor and Autotrim and AutoAnimation functions are deactivated. Cruise Mode is set by entering 'id off' in public chat.
    * Dock and Set Dock function affixes the current position of the boat so that it will return to that position on command.
    * Stepped Sail Trimming moves the sails 2 degrees for each arrow key adjustment. New feature adds a 8 degrees adjustment when you hold down the 'e' button or the 'PageUp' button while pressing the up or down arrow keys.
    * PageUp/PageDown buttons pressed simultanesously toggles the Cam Position setter mode.
          up/down arrows is front/back axis
          pgup/pgdown is vertical axis
          right/left is side to side axis
          say camera at the command line returns to the fixed cam position
    * New Function Key activated Gestures
    * Improvements Added to the Sail Engine
    * Faster Responding Sails
    * Animated Steering and Rudder (disabled when there are passengers)
    * The Sail and the Boom are now more closely associated so they move much more fluid.
    * Holding the arrow button to move the sail has been disabled. This allows finer sail adjustments.
    * The sails are more responsive
    * Automatic Hiking
    * Eject Functions
    * Parking Mode
    * Fishing Mode
    * Six seats... 4 Trimmer Seats and two Static Standing Rail Poses
   
Please Note
* If you engage the engine, You must press the fifth button to MOOR the boat before raising the sails

------- GETTING STARTED
You must be seated in the skipper seat before you can operate the boat. Right-click on the tiller or steering wheel and choose "Board". If you unsit at any time, the boat will reset and become non-physical until you start it again. When you are ready to begin sailing, type "raise" into the local chat to raise the mainsail or Press the Left most button on the ReneMarineHUD.

To lower the sails and coast type command "lower"
To engage the AutoTrim press the second button (type command "autotrim")
To engage the engine press the fourth button and use the up/down arrows as the throttle (type command "motor").
(If you engage the engine, You must press the fifth button to MOOR the boat before you can raise the sails again or type command "moor")

------- CAMERA ANGLE
Everyone has their preference for camera angles. This boat features the ability to change that camera angle. The default camera position is above and behind the boat, and may be the easiest point-of-view for beginners. Once seated, you may need to hit "Esc" to go the default view. To change the default camera position in your boat you first must be parked in a Build area where your boat will not be returned to your inventory. Then you must perform the following steps:
  1. Be seated From the seated position at the captains chair as instructed.
  2. Set your desired camera angle.
  3. type the letter 'c' into the Local Chat and press enter.
  4. The boat will respond as follows:
    1. [15:34] : camera Set
    2. [15:34] : Ready.
  5. Stand up by pressing the Stand Up button.
  6. Sit back down and press escape to see your new camera angle.
------- ACTIVE CAMERA
Active Cam - The Active Cam offers the driver an adjustable and dynamic perspective when sailing. The camera view switches from side to side against the wind so that you always are looking around the sails to get a clear view of the water ahead of the boat. The cam position is dynamic and pivots to the Windward side when the sail moves with the wind. The position is adjustable on the fly and retains the settings.

camera - toggles the Active/Fixed cam
     Enter "camera" in Local Chat toggles between the Active cam and the fixed cam
pageup/pagedown (pressed at the same time)
     when pressed simultaneously toggles the dynamic camera adjustment mode.
     page up - moves the camera up
     page down - moves the camera down
     up arrow - moves the camera forward
     down arrow - moves the camera back aft
     right arrow - moves the camera to the right side
     left arrow - moves the camera to the left side
          There is no adjustment for the angle of the dynamic camera

Press pageup/pagedown simultaneously again to toggle the active camera back into normal mode
The active camera pivots automatically from side to side when the boat tacks with the wind.


 ------- SEATING
 The Chesapeake Bay SkipJack has 6 seats. Four of these seats are steering, hiking and trim enabled, but only the skipper can operate the boat functions like raising the sail and engaging engines. The Trimmers can only sit after the Helm is seated.

Here is the Seating Chart.
There are Four seats Three Passengers that have helm, hike and trim control and a Pilot that has access to the Command Sets.There are two seats that are static and strictly for fishing.

1. Sit on the Steering Wheel for the Skipper
2. Bench Seat for the Trimmer 1
3. Wheel Gear Seat for Trimmer 2
4. BowSprit Seat for the Trimmer 3
5. Sit on Left Rail for static fishing pose
6. Sit on Right Rail for static fishing pose
Hint: the skipper must be seated first


