Boating and cruising magazines

[Wckoek]

I know that majority of boating magazines serve as advertisement outlets for products and manufacturers, but I wondered if any magazines is good and informative enough to subscribe?

[Kikipiloo]

Originally Posted by Wckoek

I know that majority of boating magazines serve as advertisement outlets for products and manufacturers, but I wondered if any magazines is good and informative enough to subscribe?

Good Old Boat offers practical articles, sound advice for those of us who'd rather be sailing than shopping.

[chuckr]

What do you want out of the mag. Some offer ideas on repairs or stuff like that - some offer destinations some offer actual experience -
we can only get online stuff and a lot of the mags just don't fit our purposes - but we do sub and read Cruising Outposts - actually people doing real stuff

[mikedefieslife]

I will never buy another magazine in my lifetime.

I used to write for a number of magazines in the UK as a PR agent and staff writer for various manufactures. We regularly just made stuff up. Pretend horses with pretend problems we could write about, pretended Q&As.

Any products that were sent in for review or test, were sold on ebay. Some tested, others never opened but still "fake" reviewed.

Editors of other magazines would get in touch and offer editorial for advertising.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kikipiloo.

I second “Good Old Boat” magazine. No "fake" articles.
Disclosure: Long-ago author, and friend of owners/editors.

[bill352]

Depends on your interests. Take a look at "Messing About in Boats".

Home Port | Messing About in Boats

[thomm225]

The PO of my boat left copies of Ocean Navigator and Good Old Boat and both are very good.

Both are from around 2004-2006 I believe.

There's an article in the Ocean Navigator Magazine on the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the trade winds above and below........

https://ocean-navigator.com-sub.biz/...cPhQ&gclsrc=ds

[conachair]

Seen readly?

1,000's of mags for a single figure sub per month.

https://us.readly.com/products/magazines/global/boating

[Benz]

I have no subscriptions, but I always glance through any boating rags I find in marina laundry rooms, etc. Sure, there's lots of fluff, lots of repetition, and lots of really bad writing, but occasionally there's a gem or two--a piece that really resonates and makes you want to rip out those pages for the scrapbook. There's a couple of authors I followed in the past: I remember going straight to the back of Cruising World to see Tom Neale's column every month back in the 90's, and the Bernon's "Log of Ithaka" column was also a must-read when it came along.
I think the accusations of there not being real people doing real things are little false--I met the Bernons when they were in Colombia, well, cruising. Alvah Simon, CF's own Evans Starzinger, Webb Chiles--all writers, and all actual cruisers also. And if some are in hiatus from cruising, or have begun to pursue other interests, this doesn't mean they have nothing to say--vast experience gives lifelong insights.
One last observation: not every awesome cruiser is a gifted writer, and not every awesome writer is a notable sailor--the mags are looking for both things at once, and sometimes there must be a compromise: well-told humdrum story, or compelling story poorly told. Both can be equally painful to read, but each offers a little something to enrich the cruisers life while he waits for his laundry to dry.

[Wckoek]

I or most people search online for things they are looking for, but not necessary things they are not aware or to be learn about.
And also news and development, warnings etc.

I'll look up to Ocean Navigator.

[Jim Cate]

I've looked at the occasional copy of Practical Boat Owner (or sumpin like that) while browsing in the laundromat, and thought it had some relatively interesting stuff. Most of the glossy paper pubs are worthless IMO... shameless pandering to advertisers.

Jim

[boden36]

Does anyone know how to make 'Readly' work in Australia?

[Toaster]

IMHO mags are a bit like the internet where you have to read through a lot of really meaningless trivial or just plain wrong crap to uncover a few gems that make the time spent worthwhile.

Subscriptions are surprisingly cheap, subsidized of course by the ads.

My favorites are Good Old Boat and Practical Sailor (read with a skeptical mind). They are worth the time and cost.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by boden36

Does anyone know how to make 'Readly' work in Australia?

Maybe with a VPN to make it look like you're somewhere else?

[Sam8989]

I prefer online resources dedicated to cruises. Whether you are planning a blue water cruise or thinking about going offshore for the first time, the cruise sites are very helpful