PassageMaker Magazine

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rwidman said:
I especially like the technical answers to reader's questions and the articles pertaining to boat problems and maintenance by Steve D'Antonio.
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Yes, his stuff is very worthwhile - and I like most things by Contributing Editor Bob Lane (PNW owner of GB 42' "Quadra").

Even though I'm never going to buy a new (or even used) Nordhavn, Selene, or Fleming I still find value is seeing the solutions that designers have come up with - and maybe finding a DIY method for accomplishing something similar on my own boat (within my own budget <grin>).

The one magazine I really miss is "Powerboat Reports", the power analog of "Practical Sailor".
 
psneeld said:
Most of the tech articles and answers to patrons are common info or in a thousand internet places...or flat out a way I wouldn't do or can't afford it.
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This last bit especially. I didn't know how to voice this without sounding like my boat was held together with duct tape/baling wire!:hide: But some of that stuff has to have been thought up by someone with a paralyzing fear of being sued for every breath they take its so over the top.
 
Subscribed to PM for 10 years but some place over the last few years, PM lost it's "heart". Like Twisted71, I have been reading Latitudes & Atitudes much more recently. I use this Forum for technical advice.
 
I still subscribe and have since about the second edition.
OK some of the stuff is way out of reach and I don't go much on semi displacement boats , even Flemmings.
There are still good articles in PMM and good solid tech advice.
I may reach out for a 2 nd hand Nordy one day but I could never see a new one in my future.
All the flash harry speedie boats don't interest me but there is always sonme good reading.
 
The very name "Passagemaker" would imply boats bigger than the majority of us have, or the type of cruising we do. I spite of that it seemed to me they did cover our boating style more in the beginning, then moving on to much larger, faster, fancier and $$$$ boats than we care paying to read about.
Maybe someone here (not me for sure) cares to start a "trawlers" or "coastal crusing" magazine?
Steve W
 
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Greetings,
Mr. rwidman. After being a loyal subscriber to PMM from the first issue, I saw the changing trend in the contents to things I had little or no interest in. I see little reason for the publishers to revert to the "old" style articles as they obviously have a ready market in their current readership base. I don't think spending $XXX on a subscription for a few articles a years that I MAY be interested in is cost effective since as mentioned there is a plethora of information available on line for free.
As to Steve D. I had occasion several years ago to attend a couple of his lectures at a Trawlerfest. I found his attitude to be condescending and self serving. Unless you had the biggest, best, newest and most expensive you weren't worth his time. A bit too full of himself for my liking.
As you most accurately state, each to his own.
 
It's far better than the competition

I read it, it's the only mag with any content. It may not be as good as it was, but it's all we got. Power Boat reports was another good one. and if you like personal interest, Cruising mag has a Capt Fatty whose humorous cruising stories are fun.
 
IMHO the reason no magazine exists for the budget boater is because it will only attract few advertisers and as I understand it that is how magazines make money, not from the price of subscriptions. A company that sells stabilizers or bow thrusters would not want to pay top dollar to reach cheap boaters, I don't think.

As for PMM, yes I am a subscriber. Some issues are good and some not so good, but for me, still worth it.

If the stock market continues to grow at the pace it's been going (minus May) I might just be able to buy one of the boats that they feature when I retire in 15 years. So maybe PMM's target market isn't necessarily just the very wealthy but also dreamers like me.
 
Steve said:
The very name "Passagemaker" would imply boats bigger than the majority of us have, or the type of cruising we do. I spite of that it seemed to me they did cover our boating style more in the beginning, then moving on to much larger, faster, fancier and $$$$ boats than we care paying to read about.
Maybe someone here (not me for sure) cares to start a "trawlers" or "coastal crusing" magazine?
Steve W
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Here's what I think...

Noun

passagemaker (plural passagemakers)
  1. (nautical) a vessel designed for, or capable of, making a long distance voyage.
My vessel was bought and driven 1500 miles in the first 6 months I owned the boat...I'll bet that qualifies.

Most of our boats can do the Great Loop (5-7000 miles...that qualifies), they could circumnavigate the Carribean and maybe even the entire western hemisphere if the Arctic keeps melting every summer...that would definitely qualify...

Who the heck said passagemaker inferred "trans-oceanic"?...probably passagemaker magazine..:D

do read it...but would never waste my money to subscribe to it....:socool:
 
GoldenDawn said:
........... I use this Forum for technical advice.
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The problem with using this or any web forum for technical advice is, you will get good advice and you will get bad advice. Often, especially on this particular forum, your thread will evolve into an argument on the validity of the suggestions, and even into personal attacks on the posters.

You will be left to decide for yourself what advice is good, what is not so good, and what is absolutely wrong and bad advice. On some forums, people will intentionally post wrong ways of doing things either as a "joke" or to see if anyone calls them out on it.

Reputable magazines like PassageMaker and most others (and books a well) can't afford to publish "bad" advice for fear of being held responsible if someone follows that advice and injury or loss of property results. Individuals posting on the Internet using an annonymous screen name need not have that fear. If "Big FishKiller" advises you to use wire nuts for your electrical connections and you follow that advice and your boat burns to the waterline because of it, you won't be able to find him, much less hold him accountable.

Personally, I've gotten some great advice on boating forums, but I've seen lots more bad advice and information.
 
Bad advice in a Forum? Ha ha!

I like the range of views in the Forums, particularly this one, and there are a few people that I listen to much more than others.
 
rwidman said:
Personally, I've gotten some great advice on boating forums, but I've seen lots more bad advice and information.
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Forums are a good place to get ideas for projects or techniques that might improve one's own boating skills or abilities. They're a great place to learn about products, like Keith's recommendation the other year to use GoJo to clean fenders and shorepower cables. Forums are also a good place to get ideas on where a problem might lie.