------- COMMANDS
The commands can be entered into Local Chat.
    * Raise - Raise the sails
    * Lower - Lowers the sails
    * Moor - Lowers the sails and park the boat
    * autotrim / Toggles Automatic Sail Adjustment when in Cruise Mode (Disabled in Race Mode)
    * Motor - Diesel Motor Power
    * c - Sets Camera Angle
    * notecard - sends user this notecard
    * hud - sends user the sailing HUD
    * Up/Down arrows when motoring increase/decrease the throttle.
             when sailing it increase/decrease the sheet angle.
             (hold down the pageup button or the e button to increase the rate of change of the sail angle)
    * idxxxx / sets Race id.
    * id off / turns off Race Mode and activates Cruising Mode.
    * set dock - stores the current position of the boat on the boat
    * dock - moves the boat to the position set on the boat with set dock.
          Must be within 10M of that position.
    * skipper Firstname Lastname - sets an alternate skipper who can take helm control of the boat.
          Only one alternate skipper is allowed at a time.
    * anim - toggles the automated animation setter on and off
    * camera - toggles between Active and Inactive Camera
    * switch - switches the trimmer to the helm seat and then back.
    * alpha - sets the transparency of the Mainsail and the Jib.
          alpha 100 is Solid
          alpha 80 is a good setting
          alpha 0 is completely transparent
    * PageUp/PageDn - Page up moves the trimmer or helm to the port
          Page Down moves the trimmer or helm to the starboard.
    * park only engage when you've docked the boat and you're leaving it for awhile. The park command Moves the sails out of the way completely. Folding the Jib up to the stay, and the mainsail and mast down to the deck. For best results: Moor the boat BEFORE you raise the sails from the parked position.
    * fish This command opens and closes the cooler and moves the skipper to a Rail pose on the port side of the boat that is appropriate for Fishing, Talking or perhaps even watching a race go by. Type fish again to move your pose back to the helm position at the wheel. This also provides a way to allow your passengers to stand up on the boat and enjoy the freedom of walking around on the deck.
    * eject partial passengername It occured to me that there may come a circumstance where the skipper may need to unsit a certain passenger. Perhaps that passenger has gone AFK, or perhaps you've acquired a griefer. Or maybe just someone who wanted to have a little ride on the boat but did not think to ask. You can just type at the local chat "eject firstname lastname" or any part of the name in lower case the passenger will unsit from their seat.

------- HUD
The HUD Needle is an indicator of the apparent wind direction where the needle points to the direction that the wind is blowing to. You want to keep the wind into your sails. The Autotrim helps with this. But generally the boat will not sail if the wind is inside of 10 Degrees of the bow or the stern.

The HUD features Digital Wind Speed indicator that is displayed just below the Apparent Wind direction needle. To the upper right is the Digital Boat Speed in meters per sec. And to the lower right is the boat compass Heading.
  
The buttons from the left to the right are as follows:
    * Active Camera - the little red button toggles the Active Camera
    * Raise - This button Raises the Sails
    * AutoTrim - This button toggles on/off the AutoTrim function that automatically adjusts the sail angle.
    * Animation - This button toggles the automatic animation setter.
    * Motor - This button toggles on/off the Diesel Motor.
          If you power up the motor, you have to Moor the boat before you can raise the sails.
    * Moor - This button Lowers the sails
          turns off the motor and parks the boat in place.

New Text Hud
Heading, Wind Angle, Wind Speed, Ground Speed, Depth, Sail and Sheet angle are all displayed under the digital HUD for your convenience.

------- Texturing
Hull Texturing
The boat comes copy/mod so you can color your boat as you please.
We have included several different textures here. You can customize these textures as you please.
Keep in mind that the Hull responds to Solid Colors. Text and Lettering will become distorted.
Come to the Paint Shop to download some textures. You can use these as templates to create your own color schemes.

Sail Texturing
The sails are copy/mod so you can texture them to your taste. Add numbers and pictures.
Come to the Paint Shop and download a template to make your own sailcloth.


------- SIM BORDERS
A note about SIM Borders. Most Sailing simulator regions cover multiple SIMs. The SIM crossings are difficult at best and occasionally disasterous. This boat is under 32 Prims so the boat handoff is typically fairly smooth when the border is smoothly crossed. SIM Crossings can be more difficult the more prims and scripts you're pushing to the new area. The number of passengers on your boat increases the difficulties of SIM Border crossings exponentially. When crossing any sim border the results are typically unpredictable. That being said, it is best to make use of your MiniMap to identify the upcoming SIM crossings. If you're going to cross a SIM border it's best to hit that border head on perpendicular and not at an angle. That way you dont confuse the next sim during the handoff. It's best not to be turning while crossing a sim border because the handoff will send you spinning. Other things to account for are attachments that are heavily scripted. Collars especially are troublesome. It is helpful to remove your scripted attachments when running your boat across the sim borders. All these are helpful suggestions, but sometimes the handoffs will still be difficult.

------- SAILING
There are many sailing sims and instructions for Sailing in the SL universe. It is encouraged that you take advantage of the many resources available to help you. In the mean time it doesnt hurt to go exploring around with the motor running.

Wind Setters are recognized and displayed. So if there are race winds available in your SIM your boat will take advantage of them.





Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)