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gcarter
08-30-2007, 06:55 PM
I like Wooden Boat Magazine. I think because it's a lot more technical than other consumer magazines. Also I think it's because it doesn't cater to any production boat builders who might spend their money elsewhere if they were to be p**sed off by negative reporting. I wish other consumer boat and car magazines would say ANYTHING negative about something they report on.
Anyway, I picked up this 1986 issue on eBay the other day and the lead story is about wooden offshore racing catamarans. It's pretty interesting and very informative. It could be the base of several topics for discussion. Like, are there still any wooden race boats still competing? If so, are they competitive? Where are all the characters now that are the subject of this story?
Read and enjoy.
Tell me what you think.

superhatz
08-30-2007, 11:17 PM
Brownie (Allan Brown) said something funny about wood boats once......when he worked for Cougar he said (I'm paraphrasing): "We took 7 boats to Key West and sunk 11 of them"

I hope he chimes in......:)

zelatore
09-03-2007, 11:06 AM
George, I know yachts and diesels aren't exactly your thing, but you might also pick up a copy of Passagemaker Mag. I'm not a trawler guy, but I subscribe for exactly the reasons you mentioned: they're far more technical and in-depth than any other similar magazine. Heck, they just finished a multi-issue article about batteries and charging systems. I'd bet there was a total of 20+ pages on just this one topic. Most magazines (Sea is the worst example) would be lucky to do a multi-paragraph article about anything technical. And, shockingly enough, their boat reviews are more than just advertising fluff with a couple postage stamp sized pics.

It's a magazine written for people who are really into self-sufficiency...heck, where these guys cruise you'd better be able to fix at least some basic things yourself...it doesn't matter how big your checkbook is when you're 500 miles from nowhere along the inside passage or half-way between Monterey and Hawaii. If (when) it breaks, you get your hands dirty!

The also just did a story on 'trailerable trawler' that included side bars on towing, trailers, and tow rigs for these 'small' boats...typically around 25-30' and 8-10' beam.

gcarter
09-03-2007, 12:05 PM
Don, I'm a multi faceted kind of guy. I like all kinds of boats....I even worked for a naval architecture firm in the mid '70's (wanna know anything about the lore and mystery of sand and gravel barges?). I've picked up the mag and glanced at it before......I also like (I think it's) Professional Boat Builder. It's published by the same folks as Wooden Boat. One day I'm going to subscribe to it.
BTW, Donzis, and the restoration of them, is what I can afford now.