Issue 139: July/Aug 2021
Back in February, I decided it was time to step away from my role as this magazine’s editor. Being Good Old Boat’s editor has been a dream job, a fantastic opportunity, and one I’ve poured my heart and energies into without regret. But for all those 24 issues I’ve stood at the helm, I’ve felt the tug of other projects I’ve put off for this labor of love, a growing list of things hands-on and intellectual that I perpetually fool myself into believing I will get to “next month.” It’s a familiar story, with several possible endings. I’ve decided to turn the page and begin the next chapter.
So, I let Karla know, I let the team know, I let founders Karen and Jerry—who’d placed their trust in me as steward of their baby—know. Of course, leaving the helm of a magazine isn’t a two-week-notice kind of thing, and I pledged to stay on watch until we could find a perfect replacement.
And we have.
The obvious place to start our search was from within, and Wendy Mitman Clarke remains more than capable of assuming my role. But her senior editor gig is part-time, and she doesn’t want to take on the full-time role of editor. So, we looked beyond our crew. Several names surfaced, people we know in the business. One of the obvious names was Bob Muggleston.
I first met Bob in 2019, at the celebration of life party for the late Jeremy McGeary, this magazine’s former senior editor. Bob was there to honor Jeremy because he’d worked with him at Cruising World years earlier. Like me, Bob considers Jeremy a mentor. From Cruising World, Bob went on to Points East, the coastal New England boating magazine, where he took over the editor role from Nim Marsh, another Cruising World alumnus and master wordsmith.
Since early April, Bob has been noodling behind the scenes with the team. He is a Good Old Boat fan and an owner of good old boats (yeah, plural). I am confident he will impress and carry this independent publication forward. And I won’t say anything more about Bob, but allow him to introduce himself in this space, next issue. (I’d also encourage anyone who’s coming to the boat show in Annapolis this October to stop by our booth and meet him—and the rest of the team—in person.)
Me, I’m already feeling the weight of this role lifted, getting a sense of what my next chapter will look like. And in that space that’s being created, I’m increasingly reflecting on my appreciation for the many, many people I’ve come to know through my time here, not only those on our masthead, but the scores of talented and generous contributors to this magazine, the folks whose words and pictures have filled our pages. I’ve met too few of them in person, but I’ve worked closely with all of them and consider many of them friends. I am humbled by the trust they have each placed in me and the Good Old Boat team to do right by their stories. I am fortunate to have these connections and experiences.
Longer term? I look forward to more time on the water, of crossing wakes and rubbing elbows with sailors. And it will be an absolute pleasure to occasionally discover one who is a Good Old Boat reader. Fair winds!
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
