Best magazine.

Maggieiscrazy

Well-Known Member
Oct 14, 2016
958
Northern Wisconsin
Boat Info
240 Sundancer
Engines
5.0. Bravo III
I sure learn a lot on the internet about boating. Especially from fellow clubsearay members. But sometimes I like to sit back with a good magazine. What is the most interesting and informative boating magazine subscription I can get for the sport cruising type like myself?
 
My two favorite are:

Power and Motoryacht

Boat US

Subscribed to both (well BoatUS comes with the membership).

Both have interesting content each month.

Mark
 
Soundings is a great read though its not specific to powerboating.
 
I was a boat magazine enthusiast for decades.... now it is slim pickings for normal boating folk. P&MY I used to read from about 1985 to 2001 , then dropped it. ive had a few issues lately , but unless you are interested in $500k runabouts and 95+ loa megayachts , there is no middle ground anymore. the most interesting articles are the used boat retrospective articles. I have been extremely disheartened by the state of boat design in this present day (im going to vent now). every vessel seems to be following the same gimmicky design concepts and each company is copying the ultra-mod hard edged interior look that all look like a hotel room at the W of your choice. absolutely nothing nautical whatsoever! seeing the grand banks 60 article was like breathing fresh air. except for a few downeast / voyager type exterior designs, every company is producing space ships. it is staggering how much money is floating around out there (I guess Obama didn't take everybody's money). even in the 80s and 90s when the hargrave / Bertram / fexas designs were out there, the sheer size of the yachts was nothing like it is now which tells a lot about the current market. I remember reading articles about these boats and a 70' loa was big. the most amazing thing these days IMO is the materials available. I would have loved to see what those designers would do if they had whats available today. think about it... the flatscreen tv! how it has freed up what used to be cavernous tv enclosures in salons.

back to magazines, the normal person market used to be covered by "boating " and "yachting" to some extent , but now yachting is gone , and boating is comprised of overpriced deck boats and center consoles. I think there is a niche to be filled... and I myself are like you and like the printed mags... which I usually enjoy in bed before shutting off the lights.
passagemaker magazine I noticed is gone now... used to enjoy that one. soundings is nice as well if you don't mind mixing in some sail like a previous post mentioned. there is also "new England boating" but I think its a quarterly.

by the way , I spend time looking in the brokerage section of P&MY.... I know im not alone.. who has seen that gorgeous 127' camper & nicholson built in 1920 and totally refit... if you love canoe sterns , you will drool! I found a pic of her on yachtworld
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I always liked boating magazines as well. And Steve, I agree with you 100% on new boat design. There are still a few larger boats that look like boats such as Marlow, Westbay and Grand Banks but for the most part I'm an old school guy and like boats with pointy fronts and squared off sterns. My current boat is a 1985 Cobalt CM23.
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Maggie, for me I liked magazines that featured articles near where I regularly boated. I subscribed to Boating for a few years but I was living in California and all of the articles were East Coast based. I then found and subscribed to Sea. It is a West Coast magazine. But I now live on the Gulf Coast in the New Orleans area and I discovered Southern Boating and it features areas down here in the South. I think the best magazine for you will be the one or two that features articles and ads that you enjoy. If you have a West Marine store near you they usually have a magazine rack with a number of different boating mags.

Shawn
 
LOL, I agree with all the previous posts, now I know why I keep checking back here in the middle of our winter!!

PMY is my favorite right now, it is the only magazine that appeals to me and my needs. I love Capt. Bill Pike and his articles both on his boat (his AC change out was informative and interesting) and his reviews of the yachts I dream of! I have to laugh he was at the Baltimore Boat Show years ago and he was at a booth. I went up said Hi and got star struck after I realized here I am talking to someone who I truly admire. His experience, writing abilities, and his life were so impressive. I got tongue tied and walked away like an idiot!!! LOL...

Boating seems to cover the smaller boats and once in a awhile comes up with a review of something over 48', but those are rare. I enjoy it.

Really those are the only two I subscribe to regularly.

Boat US has really gotten better over the years and I find myself reading it much more now that I've owned boats.

