THE MOORINGS - (Alpha Page)For the "boaters among us" ... I've got an "alpha" page I'm working on for the boating enthusiasts. It is at
http://www.return.mistymoorings.com/moorings/ (not linked to any of the pages). It is far from finished, but it is taking shape. We will be posting Jeff's Tuneups there in the "Marine Maintenance Shop" along with some other things we're working on. If you have any ideas for it, let us know.
I put this up because we keep referring to the cruises, and I actually have them posted on the alpha page. So you folks can bookmark that one and try out the cruises if you like, they are all operational. You can click on the zip to get the "Flight Plan" which we are calling a "sail plan" ... so you can keep these separate in your FSX Documents library, their naming will be like this: VHR SP Misty's Place to Wrangell ... the SP will tell you it comes from The Moorings. The Map gives you a quick overview of the trip and the Trip Tic is for boating.
There are a couple of ways to do the cruises. The Malibu on autopilot is terrific. (I watch the minipanel and keep my speed at 60 mph and it tracks perfectly). But for the larger boats like the tug, another way is also fun. You actually use the chart. At a waypoint, you look at your next course heading and set it arriving at the next one and changing again. This is pretty realistic and I've tried to make the waypoint the nav buoys and all are named after features. The cruises look "easy" but the Grenville Cruise took about 8 hours to complete.
FSDiscover! is a big help for you and makes viewing the landscape far more interesting because you know the names of things. I put in over 40 data points on the Grenville cruise, 30 some for Hartley to Bella. As I do a cruise, I make sure I've got the major features in there (using My Topo) and then the waypoint names are realistic. Using FSDiscover! I set the options for about 5 miles distance. Also, if you make the POI (Points of Interest) a different color, then you can see all the things we've added for you. Any data point showing up from us has an (MM) after it or (MC) for the USFS cabins. (So if you see an error on one, you'll know it's from us ... conversely, if you see an error and that is not present, then the error is in the global database ... and there are errors ... I've listed those I've found at the bottom of the dat file). If you go to the map page and click on the Quick Find Data Base and you'll see all the way points I've put into the rtmm dat file.
The "My Topo" people have done a great job with thier web page and we've found a little trick they've added there. You can get the url for the exact map you are viewing by clicking on a small link. For the cruises, there are some tricky approaches ... so we now can list those. Clicking on those in the navigation area gives you a close up of a target area. Since the Trip Tics (Sail Plans) are web-based, I may start putting links to critical areas right inside them.
Again, this is all experimental. But if you are interested in trying one ... I suggest getting the Malibu and giving it a try. On the longer cruises (Grenville Channel) ... I put the sim rate on X2 to speed it up a little. But as Jeff says, what you don't want to miss is the scenery along the way.
It is amazing how the "point of view" really changes PFJ. When you are down on the water, the landscape and topography come alive. Just going down the Grenville, you won't believe how the land changes, and of course the mountains are magnificent when you are looking "up" at them.
This truly is a whole new experience for those that like it. We are making The Moorings page to keep the boating separate from the flying. I didn't want flight plans and sail plans to get all mixed into the same bag.
Again, if you have ideas for the alpha, let us know.
Doug