Rob,

the most important thing first. Best wishes for you and your wife with the baby. I hope it will be a good experience for you all.
If you are so lucky that your wife builds boat 'things' for you, take good care of her! In our home, I do all the sewing..

You mentioned that you had some small problems with part of your stitching. Using the correct needle for the thread and application are vital. If you sew straight stitches, use the straight-stitch plate as well. For a good discussion on needles and thread thickness, check:

http://www.gwsms.com/didyouknow.htm

Having a needle with the correct tip is also quite important. For your use, I would have used a 'standard' tip, and not a leather tip etc. Most shops dont know much about what needles you should use, and will sell you e.g. leather needles for sewing dacron..