I think what is missing is the old Motor Boating & Sailing format. They covered cruisers, yachts, and runabouts. They had a Boater's Repair section that you could remove and keep for reference. That's what I would like to see again.
 
Southern Boating, PMY, & Boat US
 
I was a boat magazine enthusiast for decades.... now it is slim pickings for normal boating folk. P&MY I used to read from about 1985 to 2001 , then dropped it. ive had a few issues lately , but unless you are interested in $500k runabouts and 95+ loa megayachts , there is no middle ground anymore. the most interesting articles are the used boat retrospective articles.

I like to look at P&MY but I agree that their emphasis on megayachts makes it more like a magazine for dreaming than for much practical boating.

I'd go a step further in criticism and say they don't even really review these boats. It's mostly some generic and flattering descriptions and then a tiny slice of actual specifications. It cracks me up when they list many boats as "price upon request" -- OK, I know if I have to ask it's too much, but it's not like they couldn't get an estimate from the builder, and no builder should be naive enough to think that listing a price for a $2 million boat is going to lose them any sales to price conscious shoppers.

Worse, they seem to run a lot of PR photos supplied by the builder. I've seen the Grand Banks 60 photos on the Grand Banks web site, and the Sunseeker Manhattan ad's photo was used as editorial content when they "reviewed" the boat.

I'd like to see P&MY focus on boats capable of being operated by their owners, and not just giant ships that some rich guy will have crewed. I'd even like them to drop down to one comprehensive review per issue, especially if it involved an overnight trip and the experience using it underway and at anchor. More detailed technical reviews of the mechanical systems and everyday maintenance and use, perhaps interviews with yard people who have experience servicing them.

As for your styling critique, I generally agree. That GB 60 was pretty, and that style seems more nautical. That being said, I don't totally oppose the modern interiors on some of these boats and there may be decent maintenance arguments for not having a ton of varnished wood to maintain. In terms of exterior style, it's astonishing how many 50-90 foot boats look alike and all seem to have a swoopy Euro appearance.
 
PMY and Sea. There are a few others I get for free but I usually just spend 10 minutes flipping through them before I'm, done.

BTW, when you guys are done with your boating mags, save them up and take them to your doctor's office, your hair stylist or a local hospital or VA facility. They love to get them so the guys there have something to look through.
 
PMY and Sea. There are a few others I get for free but I usually just spend 10 minutes flipping through them before I'm, done.

BTW, when you guys are done with your boating mags, save them up and take them to your doctor's office, your hair stylist or a local hospital or VA facility. They love to get them so the guys there have something to look through.

Great idea on sharing old issues! Well maybe not the hair stylist - but the Hospital or VA.
 
Like most have stated, the PMY, Showboats etc...are out of my league. I don't plan on buying anything that they review and Showboats just makes me jealous!

The only magazine that I look forward to is the Chesapeake Bay magazine which is obviously local to some of us here. I find that I'd rather read about destinations that I can visit vs a $1M+ 40' that I have no interest in.
 
the newer version(last couple years) BoatUS Magazine - yearly association dues 25$-sends once a month and SEA Magazine-sometimes I'll buy Sailing magazine for the recipes and repair solutions
 
Passagemaker is my favorite. Keeping the trawler dream alive, plus it has great articles. P&MY is my 2nd favorite as it has good how-to's.
 
I don't put much stock in any review contained in a magazine.

Have you ever read a negative review of a boat in a magazine? I cant recall one. After all, advertising can always impact editorial content.

That said I love looking at the reviews - a paper version of walking in a booth at the boat show.
 
PMY is one that I somehow got on their "Free Subscription" list. No complaint with getting a free mag. I really like looking through the brokerage section at the back of the mag, to see what things are generally going for.

I also like Great Lake Scuttlebutt. Local content to the Great Lakes.
 
I read Passagemaker and Soundings. I receive the digital version of PMY because it's free, but only breeze through it as most of the boats and articles are not my cup of tea, but do read the tech articles if it strikes me that day.
Also, I'm not immune to picking up a Sailing Magazine or Cruising World on occasion, I have no interest in personally owning a sail boat, but those people know how to cruise, and because I have always been a destination type power boater, I like reading about it.
 

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