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.

   I have pictures of my place!

    That is the patio. We currently have low tide in the evenings... but during the day there is a lot more water there.


   My first day of school was yesterday. We had an all-school meeting at 8:00. The president of the school talked for a while and then the Kennebunkport chief of police talked to us. The officer gave us a rundown of all the driving laws in Maine. He said that all of his officers will know each of us within a month because it is such a small town and the officers observe all of the cars/license plates and where everyone is at. I'm thinking my license plate might be the only Iowa one in town.
   After that meeting, we had a tour of the school. I'll have to take some pictures of it soon and post them. All of the classrooms are giant shops for boat building... except the yacht design lab, which is a bunch of large desks and computers (just the way I like it). This is the first year they've had a women's bathroom at the school. So far it's been all men's and one unisex... But because there is a whopping THREE girl students in the entire school (two in yacht design and one in boat building), they decided to give us our own bathroom.

We were given our schedule for the semester:

   After lunch we sat back at our desks and were each given a piece of 11x17 piece of paper. Our only instructions were to "sketch a yacht." We could interpret that however we wanted to. Here are the results of the class. Can you spot which sketch is from the industrial designer (me)? I guess it's okay if you can't, but I know other industrial designers will easily pick it out. It's the one that didn't use pencil.. the pen and marker sketch up at the top.

   Today was a bit different than the schedule. They started classes like it was a Monday, so I had Design 1 and Naval Architecture 1 today. I have homework for Naval Architecture, so I brought home that binder and have the syllabus here. I'll type the Course Description that my professor, Sean, wrote for it:

"This course covers subjects concerned with the technical design of small craft such as calculation of area and volumetric properties, hydrostatics and stability, hull form design, resistance and propulsion and rig, keel, and rudder design. Sailing craft and displacement, and semi-displacement boats are considered."

   It goes on to list the main learning outcomes of the course: physics, statics, hydrostatics, dynamics, and fluid dynamics.... Sooo... I had to buy a fancy calculator for that class. I'm excited for the challenge.
   My first assignment is an easy one. We have to write "in our own words" Newton's three laws of motion and how they relate to boats. Then we have to look up Archimedes and understand why he is important in boat design.
   I don't have much else to say right now. I don't have any plans for the weekend yet, but I plan on asking some classmates if they wanna go out tomorrow night or Saturday. If I get a bunch of "no's" then I'll probably spend the weekend exploring the area on my own, going to the beach and watching all the dogs, and taking photographs. Either option sounds perfect.


































I'm going to be a f*cking yacht designer.

Registration Day

   I made it to Maine. Dad and I arrived around 11:30 yesterday morning. It was raining all day so we tried to stay inside most of the time. The drive was easy during the last leg because everyone was leaving their vacation spot in Maine and driving back home towards Boston and other cities. Traffic going the other way looked terrible, but we had a pretty open road. All of the touristy shops are still open. I'll have to check them all out soon. We ate at a nice restaurant last night. It is pictured below with all of the blue umbrellas on the deck.

   My condo is very nice. It has two bedrooms and a cute little living room next to/in the kitchen. I forgot to take photos again, so I'll do that in my next blog.
   I registered for school today. I signed papers, got a parking permit, and set up my desk. It looks so clean right now! That won't last more than a few days. I'm excited to post some pictures of my yacht designs later :)

































   After registration, Dad and I went to eat at another restaurant. My favorite part was the s'mores
dessert. They prepare the marshmallow and chocolate between the crackers and place them on that wooden block and roast the whole thing in a woodfire grill. As if s'mores aren't messy enough, they drizzled the graham cracker with caramel to make it even more difficult to keep our fingers clean.

   I took a picture of my condo from the restaurant. The restaurant is just across the harbor. My place is the gray building with the black circle around it (low tide).

   After dinner, Dad and I went to look at the church. It is OLD.... I don't know how old, but it is still in use. Very small, but very neat.

   I take Dad to the airport tomorrow morning before my first day of class! I am so excited for class to start. I look forward to meeting new friends. The average age of students is 26. The youngest students are 18 (out of highschool) and the oldest student is 63!

On the road.

   The last few days leading up to leaving for Maine were wonderful. I was lucky enough to have visitors before I left. My best friend, Libby, along with other good friends from school, Jeff and Stephen, made a trip up to Okoboji on Thursday night. They left on Friday afternoon. While they were here I laughed a lot and it felt awesome. Libby and I are not good at darts..... or pool. But we had lots of laughs trying anyway! We did win once! On Friday we went swimming and I managed to capture some FUNNY pictures of the event:

The moment before a really bad dive.

Jeff swimming with sharks.

Libby bear hunting.

   I don't know how I managed to get lucky enough to snatch up a guy like Devin. I thought I had said my last goodbye to him last weekend, but that boy surprised me by showing up at my house last night. I had no idea he was coming. It made my last night at home perfect.... hanging out with my dogs and Devin. Can't get much better :) Devin helped me with those last two pictures up there.
   Dad and I packed up my car this morning with the help of Mom and Devin, and we were on the road by about 5:00am. We drove through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and stopped in Toledo, Ohio at about 5:00. Dad drove most of the way while I... rested my eyes... and I drove the last couple of hours. We drove about 150 miles more than we had planned to. Less driving to do later! We dropped our stuff off in the room and went out to eat right away to watch the Iowa game at the sports bar and to get back to the room in time to catch the Iowa State game on Dad's laptop. I admit, I am not watching it, but dad is. I don't have to watch because I can figure out what is going on in the game by the noises he makes... Ughh no! Yes yes yes!
   We don't have a plan of how far we will drive tomorrow. We plan to get up around 6:00, but Dad says if he wakes up before the alarm we will start before that.... I'm guessing that means I'll be woken up by 4:30 :) We set our clocks to Eastern time... an hour ahead of Central, Mom. Here is a map of our route. We are at the "B" tag.

   It was a pretty easy ride today. We ran into slow traffic around Chicago along with some rain, but we still made great time. I hope tomorrow goes just as smoothly.