My new pets

   I bought 5 fish today! It was a tough decision on what kind of fish to buy. They had a sweet freshwater shark that is very low-maintenance and looks really cool. But the sharks get up to 14 inches long so I would have needed a big tank for it. I only had room for a tank that was small enough to fit on my 12"x12" end table. So I skipped the shark idea. I bought neon fish instead. I tried for quite a while to take a good picture of them, but when they are swimming around they show up blurry in the photos. I finally got a picture of all four of the neon fish in the same frame. I got one of each color: white, yellow, green, and pink. The fifth fish is the bottom feeder who cleans up after the neon fish. She is black and looks like a tiny eel or leech. She is already hiding under that statue in the tank, so I couldn't get a picture of her.
   All five fish are still alive. Their names are:  White, P!nk, Yellow, Green, and Mrs. Black.

   I really like how collaborative all of the five programs are at the school. In the middle of class, if a student asks about a specific part of a boat, our professors will take the entire class right into the shop downstairs to show us parts of the boat to help us understand. This has been helpful for me when it comes to sailboats. The bald guy in the photo below is my Marine Engineering professor, Ken, showing us propeller shafts and how/why they should be offset from the rudder.  

   This is a photo of my professor, Sean, helping me with my homework. It was posted to the Landing School's social media sites: Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. So I'm famous, right?

   I've been practicing my perspective sketching. I enjoy it much more when I am sketching powerboats. Currently I am more interested in designing powerboats after school than sailboats. Maybe it's because powerboats have so much more space and so many more interesting features. They can also have more unique exterior designs whereas sailboats are limited to their shape and size in order to sail correctly. My IndD professor from ISU, David Ringholz, would yell at me if he saw that I didn't correct the white balance on that first sketch. But I'll just hope he never finds it. (Okay, maybe he wouldn't yell at me, but he probably would ask to take my diploma back)

   I had a long, fun weekend with my friends here. But that has made me very tired. I wish I had one more day to rest before going back to class tomorrow. Instead, I'll just go to sleep early. So I am going to cut this blog short tonight. I'll try to have more to talk about next time. Goodnight. 

Birthday Weekend

   I had a great birthday weekend. I got to hang out with Devin... and Mom and Dad.
We had to walk into a CVS store and pass the birthday/greeting card section for Dad and Mom to remember it was my birthday. That was really funny. I hadn't noticed that they forgot to say anything until then, either.
   I picked everyone up from the airport on Friday and showed them around my town. That night Devin and I went out to eat at a brewery. Because I won't see Devin again until after his birthday in November, we decided to celebrate our birthdays on the same weekend. So I made Devin cupcakes.... And yes, Mom, Dad, and I ate most of them haha.
   On Saturday I got to show Mom, Dad, and Devin my school and what I've been working on. That night I got to choose where I wanted to eat for my birthday dinner. Guess what, Grandma? I chose a place that had pizza.

   On Sunday we all drove up to Freeport to shop a little bit, then traveled further north to Brunswick (is that right, Dad?). From Brunswick we took a road out to Lands End and ate at a really good restaurant for lunch. After lunch we made a quick drive through Bath and headed back to Kennebunkport.

   On Monday morning we took a trip to the beach before heading to Portland. I had to drop Mom and Dad off at the airport a couple hours before Devin had to be there. So Devin and I found a park to go to after we said bye to my parents. The park was right on the ocean with a walking path, beach, passenger train, playground, and lots of park benches for us to sit on and people watch. We saw a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in port, too.

   It was hard to say goodbye, but having them visit gave me an extra kick of motivation to keep working hard here. I still love Maine and school and I look forward to what's to come. I wonder where I'll be for my next birthday?

   This is a picture of my view at about 7:30 in the morning. I haven't taken a minute to enjoy the view at that time of day because I'm always in a rush to get to school... or sleeping in on the weekends :) But I'm going to make a point to enjoy my surroundings before everything is snow-covered.
   I am the student ambassador for yacht design. This means that I have lunch with the president of the Landing School and other student ambassadors once a month. During lunch we talk about our concerns and recommendations to improve the school. It has been brought up that the Landing School should have a sailing team. That sounds pretty cool and the President loved the idea. The school would have to purchase a sailboat.... or make one? I don't know how to sail, but I'd still enjoy going to the races! That is something that probably won't get started up until next year, though. A student requested some couches next to the student lounge and couches were there just a few days later. So the president really does seem to listen and take our requests seriously.
   I went to the movie, Rush, last week and also saw Gravity yesterday. Both movies were good. I'm more excited to talk about the theater itself, though. It is called Smitty's Cinema. They have a huge full-menu and bar. I've been to a theater that served food before, but it was a fancier one. Smitty's isn't fancy at all. I love it. You get your movie ticket, grab a menu, and then go sit in the theater. A waitress comes in before the movie starts and takes your order and will bring the food in after the movie starts. Here is what it looks like. These are all kind of like big comfy office chairs. They wheel around. It's just different than what Spirit Lake or Ames has... and I like it.

   I'm finally getting into the fun stuff in yacht design classes. The DESIGN part! The sketching part. My O-40 yacht design brief was approved, so I have moved on to drafting the General Arrangement (GA). The GA is basically blocking out where all of the interior stuff will go like beds, tables, kitchens, etc. It includes a birds-eye view as well as a profile view as if the boat were cut in half. The school doesn't have a scanner and I don't have one in my apartment. So... unfortunately I've resorted to taking pictures of my drawings with my phone. They are pretty poor quality images compared to how much better these look in person. I'll probably put in a recommendation for the school to get a scanner soon. A scanner sounds pretty simple to get compared to buying a sailboat and starting a sailing team, right?

Here is the GA:

   I also had to do an "Outboard Profile" sketch. Which is a sketch that I would show the client to make him/her understand what the boat will look like. I only took a photo of two of the sketches. I chose to pursue the first sketch with the smoother lines over the more jagged lines in the second sketch:

   The last sketch we've been assigned to do is the "Perspective Cockpit" sketch. The swim deck would be folded up to create a wall on the back end so the sailor doesn't fall out into the water. But I left that out to make it easier to see the wheel base. It's an okay sketch for my first try. I see a lot of mistakes that I won't point out haha. I am looking forward to practicing and getting a lot better... but drawing a boat that is such an irregular shape in perspective is tough! All of these sketches are just Round #1. Once we learn more about plumbing, electrical, fuel tanks, sail plans, etc, lots of our stuff will have to be changed and moved around. So there are more sketches and updates to come :) This project will be finished in January, so I am excited to see where the final design ends up!

 Here are some real cockpits. A helm with one wheel vs. two wheels is still a mystery to me, honestly. I'll learn the difference soon enough.

Beneteau Oceanis 45

Dufour 410

J Boat J/122

Jeanneau 41DS