Water

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Water is an important feature of nearly all Second Life places. It is found both on Linden-owned sims and private-owned sims. It is essential for sailing. Navigable water is the most important feature for places like Nautilus, Eden or Blake Sea.

Terminology

'Continental Water is the water that can be found on all continents, private and Linden-owned. It has the average heigth of 17 meters. It usually covers the continental external coast, but many times it can be found in gulfs, estuaries and channels inside of a continent.

Transcontinental Water is refered to the two large groups of connected continents: Sansara - Heterocera and Gaeta 5 - Corsica - Nautilus - Blake Sea - Satori. That feature allows a boat to sail from the West coasts of Gaeta 5 to the South coast of Satori.

External Continental Water is the water near the external coast of a continent.

Internal Continental Water is the water connected to the external continental water that allows access deep inside a continent, through estuaries, rivers, gulfs or channels.

Navigation Channel is a protected waterway that passes through water parcels with islands, polders (artificial islands) and places with shallow water.

Unnavigable Water is that part of water that is too shallow for navigation, has access restrictions or has islands too close one to another for ships to enter.

Isolated Water is water behind a dam or another obstacle, that could be navigable but is separated from from continental waters by the obstacle. This kind of water usually has a different altitude then continental waters.

Endorheic Water is isolated from continental waters by land. In Geography, an endorheic lake is a lake where water does not flow away from the lake to a river or a sea, it leavs only by evaporation. Endorheic waters usually have a different altitude.

Void Water is reffered to an illusion. The place between sims is in fact void and nothing exists there, even if when you look from the border of a sim you might see water surface. On map, they have a similar texture with deep water.

Special Types Of Water are in fact surfaces covered with physical or non-physical prims, made to look like water. They form small lakes or rivers.

Textures

Water texture has been updated in autumn 2013 an is the same for all sims. However, many private-owned places add a flat prim set phantom over or under water, to change its image. Special types of water are always the surface of a prim.

Water by continents

Blake Sea is the largest place for sailing. It is completely navigable. Anyone who loves sailing should visit this continent. It has a large central group of sims that are completely submerged and a huge number of islands with navigable water between them. In fact, there is no sim in Blake Sea without water access. Blake Sea is one of those unique places where you can see only water around you. The nearest parcel of dryland can be too far to be visible.

However, in Horth-East, in Second Norway, there are a few sims were water has a different altitude then oceanic water. That is why the Second Norway Railway is sometimes built under the sea. Also some roads are below sea level.

Overall, Blake Sea 23% of complete flooded sims, 76% sims with direct water access and only 1% sims without water (Airport SNO).

Caledon - Winterfel is a continent with a lot of water access. External water does not form a complete navigable belt along the continental border, but internal water is also present and allows access through a vast network of rivers, channels and small internal waters. There are many islands that are accesible only by boat or by flying.

Both Caledon and Winterfell have ports and ships.

There is no endorheic lake. In Caledon, over some rivers, there are low bridges that block access for large ships (anyway, these rivers are not wide enough for massive ships). The Caledon Railway has an underwater tunnel and a bridge that rises up, to allow navigation.

Overall data shows that there is only one completely flooded sim, while all other 59 sims have access to water.

Corsica allows navigation through many different ways. It is one of the longest continents and sailing from an end to the other end might take some time.

The presence of 3 Transcontinental Channels, two of them to Nautilus and one to Gaeta 1, is very important and makes Corsica a strategic and important place. These channels made all of Corsica waters transcontinental waters.

External waters surround the continent. A sailor can circle all around this continental mass without problems at a required distance. There are a few problems close to land, where many parcels have ban lines or entity orb teleporters. Internal waters are also present, mainly in West, where Corsica is divided in a few islands.There are a few gulfs and internal seas.

Navigation seems to be an important activity in this continent and many buildings are close to water. Also, there are many ports and ships. Also, many polders (artificial islands) can be found near the shores.

Overall, 12% of all sims are submerged, 70% have direct water access and 18% are dryland.

Eden is a private-owned continent and a paradise for sailing. It is a tropical beach paradise, with a high number of islands and a lot of water to sail. The North-West part of this continent has more land and less water. In central area, there are many sims without dryland. It is difficult to separate here water into external and internal continental waters, since there is not a continous landmass. Water surface is larger then land surface.

