I will honestly say I got incredibly excited when I read that you had joined the 'duino community. I had the same aha moment as Phil. While I had yet to be born in time to read the PopSci mags in the 80's :D, I did read the Sparkfun piece about your life and work and it was truly inspiring. Anyway, I could go on geeking for a while so I'll keep it short: Good luck with your ship and Welcome to the Arduino Community!
Can't wait to hear more from you.