Most Useful Boating Magazine??

[macsfriended]

You fellow motorcycle guys have hopefully discovered "Motorcycle Consumer News" as a very very reliable, useful and unbiased info source.

Anybody discovered a similar el primo, 10 rated out of 10; 5 star publication for us boaters?

I am not throwing rocks at the well known national boating magazies but you know why MCN is mucho mucho more useful than newstand bike mags and I am wondering if there is a similar jewel for us boaters.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

I've never re-subscribed to any that I've tried

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

From what I can tell there aren't any really tech heavy boat magazines out there. The boating world is so broad it is hard for any one publication to cover enough topics with enough detail and tech to be really useful.

I still enjoy reading "Boating" although I liked "Boating Life" better...before they blended the two magazines together. The magazine is 90% fluff with a lot of low tech talk about new models and trends. The other 10% is ok, but as a whole the magazine seems to be written for someone that just has a mild interest in boating or is just looking to get into boating.

I think there is a place in this world for a well written magazine to cover the following topics:

Real Reviews of attainable boats.
Real Reviews of destinations/lakes that an average boater would likely go to.
Real Tech on boat performance.
Real Tech on boat repairs.
Real Tech on boat modifications.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

My statments above are directed at print magazines.

There are several resources on the internet that are far more tech centric with real reviews of products.

boattest.com has a weekly newsletter that is pretty good for new reviews and stuff. They are also probably the only organization that has a half way decent database of test results for many, many boats accross a pretty broad spectrum.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

From what I can tell there aren't any really tech heavy boat magazines out there. The boating world is so broad it is hard for any one publication to cover enough topics with enough detail and tech to be really useful.

I still enjoy reading "Boating" although I liked "Boating Life" better...before they blended the two magazines together. The magazine is 90% fluff with a lot of low tech talk about new models and trends. The other 10% is ok, but as a whole the magazine seems to be written for someone that just has a mild interest in boating or is just looking to get into boating.

I think there is a place in this world for a well written magazine to cover the following topics:

Real Reviews of attainable boats.
Real Reviews of destinations/lakes that an average boater would likely go to.
Real Tech on boat performance.
Real Tech on boat repairs.
Real Tech on boat modifications.

Trailer Boats Magazine used to do all that, but since the company changed hands and new management took over they have gone downhill real bad.

 

[dave11]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Trailer Boats Magazine used to do all that, but since the company changed hands and new management took over they have gone downhill real bad.

X2 I just let my subscription lapse. They might have 1 or 2 articles in each issue that are worthwile to read now.

 

[JimMH]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Depends on what you want to use them for.

 

[truckermatt]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

I guess i am in the minority.

I subscribe to:

Trailerboats
Boating
Boating World
Boating Life

also with:

Money Magazine
Car And Driver
Motor Trend's "Truck Trend"
Consumer Reports


I enjoy reading

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

IMHO most magazines are dream books. Unless someone is looking for a new boat the rag is simply something YOU pay to see advertisements and have magazine editors/ writers tell you how much better your life will be if you simply buy whatever it is in this particular article. A complete waste of time and money.

With the internet, finding tech resources is much easier and usually more complete. IBOATS is an excellent example.

 

[this forum wont let me]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Well. first I must say I am happy for the most part this website is my magazine. But can't bring my P.C. in the bathroom with me lol. So for that place in my house I really enjoy reading my Boat U.S magazine. Boat U.S. is my insurance for the boat and trailer and they send me a great magazine just about read it cover to cover.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Passage Maker Magazine is my favorite. It has fantastic technical articles, thorough tests of boats you can sleep aboard (they don't test bowriders or fishing boats), great boating destination articles, and great stories about boat building and restorations. I have not found any other magazines that are half as good.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Trailer boats is the only one I get...and it gets smaller and smaller it seems. But they do have some neat how-to articles that are actually doable and the annual towing guide which is kinda cool. other than that, I log onto iboats and read for hours lol. As stated above, some of the other ones are reviews on boats that I will never, ever be able to afford so its not that enjoyable for me.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

...I really enjoy reading my Boat U.S magazine...

Agreed. I get a copy every so often and I usually enjoy reading through it.

 

[Northern Lights]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Agreed, advertizing disguised as news.

And not really that well disguised.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Most Useful Boating Magazine??

Ayuh,... I agree with most of what's been said here,...
Except,...
Go Boating,+ Boating World has a Tech writer that doesn't know his butt, from a Hole in the Hull....

Back when I was posting on their new/ old forums,..
They just up,+ gave subscriptions out to regular posters....
I'd deposit 'em at the throne for reading,...
As I read an article by this Tech Expert about gear ratios,+ how they work,...
I was Floored,... Totally, so far Off base I couldn't believe it,...
Merc outdrive ratios of something like 15:2307 or some Stupid crap...
I posted in the forum, calling out this Expert Tech, his reply was,....
He had No Clue,+ was just using the copy given to him...

I lost All respect for him,+ the rags,+ the forum after that...