Eden has 147 sims, more then Blake Sea has and is one of the largest (if not the largest) private-owned continent. It is the most visible point on world map in West.

Overal data shows that 5% of all sims are submerged and the rest, 95%, have direct water access.

Estate Continent is the most fragmented of all continents. It has separated bodies of water. Since the continent is owned by various estates, there is a problem with sailing access. There are not many places to rezz a boat. Each part of this continent has different features.

There is a central basin of internal water. South of it, there is the urban area, with straight channels like in Bay City. Near the highway, there is a shore and water. If somebody travels accross that water, there are two large islands with residential land.

There are many islands in Estate Continent, all of them have rectangular shapes.

There is no complete flooded sim. 78% of all sims have water access, while 22% are dryland.

Europe continent has a rectangular form and looks like a puzzle of islands and sharp waterways. It is not built to look like a tropical paradise, it is a misterious middle-aged place themed from Europe history, created for roleplay.

Navigation is possible on the multitude of channels and rivers in the continent and is sometimes done during roleplay scenes. Even nautic battles can sometimes be organised here. Sailing with a modern ship will be unacceptable herem but sailing with an old historical ship will be very appreciated.

Overall, there are 33 sims forming this continent, all with water access. There is no submerged sim and no sim made only of dryland.

Fairchang is a tropical beach paradise similar with Eden Continent, but a lot smaller. It is also an isolated continent. Its surface is about 29% of Blake Sea and 24% of Eden.

It is formed by a number of sims with tropical islands and navigable water between them. There are also 4 distant sims without access to continental waters, linked only on diagonals with the continent. These sims share the same textures and Geographic features with continental sims.

Our survey found no ship or boat sailing on this continent, but it is highly possible that local residents sail their waters from time to times.

Overall, there are 90% of sims with direct water access and 10% of dryland sims. No sim is complete submerged.

Gaeta 1 is an isolated continent, with a large sea in North-West. The large body of external continental water is very shallow near the coast. It has a nice golden sand texture. In North-West, there are many sims of water. They extand to South and East along the shore. Since Gaeta 1 is unfinished, it is not possible to travel by boat along the shores. It has 141 sims, a bit smaller then Eden but still higher then Blake Sea.

Gaeta 1 is the most unpopulated continent. Limited navigation is what keeps this place still populated. Continental waters are not linked to another continent by Transcontinental Channels. There are only 92 sims covered (total or partial) with water, smaller then all nearby continents.

What is nice while sailing in Gaeta 1 is how quiet this place can be. There are not ships nearby, nobody to disturb you but only the smooth yellow shore, blue water and the sun on a blue sky.

Overall, 27% of all sims are submerged, 44% have water access and 29% are dryland sims.

Gaeta 5 is surrended by a large belt of navigable water, the largest throughout all continents. This feature allows an easy navigation. Also, a transcontinental channel connects it ti Corsica, a very important link that allow ship access.

There are no internal waters, rivers or endorheic lakes. Gaeta 5 has no channels, gulfs or estuaries to facilitate water access to inner continental land. However, since altitude varies slowly and the shores are very smooth, residents could easy build by terraforming islands and lakes near the shore.

An interesting feature of Gaeta 5 is the presence of long navigation channels near the shore, through parcels of unnavigable water.

Overall, Gaeta 5 has 21% of sims completely submerged, 24% of sims with water access, while the remaining 55% are dryland. This makes Gaeta 5 the mainland continent with the lowest water access.

Heterocera is surrounded by external continental water that allow a boat to circle around the continent. Also, it has many ports with rezz facilities. The ANWR Transcontinental Channel links this water with navigable waters of Sansara. Navigation is possible on the internal water of the continent. The only exception is the sim Brindle in North, where an entity orb will teleport away any sailor. There are a few navigation channels that facilitate access to places around the inner atoll, but also a lot of unnavigable waters on the inner and outer deltas. A large number of private ports can be found at the shores. Bridges are high to allow ship access. Also, a few navigable internal waters can be found on the outer side of the outer atoll. They allow water access to inner sims.

