6.1 Magazines
Description
This article is from the Boats FAQ, by John F. Hughes with numerous contributions by others.
6.1 Magazines
AMERICAN SAILOR, none, This one is for members of USYRU. Almost
exclusively for racing. Dave Perry has a short but interesting "rules
corner".
ASH BREEZE, none, P. O. Box 350, Mystic, CT 06355, $15/year (4
issues). The journal of the Traditional Small Craft Association.
Member-contributed articles about design, construction, and history of
traditional boats. Members also receive discounts on books published by
International Marine.(al).
BOAT DESIGN QUARTERLY, none, P.O. Box 98, Brooklin, ME,
$24/year (only 4 issues). Each issue contains six to eight reviews of boat
designs. This magazine is mostly the effort of Mike O'Brien (who also
writes for WoodenBoat magazine). Only worth it for those truly obsessed
with boat designs.(al).
BOATBUILDER, none, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235
800-786-3459. Primarily amatuer construction. Monthly articles by
notable Dave Gerr (lots of his latest book "The Nature of Boats" was first
published in Boatbuilder). Includes instant boat construction, origami
steel boats, etc.(mp) Possible new address (subscription dept?):
Boatbuilder, 76 Holly Hill Lane, Greenwich, CT 06836-2626.
COASTAL CRUISING, none, The Magazine of Achievable Dreams. This
rag was formerly called "Carolina Cruising" and probably still should be.
Concentrates on the ICW around and about its Beufort, NC home base.
A harbor profile in each issue with a color arial photograch as a
centerspread. Quirky columns written by people who are really into
bringing the spoken accent to the written page. Printed on cheap
newsprint paper and comes out 6 times a year. Unless you live or cruise in
the Carolinas, save your money. (wms).
CRUISING WORLD, none, Good articles, wonderful reader service called
"Another Opinion", which will tell you about other readers who own the
same boat that you do (or that you are thinking of buying), and who
might be interested in telling you about it, Extensive brokerage and
charter listing. -jfh-.
GPS WORLD MAGAZINE, none, Monthly magazine covering the
spectrum of GPS usage. Current regular subscription rates: US $59,
Canada $79, Foreign $117. Advanstar Communications, P.O. Box 10460,
Eugene, Oregon 97440-2460, U.S.A. Phone: (503) 343-1200 Fax: (503)
683-8841 Telex: 510-597-0365 (rb).
GREAT LAKES SAILOR, none, Tends to focus on the sailing scene in
the midwest. Has suspended publication as of January 1993. (tl).
JOURNAL OF NAVIGATION, none, The main problem is this is a
quarterly publication (at best), that often suffers long delays in delivery.
It has an interesting mixture of high end and low end stuff. For instance
it will have discussions of what the piloting station of a large freighter will
have the next decade alongside a report of a last (ill fated) Atlantic
voyage of a junk rigged 30' cruiser. (rb).
LATITUDE 38, none, The SF Bay sailing rag. Cheap paper, irreverant
staff. Far more honest than any other sailing rag. Latitude 38,P.O. Box
1678,Sausalito CA 94966,USA. Phone: 415 383 8200 ; 415 383 5816 (fax).
First class postage subscription: $45/year. Third class postage
subscription: $20/year. "We regret that we cannot accept foreign
subscriptions, nor do we bill for subscriptions. Check or money order
must accompany subscription orders." (However, Canadians may order
the First Class subscription.).
MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS, none, This small magazine with its own
strong identity and readership may interest those who enjoyed Small Boat
Journal before its change. Costs 20 buck per year. 29 Burley St.,
Wenham, MA 01984. "This is a great little magazine filled with
reader-contributed articles and good classifieds (especially for readers in
New England). Very entertaining, and you can't beat the price." (al),
"particularly since it comes out every two weeks. The primary focus is on
boats for the "little guy," rowboats, patched-up boats, and homebuilt
boats. There is a lot of coverage of off-beat boats, and most issues include
a design by Phil Bolger." (wv).
MULTIHULLS, none, 421 Hancock St., N. Quincy, MA 02171, (800)
333-6858, $21/year (6 issues). As the name states, this magazine deals
exclusively with multihulls. Coverage is divided about evenly between
cruising, design, building, and racing. They also sell books, videos, and
posters.(al).
NATIONAL FISHERMAN, none, The working seaman's magazine.
Printed on newsprint, filled with editorials about why the fisherman
cannot make it in the modern USA, and articles about how well EPIRBs
*really* work, etc. A *great* mag. Wonderful classifieds.
OCEAN NAVIGATOR, none, Informative article; passagemaking
information, info on nav hardware and tools. The letters are worth the
price of admission. Nav problems at the end of each issue that include
piloting and offshore celestial problems, with answers. Only magainze
that I read cover to cover. Some articles about electrics tend to be slightly
screwy-Nigel Calder can't distinguish amps from amp-hours.
