Reading material nowadays
I think that living abroad really does make you think differently about things and expand your horizons a bit, in all aspects of your life. Consider magazine subscriptions…
Ten years ago, I don’t think it would have ever occurred to us to consider getting a subscription to a non-US magazine to stay up to speed on sailing and marine technology, or read about different approaches to cruising. It is true of course, that mailing costs would have been higher when subscribing to an Australian or UK magazine, but I simply can’t even imagine that it would have crossed our mind to consider what other English-speaking, non-American sailors were up to!
Fast forward 10+ years and find yourself in a different country, with the potential looming to cruise and daysail around Europe…suddenly we can’t get enough of what the English are saying about cruising in Europe, the Med and across the Atlantic…in addition to trying to understand all of the changes in technology that have taken place while we were off racing in triathlons and cycling! As we become more conversant in Spanish (and for me, maybe it will even be worth it to brush up on German and French), I suspect we’ll include the Spanish (and perhaps German or French) sailing magazines on our reading lists! We’ve noticed that perspectives, opinions and ideas really do seem to be different from back home (well, we might be a little behind the times, too, but not that much!).
I don’t think either one of us was expecting the incredibly pleasant surprise we have had in discovering two British sailing magazines:
Instead of focusing on “bigger, better and more expensive”, both of these magazines seem to cater to regular people who simply love being out on the water. Articles on clever do-it-yourself projects that look plausible (got condensation on your liveaboard due to your marina being located at 60º N?…here’s how you can better insulate your boat, skipper!), boat reviews on 15-35 foot boats that might actually be in the budget of real people (gasp!) and really great reviews of different products.
What’s even better about reading these rags is that we get them electronically on our iPad (or laptops) – full color, easy to bookmark great ideas and we’re not accumulating piles of paper! We subscribe using the free Zinio app – the cost of the subscriptions weren’t pennies, but it has been worth it because of the high quality of both magazines.
I will say that some of the “funny” stories are a bit above our heads, as we have not figured out the British humor (and I’ve had to look twice at some of the terminology used – my imagination went a little wild when I thought about the need of “torches” on British boats before realizing they were likely flashlights). I also need to figure out some of the English ingredients that show up in the “recipes to try” sections, as “treacle” and “Tesco Hot Mex” made me wonder…
Plus, it cracks me up that the gift giveaways are always rum or scotch to write in to the Editor or other reader-participation feature.
In all fairness to the American magazines – we are enjoying Sail magazine and Latitude 38 on the iPad, too. If Seattle’s 48 North were easily available electronically, we’d love to keep up with cruising in our home waters. Interestingly, the main magazine that we always used to read religiously when we had Earendil was Cruising World, but it does not seem to be as good nowadays as it used to be.
We’re trying to keep track of ideas to implement using Evernote, but it can be a challenge to remember to go back to find “what that one thing was that seemed like the most amazing idea ever”.
What are other armchair sailors reading nowadays? And how do you keep track of ideas and projects you want to implement?
Everyone in our household reads the sailing magazines!
Good for you Jordan!!
She’s been reading as much as us!!!
Totally agree with what you say about the British attitude toward sailing, reflecting in British sailing mags. I continue to be grateful that the first person I cruised with (other than an overnight) was British. I learned so much from her that was exactly what I needed on a small boat with few systems.