The inner lake is an endorheic one, with altitude higher then the continental waters. Even so, there are ports on its shores and even submarines. A few other endorheic lakes exist on the West esterior of the outer atoll.

7% of all sims are submerged, 51% have water access, while 42% are dryland. The low percent of submerged sims and high percent of dryland makes Heterocera to be not a very good destination for sailing.

IGBC Continent is a paradise for sailing. It is private-owned and have many submerged sims. Almost all of its surface looks like a tropical beach paradise. Only in South, there are a few sims with more land then water.

This is the newest of all continents. Near its borders, there are many microcontinents with navigable water, separated only by a sim of void. If one day they will merge, overall continental surface might double. This means that from 37 sims, it will grow to about 70.

27% of all sims have no dryland. The remaining 73% have both land and water.

Irish - Bonaire continent has undergone massive changing in autumn 2013. Bonaire estate has increased its land holdings by building new sims and the Irish estate moved to Nautilus, where they are now known as Seychelles, a Subcontinent of Nautilus. After all these changes, the continent decreased from 56 to 44 sims and was in risk to have less then 30 sims, the minimum number for a Continent. Below this sim number, it should become a Microcontinent.

The continent is formed of a lot of smaller and larger islands. In South, they look like a tropical beach paradise, while in North they are much more differentiated. Water access is all over the continent, through channels and local seas, allowed for Bonaire residents and their friends.

All 44 sims have water access. There is no submerged sim and no dryland sim.

Jeogeot is an isolated continent, not connected through transcontinental channels to other continent. This might be a problem for sailing in this continent.

External continental waters allow access to many places. however, many water parcels near the shores have ban lines or entity orb teleporters that limits accesibility. Another major problem is that in North-East, a sim is missing and also the coastal waterway is interrupted. Even so, navigation seems to be very important here, since population density is much higher near the coast then on continental highlands.

Internal waters are represented by the central sea, which many people use to call Zebrasil or Ichelus from its largest island. This is the most searched place for sailing on the continent. Zebrasil infohub and Ichelus volcano can be considered a touristic attraction. Coastal waters of the inner sea are full with private ports and boats.

There are no inner rivers or endorheic lakes.

Jeogeot has 5% submerged sims, 40% sims with water access and 55% sims of dryland.

Nautilus - will be completed soon

Premium Continents - will be completed soon

Sansara has a lot of navigable ways. The external continental waters are not navigable through their entire length since they are discontinued. In Bay City, there are many sims that are in direct contact with the intersim void, without having an exterior ocean. In South (for example the South coast of the Snowlands), external water is not enough wide for large ships. And also, on the East of the continent, sometimes parcels that use ban lines or entity orb teleporters. This makes a part of the South coast to be unaccessible by sailing from North. However, the North coast is a very good place for sailing. The waterway from Bay City to Purple Docks passes through a few forts and castles.

Sansara has a large network of internal navigable waters, many of them are protected[1]. Bay City has a huge network of channels that facilitate access throughout the area. Also, Gulf Of Lauren is an isolated part of the external continental waters, with access through these channels. Almost half of Sansara has water access through a complex network of rivers, that extend from the external coasts to internal lakes and seas. Bay Of Space Pigs, The L-Shaped Lake, Mare Secundus, Sea Of Fables or Hidden Lakes are only a few examples. Ice Bay is interesting, because in some parts it is permanently covered with ice.

Also interesting for Sansara is a system of isolated waters. There are a few dams that separate water bodies on rivers from oceanic water. Sutherland Abyss is in fact a reservoir behind the large Sutherland Dam. Navigation is possible through these waters, but limited to presence of dams.

Sansara has a few endorheic lakes.

From all sims, 8% are completely submerged, 75% have water access and 17% have no water.

Sailing is much more intense in North, where a Transcontinental Channel links this continent to Heterocera.

Satori - will be completed soon

Sharp Continent - will be completed soon

Shopping Continent - will be completed soon

Uhre Continent - will be completed soon

Wild West - will be completed soon

Zindra - will be completed soon

Microcontinents

will be completed soon

Isolated sims

will be completed soon

See also

Second Life Geography

Sailing in Second Life

Abandoned Land

Inhabited Land

Land With Restricted Access

Protected Land

Protected Route

Rezzing Zones

Unused Land