Magazines about sailing and such

[M. R. Bober]

I recently--and purposely--allowed my subscription to "Cruising World" to lapse after nearly 20 years. It was becoming increasingly difficult, for me, to distingush the articles from the advertising (and the other way around). Now I have just received the latest issue of "Practical Sailor" with a six page spread on the Hunter '49. Worthless. It has been several years since "Practical Sailor" denounced a piece of gear as total crap, but they used to have a regular column for that purpose.

Is it just me--tell me, I can take it--or have the old line sailing publications gone down the dumper?

I still subscribe to and enjoy "Soundings" "Good Old Boat" & "Sailing". What do you read?

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Annapolis (where chaff does not make as good a loaf as wheat), MD

[Andy Denmark]

Mitch,

I agree with your perception. There's nothing but fluff and pages of advertising in most of the current "slick" publications, i.e. Cruising World, Sail, ad nauseum. The only one I continue to find useful is Ocean Navigator. Wooden Boat seems to have good stuff but the cost is a bit much so I buy it selectively. Some of the feature articles are a bit simplistic. The British and Aussie sailing mags, which were once very good, also seem to have gone the way of our ritzy mags.

Does anyone know if National Fisherman is still published? They once had great sailing articles, a nice sailing craft design now and then, and some good boatbuilding and small craft design features. That was back in the late 50's and 60's.

Does anyone remember Skipper magazine? That was one of the best small boat publications of all time but died with its editor, "Bunny" Riggs.

Jeez, I'm really dating myself here.
________
BUY BUBBLERS

[Warren Kaplan]

As in all things these days, The Gods Of Commerce reign supreme atop Olympus. 'Tis a pity!

[M. R. Bober]

Andy,
"National FIsherman" is alive & well. I read it in my doctor's waiting room. Don't know why he subscribes, but he does.
Every best wish,

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Annapolis (where the boat show starts tomorrow), MD

[Kittiwake]

The only subscription that I've maintained, and find worthwhile enough to have forwarded from my mail service is Good Old Boat. I like it enough that I volunteered to help them out at their booth at the Annapolis Boat Show for a couple of hours, in exchange for a ticket...
Peace and Fair Winds, Bill

[Clay Stalker]

Mitchell:

I'm with you....Good Old Boat and Soundings. Am letting Sail and Cruising World go now and let go of Wooden Boat (too expensive) and Lattitudes and Attitudes (too many people, not enough boats) some time ago. The jury is still out on Sailing, I do still like some of that one.

Clay Stalker

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Mitch,

Since we all are owners of 'good old boats', in addition to publications like "Good Old Boat", you may be interested in "Boat Works" (published by the same folks that publish "SAIL") and "DIY Boat Owner" magazines. Both are filled with 'how-tos' for the boat owner that wants to do his/her own maintenance, upgrades and installations.

• Boat Works: http://www.sailmag.com/boatworks/
  DIY Boat Owner: http://www.diy-boat.com/

I also like"Latitudes & Attitudes" and "Blue Water Sailing". "Soundings" is great. There are also good regional magazines like "Spin Sheet" for Chesapeake Bay boaters and "Wind Check" for Long Island Sound boaters.

• Lats & Atts: http://www.latsandatts.net/magazine/
  Blue Water Sailing: http://www.bwsailing.com/
  Soundings: http://www.soundingspub.com/
  Spin Sheet: http://www.spinsheet.com/
  Wind Check: http://www.windchecklis.com/

By the way, I've got some free sample copies of "Boat Works" that I'm bringing to the meeting in Annapolis in November. If I can remember, I'll set one aside for you since I don't have enough for everybody. I also have copies of "Ocean Navigator" and "Ocean Voyager".


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Tod Mills]

Small Craft Advisor http://www.smallcraftadvisor.com

<img size=540 src=http://www.todspages.net/images/LF-KatyToo.jpg>

[gkempin]

I agree with Cathy regarding WindCheck for Long Island Sound sailors. The best part it is FREE.
If you want it mailed to your house it is $25 annually.

Gunther

[bottomscraper]

And Points East for the New England crowd:

http://www.pointseast.com/

Same deal, free if you pick it up, $23 mailed.

[Bill Michne]

I let my subscriptions to Sail and Cruising World go because none of the so-called information applied to my boat. They seem to be nothing more than advertisements for large expensive boats. I gave up on Good Old Boat as well because most of the articles are either "Gee whiz, ain't we great" types, or cheap impractical solutions to potentially serious problems.

I find that the most useful information can be found in serious reference works such as Calder's "Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual," Spurr's "Upgrading the Cruising Sailboat," Hiscock's "Cruising Under Sail," and Pardey's "Cost Conscious Cruiser," among others.

I will occasionally buy just about any sailing magazine off the rack if it has an article that interests me. Also, the web in general, and this board in particular, are rich sources of good information.

[Len]

I'm glad to hear that at least someone reads POINTS EAST. Usually people just toss the free mags. True its mostly ads but the articles are not about "gear" but about people and places in Maine and New England . (It previously was called the "Boatinig magazine of Coastal Maine"). Dodge Morgan writes a monthly column.
If anyone still has a copy I wrote a GREAT article on cruising in Maine fog -June Issue...

[Russell]

I used to just look through all the magazines at the chandlery each month and just buy the ones with worthwhile articles in them, which generally wasnt many. Without fail I ussually bought Good Old Boat, sometimes I would pick up Cruising World if it had an article on an interesting destination, I was excited about DIY and Boatworks when they first showed up but with time found them not nearly as good as Good Old Boat (I really dont need a boat magazine to tell me which cordless drill is best), Offshore Navigator and Bluewater Sailing were occcationally interesting, L&A is good for an occational laugh. Generally none of the magazines are good all of the time though. I havnt bought nor seen a new issue of any of them in a year and have not missed them.

[Mike Wainfeld]

I still get Sailing, mainly for the photos, and the Bob Perry reviews. Soundings usually has some good stuff. But the two best, which have not been mentioned yet are "Latitude 38", and "Messing About in Boats". Latitude 38 is the free local San Francisco sailing mag. It has a large and always interesting letters section-with editorial replys, great columns, and excellent coverage of current events. A real genuine, homegrown publication with a thought provoking point of view. MAIB is a little, soulful publication, geared more towards small boaters, full of stories of and by folks who love being on the water. They recently had a story about a trip from Miami to Bimini and the Bahamas in an Alberg Typhoon.