testing the email writing.
Ok, I finally put some time into the whole email writing aspect of
wordpress. It does not work “out of the box” for wordpress 2.1 and
up… So I managed to find a forum with some help on the subject, but
even after modifying class-pop3.php their error was still there. Well
it turned out whoever wrote the code for the patch had an extra } in
there. Got rid of that (after about an hour of staring at the page)
and it now works…
Seal Point
Nikki and I went for a nice walk with Moseley tonight at Seal Point. If you’ve never been there before, it’s called Seal Point because (in the winter) it’s where the seals hang out. It’s also an awesome point in Narragansett Bay with gorgeous views. I also got a picture of Nikki looking a little bit pregnant! We caught a spectacular sunset and made it back to the car just before it got too buggy. What a way to spend the evening with my wife and my dog!
Baby Update:
Another month, another doctor’s appointment. It’s the end of the first trimester officially now. Nikki’s starting to show enough so people who don’t know her might guess it… We’re starting the 13th week today. We heard the baby’s heart beat for the first time today which was incredible. It’s heart rate was 160bpm which is normal. Next month we’ll get another ultrasound so we’re very excited about that. Nikki said we can finally go baby shopping now as she wanted to wait for the first trimester to officially be over before we did any of that. We’re both very excited. Now to work on names…….. 
NONE OF THESE ARE NEW, but here are the pictures we have from previous appointments:
Vanguard/Laser SB3!
Well it was in sailing world in the spring. And as a subscriber to UK’s Yachting World I’ve read all about them at Cowes week. I’ve gone as far as to fill in my US address into the UK VW Touareg site in order to get a DVD on them (it worked!)… Well they are finally in the states. Yarrow and I were trying to get out on the water to go I-14 sailing on Saturday but needed a universal. West was sold out so up to Vanguard we went. I’d heard on Sailing Anarchy that there were SB3s “here” but no one could confirm that… So I asked in the shop and after a bit of pressing, yes they were here, 2 brand new SB3 (on UK non US street legal trailers even)! I asked about getting a ride and couldn’t get a confirmed date. Just that they would be down at sail Newport for a Thursday night to show off. I’ll be trying to get a ride on one ASAP. I also asked about boat shows and it seems Vanguard wants them to be the hit of the show at Annapolis, but I wonder why it can’t be the hit of both boat shows… Or at least be here for serious inquiries to get a test sail…
As for my impression? Well price will be the main thing that determines if this class is a success. With a Viper 640 coming it at under $30k brand new and with an established OD fleet in Marblehead the SB3 can’t sell for a whole lot more than that and be a huge success IMHO. If they go a whole lot higher than the low thirties then they will be too close to the Melges 24 IMHO. Time will tell. As for the design, I love everything about them except the mast. Why on earth did they put in an aluminum mast??? My biggest issue is in rigging the boat. You MUST have 2 people to do it safely with the heavier aluminum rig. It is deck stepped, but I doubt 1 person could position it alone. It’s also going to make the boat a bit slower sailing with all that weight aloft. Sure it’s “bulletproof”, but at what cost. And what would a carbon rig really cost? Seems on a small boat like this it would be not significantly more expensive… The viper already has one and has a lower sticker price.
It will be an interesting fall/winter/spring to see how the sail, and and interesting summer to see how they sail. I really wish they’d get going with them as it would be an awesome start for the class to get 10+ boats down to Key West for race week… Then get at least one fleet somewhere for summer 2008. I can only hope some people in Newport pick them up. They look like the perfect boat for someone who got out of their etchells.
It was also interesting to see the Nomad -vs- the Laser Stratos. Very similar boats. I’m sure we won’t see (more than the 1 they brought over) any over here… Too similar. I also found the vector molds out in the back. Sad to see that boats dead. It was a great boat with not enough backing and American sailors aren’t ready for swimming lessons I suppose. Check the gallery for shots of the stratos and nomad as well as the vector molds.
Back from Vermont.
We made it home… Not that that should be a surprise…
Anyway, I’ll be posting more images later, but we had a fantastic trip. We finally got to meet Linnea’s Mom and had a wonderful time catching up with Linnea, meeting her Mom, and Matthew. We also got a chance to go to Shelburne Museum and Farms. I snagged some fun shots with these sheep that were more than willing to pose for me:
I’ll add more details (and pictures) later!
edit:, OK, It’s later 
We had a fantastic time if I haven’t said that enough already. We got a locals tour of Shelburne Farms which I’m embarrassed to say I’d never been too before. Nikki and I both want to go back and stay for our Anniversary this fall. I’m a HUGE fan of the Shelburne Museum. I’ve been going with my Mom and sister as a kid. It’s a ton of fun because it has a ton of awesome stuff that kids love. We’ll we all know I’m still a kid, so it’s still amazing to go see it all again. We only had about 5 hours there (split over 2 days, a Saturday pass is still good Sunday, boy do I wish ski areas would do this…). We rode the merry go round, we saw the circus barn, and the trains on Saturday afternoon. Sunday we went back and caught the new kalkin house as well as the Electra Webb house. Then we had just enough time for the lighthouse as well as the Ticonderoga before we had to leave. It was Nikki’s first time there and she enjoyed it as much as I did so we will be going back.
We also had a great brunch cooked by Linnea Sunday morning. Then we bumped into her “Granny” and her husband on the way to the museum and had a wonderful time meeting them. After the museum we managed to get to tour one of the condos for sale which was spectacular (but out of our price range!). Then we packed up and left at ~4pm. We of course saved just enough time to “swing past” Ben & Jerry’s since it’s “on the way home”. Great trip. It was a ton of fun getting out of RI for a weekend and going north in the summer. I’m always up there in the winter, but will be making a point of getting up every summer too.
more pictures:
