Issue 7 : Jul/Aug 1999
People have asked us whether we’d run out of material to write about after a few issues and, if so, what then? I used to worry about the same kind of thing in my youth as I was beginning to form relationships with members of the opposite sex. What would happen, I wondered, if you got married? Could you run out of things to talk about after a few years? What then?
Instead as this magazine has evolved, it has grown beyond our big idea and has become something created by the entire community of sailors. People give us their ideas and suggestions, and we take a new leap forward. In almost every issue we have added a new section for our readers to write, allowing you to share the depth of your sailing experience with the rest of us. In the first issue I introduced the Reflections column and invited readers to submit their own Reflections pieces.
That column has been so popular with readers I may never have the chance to write another one. We had to invent Last Tack in order to have our own place to write these pieces. We’ve had so many good submissions that Good Old Boat is set for Reflections pieces until May 2001. We don’t have a Reflections piece scheduled for that issue yet, but I’ll bet one’s on the way to us by mail or email.
Next we added Cruising Memories to accommodate other pieces that were too good not to share. Then came the Simple Solutions features, which are short and inexpensive fixes you’ve discovered while out there cruising. And there were the short restoration pieces which began with David Berke’s piece on the Bristol 27 in our last issue and continued with David Telle’s “New Mast for an Old Cat” in this issue. (I don’t think your name has to be David to write these, but it helps.) We listened to those of you who wrote about missing Small Boat Journal and added the column we call Small Wonders. This is usually written by Ken Textor, but we had a neat story to share from the West Coast, and asked John Vigor to pinch-hit for this issue, since we weren’t ready to offer Ken airfare to Seattle. (He was willing to fly, however!)
Like our Reflections piece, our feature boats have been very popular articles. So far we’ve looked at a Cape Dory 30, an Ericson 35, a Niagara 35, a Blackwatch 19, a Baba 30, a Pearson Commander 26 and, in this issue, a Block Island 40. We get notes and phone calls daily reminding us of another deserving boat. The demand’s been so high I often walk away muttering, “So many boats, so few pages.” With only six issues a year, we made promises which scheduled us well into next year before I figured out what was happening. Fortunately, John Vigor’s book, Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere, has doubled the number of boats we can feature at a time, since we’re now committed to one feature boat article and one chapter from his book in each issue. And still we aren’t keeping up with the demand.
Our technical articles have developed in much the same way. You write or call with suggestions or subjects you’d like to see covered, or with articles you’ve written on subjects pertinent to other good old boat readers, and so it goes. Will we run out of material anytime soon? It’s unlikely. Expect us to be here — still carrying on this conversation with you, our partners — for many years to come. With this issue we celebrate our first anniversary as publishers. It’s been a fascinating journey so far. Thanks so much for being here with us as we grow, for sending comments and contributions, for subscribing, and for being part of our community of sailors.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