But as I've said before, with the exception of a handful of people I know are or have been professionals in the boating field--- shipwrights, yard owners, powerplant system operators/maintainers--- I have never actually acted on advice from a forum when it comes to the systems on our boat--- propulsion, electrical, propane, plumbing, etc. We always go to the professionals when it comes to actually dealing with these systems if it's something we haven't already learned to deal with ourselves.

I know, I know, there are pros who shouldn't be in the business. So it's up to the boater to determine which pro is truly that and which isn't. A business license and a sign on the door does not automatically mean a person knows what he's talking about. But that's our responsibility to ferret out the really good ones, which I believe we've done when it comes to the various systems on our boat.
 
If anyone thinks they can't get bad advice from a boating magazine...they deserve whatever they get from it. ;)

A lot of times there's fine print retracting a LOT of that advice...hope you catch all those tid bits too....:D
 
I currently subscribe but will not renew. Last months cover about the "Nordhaven 63" confirmed to me I am not in their league.

Can I borrow 2 million from one of you guys?
 
Count me in the "used to" subscribe crowd. I still have most of my back issues, but I notice that the newer issues aren't near as dog-eared as the older ones. I bought the most recent issue as I wanted to read the article on the new Nordic Tug 26 and realized it still isn't the magazine for me, nor are many of the boats that it features.
 
It sounds like there is at least from the trawler forum crowd a magazine featuring only old boats, and advertising from vendors that specialize in used cheap equipment would be popular, as long as it was a free magazine. :) :)

I could not afford to buy my boat new. It would probably be $750K or more. Clearly out of my price.

I suspect that almost all TF people are inthe same boat figuratively speaking.

I do shop make purchases of equipment I've seen on passagemaker though. There was a great article on Interphase forward looking sonar units, so I bought one.

I look forward to my PM to arrive, and am glad its out there.
 
So how many of us are available to contribute to a magazine based on the low key low dollar trawler crowd?I think it should be web based with a low cost subscription to view certain content,unless it can be monetized to allow free subscriptions.

What constitutes a low cost trawler as far as purchase price,under $50,000?under$100,000?somewhere else?I can run a poll here and see what the masses think.
 
So it would appear. A real shame, as it celebrated the cruising lifestyle with more reverence and irreverence than any other magazine that I know of. PMM & Latts & Atts were very complementary in my mind.

Latts & Atts is GONE! - SailNet Community
 
ben2go said:
So how many of us are available to contribute to a magazine based on the low key low dollar trawler crowd?I think it should be web based with a low cost subscription to view certain content,unless it can be monetized to allow free subscriptions.
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Um, you are already contributing to it - it's this forum! ;)

And with the ads subsidizing it, it is a free subscription.
 
Not to beat a deceased horse, but the current (July/August) issue of PassageMaker Magazine has part one of a very thorough two part article on battery installations that would be good reading for anyone who has batteries in his or her boat, old or new, expensive or inexpensive. :thumb:
 
rwidman said:
Not to beat a deceased horse, but the current (July/August) issue of PassageMaker Magazine has part one of a very thorough two part article on battery installations that would be good reading for anyone who has batteries in his or her boat, old or new, expensive or inexpensive. :thumb:
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Thanks for the heads up on that.I read everything I can find on boat systems.
:Thanx:
 
The first 4 issues had stuff that was interesating.

Now It is worth a read , but not paying for, so I try to get old copies from folks that are discarding a pile of them.

In terms of "getting up to speed" for a rag bager coming over to the marine motorist side , the files/archives on this board are better.

Biggest problem (for me) a quiet cruiser , is the lack of info on maintaining a realistic lifestyle with out a noisemaker hammering away , burning currency.

To PM the quiet life is more Soundown and a water lift muffler.

FF
 
I agree with opinion above about direction of PMM.... So follow up question: What does everyone suggest now that PMM went high-brow? I loved L&A - I understand Bob is trying to make a comeback. What else is out there for the Trawler crowd (besides this forum)?
 
Good Old Boat is my personal favorite. It's sailing related but the articles on boat improvements and maintenance are really good.
 
Any boating magazine that uses the phrase, "tell your captain" is not for me.:nonono:
 
Animal said:
What else is out there for the Trawler crowd (besides this forum)?
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The T&T mailing list forum (Trawlers & Trawlering) can have some good discussions on it and has a pretty broad cross section of participants. It's an e-mail forum so no photos, and their archives search function is not very user-friendly.

Also, if you subscribe to Active Captain there are regular e-mailings on various topics that can be of interest to cruising boaters. It's not a discussion board but there have been some informative "newsletters" lately.

The make-specific forums, owners forums if you will, can like this one have categories for cruising as well as repairs, specifications, etc. The Grand Banks forum, for example, has lots of discussions on things that are not necessarily related to just GBs. Teak deck care or fiberglass repair, for example, are topics that apply to a number of different makes, not just GBs. And most boat systems use the same components used in other boats be they refrigerators, stoves, engines, or electronics.

The GB owners forum is the only one I participate in but I assume other popular boat brands have similar forums.
 
Agree, Good Old Boat has some good stuff. Passagemaker was good when it first came out. After a year or two, it's the same as most other boating magazines, selling expensive stuff. There is nothing in there that I can afford. Also, the same guy, Steve, writes almost all the articles, columns, & answers letters besides. That's what I would do if I were trying to put out a magazine on the cheap; but Passagemaker isn't cheap. So I'm done with it.
 
I also let my subscription expire a few years ago. Also along the same line, the Trawler Fest events they are putting on have become very commercial. We drove to the one 2 years ago in Anacortes but did not go in when I found out they wanted $30.00 for my wife and I to go look at boats there vendors had brought to try and sell me. Forget it!!
 
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