OFFSHORE, none, 220-9 Resevoir Ave, Needham, MA 02194. Covers the
Northeast coast from New Jersey to Maine. Good coverage of the area
with plenty of local interest stories, marina profiles, safe boating,
navigation and area history. Slightly skewed toward powerboats but
plenty of interest to sailboaters, too. Regular columns on local boating
news and Coast Guard Search and Rescue summary. Series by Dave Gerr
on understanding Yacht Design contains many of the articles on which his
book "The Nature of Boats" is based. Excellent classified section with a
unique "renewable guarantee" that will keep your ad in until sold for a
one time fee of $25.00 (wms).
POWERBOAT REPORTS, none.
PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER, none, published in Poole, Dorset,
England. Practical Boat Owner Subscription, Quadrant Subscription
Services, Perrymount Road, Hayward Heath, W. Sussex, RH16 3DH,
United Kingdom. Another reader notes that "The current Practical Boat
Owner gives the following address for overseas subscriptions: Practical
Boat Owner, PO Box 272, Haywards Heath, W Sussex, RH16 3FS, UK.
Tel: 0444 44555." P.B.O. is great for boat tests (yachts any size, motor
boats mostly small) and simply excellent for how-to-do-its. Editorials
reflect the British scene since it's a British magazine. The editor, George
Taylor, answers queries in person by return of post.
PRACTICAL SAILOR, none, These folks test out products and do
sailboat reviews and compare products made by different people. They
also answer questions. They have no adverts, so that their information is
nominally unbiased. <As I learn more and more, I respect them less and
less. They often test products in ways that aren't all that reasonable.
Their test of rope, for example, was based solely on abrasion resistance.
Fine for your mooring pennant, but not the whole story. Their test of
other products has not impressed me either. And, last but not least, they
have wacky ideas about galvanic corrosion_I would not trust anything
these guys said about electricity. It helps to be an educated reader. (jfh)
Practical Sailor's Subscription Dept can be reached at 1-800-829-9087 or
PO Box 420235 Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Subscriptions are $72
annually, although I think I've seen discount offer's in Cruising World.
Practical Sailor is published by Belvoir Publications, Inc at 75 Holly Hill
Lane PO Box 2626 Greenwich, CT 06836-2626 (203) 661-6111. (sja).
SAIL, none, Informative articles, usually pretty basic. Good charter
listings. Good brokerage listing.
SAILING, none, Published in Port Washington, Wisconsin. It's large
format (11 x 14) can have some pretty striking pictures. They're a general
interest sailing magazine. Their design editor is Robert Perry. There's a
"boat focus" column on one particular boat each month written by an
owner... usually nice family cruisers.
SAILING WORLD, none, Mostly about sailboat racing. Very good on
that topic.
SEAHORSE, none, The magazine published by the Royal Ocean Racing
Club in England. Far and away the best coverage of big-boat racing, and
not afraid to get technical.(pk).
SMALL BOAT JOURNAL, none, now "Boat Journal." <Never look at a
copy of this printed after 1990, especially if you are a sailor. Early issues
are real treasures_circa 1978-1980, they were the best, most honest, best
produced, small sailing mag around.
SOUNDINGS, none, Good articles on all aspects of boats; great classified
section. $18.95 FOR 12 MONTHS. 35 PRATT STREET/ ESSEX,CT
06426. 203 767-3200; 203 767-1048 FAX. UPDATE...A BETTER
PRICE....$14.95 PER YEAR VISA, MASTER CHARGE 800 341-1522 24
HOURS.
THE COMMODORE'S BULLETIN OF THE SEVEN SEAS CRUISING
ASSOCIATION, none, If you dream of sailing into the sunset someday,
this will feed your fantasies. Full membership in this organisation is
exclusive, but anyone can join as an "associate" member and get the
Bulletin. It is just reprinted letters from members cruising all over the
world. $25/year. Address is: SSCA// 521 S. Andrews Ave.// Ste. 10//
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 USA.
WEST MARINE'S ANNUAL CATALOG, none, For pure information per
dollar, this has got to be the best buy around. True, it's a once-a-year
journal, but their West Advisor sections on how to best run marine
plumbing, what kind of wire is best, etc., is really worth reading. Slightly
biased towards promoting the purchase of expensive items, though.
WOODEN BOAT, none, Lovely pictures, informative articles, and they
pay attention to *new* woodworking as well as old. They have a love
affair with Maynard Bray and Phil Bolger, though, and you have to watch
out for this bias -jfh-.
YACHTING, none, The very rich person's boat magazine. Most boats
over 60 feet.
YACHTING QUARTERLY, none, A "video format" magazine; about
$100 per year for four videotapes. These tapes include a fair number of
how-to segments, and are supposed to get you an idea of
how-they-hoist-the-chute-on-the-winning-J40, and such things.
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