I tried some recipes from my Paleo cookbook today. I wanted to try the pancakes first. It didn't go very well. A lot more of it ended up in the trash than in my mouth. It was like eating fluffy egg whites inside soggy mushy breading that tasted like nutmeg. So I decided to try something else... cooking a whole chicken. I bought a chicken at Hannaford as well as some cloves of garlic and a lemon. Instructions in the cookbook:

1. Clean the chicken

   "Ah shit," I thought. I don't know anything about cleaning a chicken. I didn't think about that when I bought it... Do I have to cut all the guts out? Or is that already done for me? If I have to cut the heart and intestines out then I'd rather just give up now. I looked up some YouTube videos and did a little research (which made me even less excited to cut into the chicken). I couldn't find anything that helped. But I refused to call home because I thought it would be fun.. and funny... to try to cook a whole chicken without asking Mom and Dad for help.
   Thankfully, most of the guts were already gone and the few that were left (if those are guts?)... were wrapped up in paper and easy for me to pull out. I am assuming the stuff wrapped in paper is stuff that some people like to cook? I don't know. I just threw it away.
   I washed up the chicken and then had to dry it off. I used an extra bowl to set it in while I toweled it dry. This was the point that I started laughing at myself because I really had no idea what the hell I was doing.

   The recipe told me to mince garlic and rub it all over the chicken with some lemon zest and EVOO. No lemon zester in the apartment. But that didn't stop me. I tried using a knife... and a carrot/potato peeler. Neither worked very well so I decided lemon JUICE was close enough to lemon ZEST. I threw the rest of the garlic cloves and lemon halves inside of the chicken and put it in the oven... No, I had no idea how to set the chicken in the pan. Is there a right or wrong way? This is the only pan I had unless I wanted to use a cookie sheet.

   It is cooling now. I'll taste it in a little bit. But for my first attempt at cooking chicken... it doesn't look bad. Right? I'm thinking I was supposed to put it in the pan the other way so the legs are sticking out of the broth? Maybe not.

   I went shopping with some girl friends from school yesterday. On my drive to the Portland mall, I was noticing that the leaves have started to change colors. I'm sure in a couple weeks it will be beautiful.

   I started my first yacht design! I am so excited. We will continue to design it and fix it as we learn new techniques until January. So far, I had to research comparable boats. Our requirement was that it has to be a 40 foot cruiser/racer sailboat. I researched other 40' sailboats and used that information to write a design brief. The design brief is what yacht designers write up after talking to their client. Once we write this, we show our client and ask them if this is how they envision their yacht. If they don't have any complaints, then we get to continue to the next step in the design process. This is the design brief that I wrote for my imaginary client: 

Okoboji 40 

LOA: 40 ft
LWL: 33.5 ft
LOA/LWL: 1.19
Bmax: 12 ft
Bmax/Bwl: 0.875
BWL: 10.5 ft
Cp: 0.545

Design Statement:    

   The Okoboji 40 is designed to be a fun cruiser and fast racer sailboat both inshore and offshore. She is simple enough to be sailed by two people but has the capacity to be raced with a full crew.
   O 40’s design has an exceptional combination of sailing performance and comfort for a sailboat her size. This boat has a fully furnished, high-quality interior matching her contemporary exterior styling. She has a light to moderate displacement of 15500 lbs with a displacement to length ratio of 185. Her short overhangs and low VCG keel provide good directional stability while maintaining respectable performance upwind and minimizing drag downwind.
   She has an infusion-molded hull with a balanced fractional rig configuration and high-quality hardware. Her sail area to displacement ratio is 23 with a prismatic coefficient of 0.545 and a ballast of 5700 lbs. The O 40 has a small inboard diesel engine to be used during insufficient wind or narrow channel navigation.
   Her interior design achieves a nice balance in functionality, storage, efficiency, and comfort with two cabins, single head, main salon, and galley. The Okoboji 40 has an open transit cockpit with long storage-seats and high backrests. The leisure amenities like the swim ladder make this boat a great daysailer when not racing.

   Tonight I have been studying for a Naval Architecture quiz I have tomorrow. Here is the study guide I have to work from if anyone is interested. You can click the image to see it bigger and maybe be able to read it. I feel pretty confident that I understand the material. But if the quiz is anything like the Structural Design quiz I had last Friday, I'll be lucky to have enough brain power left to write my own name correctly at the end of the quiz. I also have a quiz about engines on Thursday. I haven't started studying for that one yet.

