Last week I turned in my structural grid for the pilot boat. It was basically just a bunch of calculations per ISO specifications to figure out how to lay out the framing/stiffeners to strengthen the hull. This is what some of it looked like. It didn't turn into any cool drawing to post.. so this is the only thing I have to show:

   This weekend I went to a boat show in Portland. It was called the "Maine Boatbuilders Show," so all of the boats are built in Maine. I saw a really cool carbon fibre kayak right away and was taking some pictures of it until I got interrupted by Barry, the Landing School's career placement guy. He was just saying hello. Turns out, I was at the Landing School booth at the show without even knowing it. Of course The Landing School would have a display at this show! We hand make lots of boats. And this kayak is one of them. I think it's kind of cool that the boat that grabbed my attention first was made by my school. 

   Is this a lifeboat with a sail? I could have asked, but the guy was busy talking to someone who was more interested. It is a small hard plastic boat with lots of reflective tape on it.... and a sail. Dad, what is it?

   This booth, among a couple others, caught my attention because I thought Dad would be interested in it. It is a collection of old boat parts. Compasses, oars, flags, horns, etc. I can picture Dad decorating the Dry Dock with some of this stuff.... or our house if he could find space on the wall.

   Just a few more pictures of where I was:

   I watched Iowa State play on Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday, my friend forced me to try an oyster. I don't particularly like eating cold slimy guts, so I have never tried an oyster before. And now I know to NEVER try one again.

   This week we are turning our pilot boat into a 3D CAD model. YAY! This will be a fun week. I'll post pictures of what I create next weekend.








   And I can't stop laughing at this:

 Goodnight

   I turned in my machinery arrangement last Friday. We had to place the tanks and other equipment in the boat. The three drawings go together and the key goes with all of them. Kind of a boring, technical drawing.

   On Friday night I went to the Kennebunk High School's musical. It was called The Drowsy Chaperone. It is a comedy based in the 1920's. There is a wedding that is going to happen in a few days and the "chaperone" is a girl who is in charge of keeping the bride away from the groom before the wedding. But she is always drunk and doesn't do a very good job. For a high school level, it was SO good. I can tell they must practice a lot more than OHS. The choreography was great for each dance and there is actually a full orchestra playing for each song. I was impressed.

   After the musical I went to a birthday party. Zan, a kid in my class, turned 25. He has a twin sister who visited for the weekend. I baked cupcakes and brought them over. The blue frosting stained everyone's lips and teeth blue. Oops. But they were still a hit. 

   It was a fun night. On Saturday I played mini golf at the library. It was a 21+ event at night. There is an actual company called something like "Library Mini Golf" that goes to libraries and sets up golf courses for fundraising events. It was fun. I went with a new friend, Rachel. I got a hole-in-one on one hole.... and we didn't keep score, so I can't tell you how well I did on the other holes.  

THIS was a dessert served at the end of the course. It was magical. It is a caramel rice crispy bar that is SPICY. The lady who made them got the recipe from a mexican restaurant (I think) in Portland. Rachel had her email the recipe to her, so I might have to snag that.

 Well I'm watching Cosmos right now, so I don't want to waste any more time writing. This week in school we are working on the structural grid in our pilot boat. So that will be new to me. Hopefully I can figure it out.

Goodnight.

Heyyy

   I don't have much to say this week. Nothing too big has happened lately. I AM going skiing tomorrow after school, though. So that will be interesting. I'll probably pee my pants. From laughing at myself. I'm actually afraid  to ski because I REALLY don't want to hurt myself and have a broken ankle while living by myself. So I'll be honest, I might chicken out and not actually rent skis. My whole yacht design class is going including my two teachers. So I will go and plan on at least taking pictures of everyone else skiing..... And we will see if I get talked into renting skis. Ugh.

   I turned my handwriting into a font. I was going to write my blog in my handwriting font, but there are only ten default fonts to pick from on this website. And "Paige" isn't one of them. Ugh.

   My Pilot Boat is going very well. I've been able to use my Cintiq a lot this past week. We had to design the Outboard Profile, General Arrangement, and Deck Plan. This is all stuff that I enjoy doing. So last week was FUN. But that means that the rest of this project is going to get all technical and shit. Hopefully I still enjoy it.