I'm going to go try the chicken now and continue to study.

Freeport, Maine

   I feel like I should post more often, but I try to wait until I have something to talk about. It's been a week and I still don't have too much to say. School is keeping me busy. I still love it. The math is a challenge and the drawing is easy peasy. I know the math will get easier and the drawing/drafting will get more challenging.... and I look forward to that.

   I thought I'd talk about a few things I've noticed about Maine that are different than Iowa:

1. A daily conversation I hear at the end of school: "Hey, are you guys going surfing today?" Everyone surfs here. The water is very cold, so the guys wear 7mm thick wetsuits. Apparently they surf all throughout the winter because it's "the only thing to do around here unless you wanna drive an hour to go skiing." I think I'll be okay just watching them surf.. while I sit in the car... with the heater on.
2. In Iowa, my satellite Sirius XM radio will cut out when I drive under bridges or through tunnels. In Maine, my satellite radio cuts out on my way to school every day because the woods/tree canopy are so thick that I can't pick up a signal. I've never had that problem in Iowa. I think it is a pretty cool problem. I don't mind.
3. The cemetery headstones... gravestones?.... tombstones?... are so old. They are tiny and crumbling and crooked and all of the lettering is eroded away. Of course it makes sense because Maine was settle a loooong time before Iowa was. But it is still pretty cool... just something I never see in Iowa.
4. No one here is rude. Iowa is full of nice people, but you still get the Subway sandwich makers who hate their job and don't try to hide it... or the gas station cashiers who don't even attempt a smile. Everyone I've encountered in Maine acts like they just won the lottery. It doesn't seem real how nice and happy everyone always is.

I'll be sure to notice more differences throughout the year. I didn't mention food, but thats a big one too.

I drove up to Freeport yesterday to go shopping. I wanted some good winter boots from L.L. Bean. Freeport was the place to go for that. I took a couple pictures of some of the other shopping options, but those stores are only for one block of Freeport. There were a lot more shops than that. I went to the North Face store as well. It is a really cool town.

   Like I said, I don't have much to say. I don't have any big plans for this week. I have two quizzes, though. One in Naval Arch. on Wednesday and one in Structural Design on Friday. Wish me luck! 

Newport International Boat Show

   I have some random things to catch up on before I talk about the boat show. First, Amy Edmondson will probably get a chuckle out of this, I'm an idiot when it comes to flowers. Mom and Dad sent me a nice flower arrangement last week. Here is what it looked like:

Notice the arrangement on the left. I thought it was just the florist's "vision" to have the flowers hanging out of the side of the vase and touching the counter. Turns out, whoever brought the flowers from the office of the Landing School up to my studio is just clumsy. The flowers had fallen that way unintentionally. It took me THREE DAYS to decide I'd see what happens if I put the stems of the flowers IN the water. One hour later... Vioala! 

   

   I have a couple shots of my classroom. Not much to look at yet. But that sailboat is actually pretty sweet. It is electric/remote controlled and used in racing competitions. Super high tech and fancy. 

And this is just a shot of how I spent my Sunday afternoon (last Sunday, not today). Sketching and ice cream on the patio. 

    I discovered an art store in Portland last weekend, too. This part of my blog will be boring to people who don't care much about art supplies. But it was the highlight of my day so I have to share. It was a hole in the wall and I did NOT expect what was inside. It. Was. Huge. It had so many art supplies. I needed a drafting brush and Michaels doesn't sell them, so I found this place. They have multiple brushes to choose from. I didn't even know there were different sizes to begin with. I can't even describe how much stuff this store had. It was crazy. For example, Hobby Lobby probably has 100 different sketch/drawing/and watercolor pads of paper to choose from. This store has at least 2,000 options of drawing pads. They have that plastic "friendship bracelet" string on spools here! I could have spent all day and all of my money there. But I managed to escape with only my brush and a few extra pencils to use in Kelly's birthday present. She already knows I'm drawing it for her, so this blog post isn't ruining a surprise. I'll post a picture of that drawing when it is finished and after she sees it in person. Here are some pictures of the art store.

   Now onto the boat show:
   Friday was great. I got up early to be on the charter bus by 6:30. We made it to Newport, Rhode Island around 10:30am. We picked up our tickets and got a wristband right away, and then we were free to wander around the rest of the day. I set off on my own for a while. It was almost overwhelming. Sooo many boats to look at. All of the boats were lined up right next to each other making it difficult for me to get a profile shot of any of them. You can see in some of my photos how cramped together everything was. Still, it was all so neat. I was as happy as I could be all day.
   There were a lot of large buildings with booth after booth of people and companies selling products. It was exactly like the booths in the State Fair and Clay County Fair buildings, but these booths only sold boat products: fish finders, gyro stabilizers, cleaning products, ship wheels, clothing, dog life jackets, sound systems, lounge chairs, engines, bedding, etc.

 


   My assignment during the show was to pick a boat I liked the most and learn all about it. We were told to sketch the boat if we felt like it. Of course I felt like it. I chose the Jeanneau NC14 because of it's unique exterior styling. It has a plumb bow.... meaning the front part of the yacht is nearly vertical instead of tapering diagonally to the back of the yacht. Like I mentioned, all of the boats were right next to one another, so I couldn't get a good picture of the boat. So here is an image from its website followed by the sketch I did of it :)

Settling In

   I really like it here. I heard a lady walking behind me on the sidewalk the other day describe Kennebunkport pretty well:

"All Kennebunkport is is ice cream shops."

   That is so true. Conveniently (or inconveniently), there are at least four ice cream shops within a block from me... and one of them is Ben & Jerry's. Mmmm. They will close at the end of the summer season, so I won't be tempted for too much longer.
   Let's see... I went out with some classmates on Friday. We went to Pilot House. I can actually see it across the water from my house. It is a smalltown bar and the bartender, Sue, knew everyone except me... until I introduced myself. I had so much fun. My classmates are so nice and so funny. Everyone has a unique and interesting life story/background. There wasn't enough night for everyone to say everything they wanted.

   I will get to spend more time with classmates this Friday on our first field trip! We are going to the Newport International Boat Show.

Link: Newport International Boat Show

   I don't know too much about it because our instructors haven't given us any details yet. But The Landing School students go every year and because most of my classmates attended the School last year, they know what to expect. It sounds like a fun day, and if we choose to drive ourselves to Newport (rather than taking the charter bus), we can stay as long as we want into the evening. I'm not sure what I'll choose to do.

   I have more syllabi. I don't know if anyone is interested in my course descriptions, but here they are:

Design 1: This course covers subjects concerned with the overall design of small craft such as design methodologies, lines plans, parametric studies, weights and centers calculations, deck and cockpit geometry, ergonomics, general arrangement and deck layouts. Aesthetics are also considered. Much of the learning in this course is centered on practical design projects.

Marine Engineering: This course covers small craft system design and installation issues for such elements as ventilation, machinery, tanks, plumbing and electrical systems. Small scale individual case studies in the early part of the course are followed by the complete system installation design for the same sailboat design project used in Design 1.

Structural Design: This course covers statics, applied mechanics, strength of materials, structural mechanics and basic composite theory and their application to such problems as shafting, chain plate and keel bolt design. These theoretical subject also provide an essential foundation for the scantling and structural design studies in the construction course (next semester).


..... So that (plus Naval Architecture and CAD/drafting) is what I'll be learning about.

   I went exploring on Saturday. Here are some photos I took (remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. Then click the back button to get back to my blog):

There is a bridge near me with the locks similar to what I saw in Paris and Rome last summer. A couple in love writes their names on the padlock, locks it to the bridge, and throws the key into the water. 

 I didn't even know that seagull was in the photo until I got it home and loaded onto my computer.^

This is The Clam Shack... This place always has a long line. It must be really good. I'll have to try it sometime.... unless they only serve clams. Eh.

 There was a band playing on the swim deck at this hotel when I walked by. They said they are returning in October.. maybe the same weekend Mom and Dad are visiting?

This is another place that is ALWAYS busy. It has no ocean view.. no view at all... and no curb appeal. Jeesh, it has cheap-looking plastic drapes hanging from the awning. This makes me believe that this place MUST have really good food to always be busier than any other restaurant. People are always standing outside waiting for a table.






Well... This is kind of an abrupt end, but I don't have much more to say right now.

I'll post again when I have enough to talk about.