      I hung out with friends from school on Friday night. Yesterday I watched Parks and Rec all day and ended with Emperor's New Groove. Today I went to the gym and grocery store. It was a pretty routine weekend. Spring is coming, though, which means I can start going to the beach and enjoy being outside more often. Tourists will be back on the weekends and I can go to Dock Square and people-watch. I'm just ready to be done with snow.... forever.

23 winters down, 0 to go.

   Last week we christened some boats that the student completed at The Landing School during the first semester. I was asked to break one of the bottles on the boat. The ceremony/tradition says it has to be a woman to break the bottle and give the boat its official name. I didn't have anyone record me doing it, but I recorded another girl doing a different boat. So this is a video of what I did.. except I managed to embarrass myself. I had to hit the bottle three times before it finally broke. 

   It was a yacht design student's birthday last week, too. He loves whoopie pies, which are a very popular dessert in New England. They are usually the size of a cupcake. Joe's parents ordered him a 30lb whoopie pie from The Landing Store nearby. We all got a slice. This was the first whoopie pie I've ever tried. It was better than I thought it would be.

   Devin finally made it to Maine on Friday afternoon and I was SO HAPPY. We went to The Hive on Friday night and then helped my classmate, Adrian, celebrate his 21st birthday. 

   We woke up early on Saturday and drove up to Freeport. I got to spend my gift card at LL Bean from Devin's family. I found a pair of bright orange capri pants and an awesome multi-use bag. We ate lunch in Freeport and then drove to Portland. Devin made reservations to eat at The Grill Room that night. We both got a steak. Devin got lobster mashed potatoes for his side dish. Although I was too full to eat many bites, those mashed potatoes were awesome. All of it was awesome. I was determined to get some dessert there, but I got too full and had to pass. Ugh. This is a view from our hotel room:

   On Sunday morning we walked around the Old Port for a little bit. This is our best attempt at taking a picture of us walking around:

   We came back to Kennebunkport after eating lunch in Portland. We took a walk around the neighborhood that afternoon. It started out great but by the end we were kind of power walking because our faces were numb. I still had fun :) That night we cooked a dinner together and I was sad to say bye the next day.

   Today we had a class field trip to Portland Pilot. That is the pilot boat service in Portland... if the name doesn't give it away. Our main project between now and spring break is designing a pilot boat. A pilot boat is a small 35-ish foot boat that carries a "pilot" from the shore out to an incoming ship. If the captain of the ship is unfamiliar with the harbor, a pilot who is very familiar with the harbor will come take control of the ship and dock the ship. The pilot boat is like the taxi to get the pilot from the shore to the ship. The ship doesn't stop moving, so the pilot boat drives the same speed right up next to it and the pilot guy jumps from the boat to the ladder on the ship. It also works the other way: the pilot helps get the ship out of the harbor and then gets back in the pilot boat and goes back to shore.

 Here are some pictures from our visit at Portland Pilot:

 (not a pilot boat)

   And here is what I've done so far with my project. I've calculated where the engines will go as well as how big the propeller and rudders will be... and other boring stuff. And this is a drawing to show it:

I'm a real yacht designer!

   I got back from Sarasota, Florida yesterday. I had a second interview with Michael Peters Yacht Design while I was down there. I had butterflies the whole day because I was SO HAPPY with what I was seeing. I loved every single thing about the small company. I got to watch the current designers work, which was the most exciting part of the day. Seeing what I would be expected to do was great... because it was exactly what I want to do for my job. I was so pleased that I was offered the job at the end of the day. I went out to eat with Michael Peters and his wife that night and accepted his offer.
   I can't believe that Florida is going to be my new home. My school had a snow day today in Maine, and my car is once again buried under snow. So Florida sounds really good right now.
   I tried taking some pictures while I was down there. It wasn't appropriate to take pictures while I was at the office. But I took some photos near my hotel. Sorry for all of the selfies, but I didn't feel like asking strangers to take my picture.
   I got there on Sunday afternoon and had a chance to walk around a bit. I was happy to be able to wear shorts and sandals. I went to St. Armand's Circle. It is a big roundabout lined with a lot of shops and restaurants. Michael said it is the biggest tourist trap in Sarasota. But that was perfect for me. Grandma, I found the Ben and Jerry's.

   Here is the hotel I stayed at, the Holiday Inn on Lido Beach. And some pictures from right in front of the hotel. 

I am NOT good at taking selfies, by the way. 

   So here is what I wore on my interview.

And some more random pictures from my hotel:

 This one is for you, Kelly:

Back to school tomorrow. And we start learning about powerboats!