An old lock down project rediscovered.

[steve yates]

This was in a cupboard buried at the back of a garage full of studio and boat gear, which I was clearing today and could finally access again.
5-6 years ago, I got, for free, a collection of practical boatowner magazines, dating back 70’s I think.
A few years later, from a forumite, I got a collection of yachting monthly mags, going back to the nineties.
My wife was not amused at the space they took up so during lockdown I had a brainwave. I ordered some of those rexel a4 books with 100 plastic pages you can slip stuff into, I thought Iwould cut out some interesting technical articles or pilotage articles and store them in these books. Then on the boat would be a small library of useful stuff, particularly I thought it would be great learning nuggets and snippets for my wife when we take the boat away and are stuck at anchor.
Anyway, bugger me did that project get a lot bigger than expected! But I’m happy with the result and it will be really useful and interesting to dip into. I ended uo making them into collections, maintenance, seamanship, navigation and tides, etc etc. Where, (which was often) an article ended with an advert page on one side, I used the confessions page, to cover the advert and add some light relief. I still ended upwith a volume of confessions to itself! The nav pilotage articles on places ended up 10 volumes! Split into specific areas. I was going to do a book on boat reviews. Too and have the pages cut out, but decided its maybe taking up too much space now. Or was just getting bored.
One thing that was quite noticeable was how dumbed down the technical articles became in later, recent years. And how little real information was communicated compared to a decade ago and beyond. It also became apparent how much the same stuff gets recycled, but I guess thats inevitable.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Good effort and what a great resource of information.

I have a couple of ring binders with much the same, but from the 1980-90's PBO, YBW mags. I agree that the articles are now less detailed than in the past. The repetition is probably just an age thing, as apart from new developments, there is only so much than can be said.

 

[LittleSister]

As well as the space issue that bothers Mrs. Yates, it's impressive how the weight of such a collection builds up. I'm surprised that PBO didn't run articles about how they could be used as ballast in one's home built boat.

I've twice had to jettison a large collection of PBOs and YMs. The first time I started to try to do as you have, and cut out the articles etc. that were especially useful or interesting to me, but one of the challenges was that it was often a bit of another article I wanted to keep on the back of the first one. (This before the availability of personal scanners.) I gave up in the end.

It's a shame the publishers have abandoned the sale of old articles. I suspect they pitched the price of each article a bit too high (and a few other easily fixable shortcomings) to generate a worthwhile volume of sales and hence income stream. It's a shame both for readers/consumers, but also for the business, having gone to all the trouble of the scanning and cataloguing.

 

[steve yates]

Aye it would never have happened if it wasnt for lockdown, far too time consuming, but well worth it now.

 

[mjcoon]

Was it not yachting magazines that some old chap hoarded in his loft that eventually brought the ceiling down?

 

[newtothis]

When I started sailing, little tricks like that 'mooring the dinghy off' were what kept me buying these mags, as it is something I'd have never thought off, and to be honest, still hadn't until I saw it here.
You probably have a collection now of all the best bits, but I wish the mags would do more of that than reviews of the top 10 t-shirts or whatever fills this month's edition.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

You mention later articles are “dumbed down”. Could that be just your perception given you have decades more experience to fall back on? Got to admit, I am of the same opinion though.

 

[fredrussell]

Hi Steve, ‘Twas I that gave you the YM mags I think. Did we meet in Fox’s car park in Ipswich?. There’s a bit of a sad story behind those mags. They were given to me by a retired couple that always wanted a boat, but didn’t end up buying one. So instead they indulged their interest by buying YM each month, for decades. I think there were at least 30 years worth.
Anyway, I’m impressed with your project - great idea!

 

[mjcoon]

Hi Steve, ‘Twas I that gave you the YM mags I think. Did we meet in Fox’s car park in Ipswich?. There’s a bit of a sad story behind those mags. They were given to me by a retired couple that always wanted a boat, but didn’t end up buying one. So instead they indulged their interest by buying YM each month, for decades. I think there were at least 30 years worth.
Anyway, I’m impressed with your project - great idea!

That's not sad; more a clear escape!

 

[steve yates]

Hi Steve, ‘Twas I that gave you the YM mags I think. Did we meet in Fox’s car park in Ipswich?. There’s a bit of a sad story behind those mags. They were given to me by a retired couple that always wanted a boat, but didn’t end up buying one. So instead they indulged their interest by buying YM each month, for decades. I think there were at least 30 years worth.
Anyway, I’m impressed with your project - great idea!

It was fred, they were in the back of your van at fox’s thank you.

 

[steve yates]

You mention later articles are “dumbed down”. Could that be just your perception given you have decades more experience to fall back on? Got to admit, I am of the same opinion though.

Naaa, definitely dumbed down, i only started sailing end of 2015, so not much experience here.

 

[Boathook]

You mention later articles are “dumbed down”. Could that be just your perception given you have decades more experience to fall back on? Got to admit, I am of the same opinion though.

I think dumbed down. I suspect mainly because of legal issues but also because the cost of new parts has decreased in comparison to everything else. If we are heading to a recession this might alter a bit towards more DIY.

 

[Wansworth]

I have about a yard of PBO s and YMs and with good intentions to do what mr Yates has done but as I have space they are back in a big pile that will be searched when needed,itwas just too much too classify

 

[steve yates]

The adverts were interesting in the old mags, outrageously sexist, but funny from todays viewpoint. They obviously took them seriously then. The emphasis on safety has shifted massively now. They seemed to stop having photos with folk without a lifejacket, even in flat calm seas and blue skies drifting along off the coast, not to mention a preponderance of full musto kit even on warm sunny days.

 

[steve yates]

I have about a yard of PBO s and YMs and with good intentions to do what mr Yates has done but as I have space they are back in a big pile that will be searched when needed,itwas just too much too classify

Ah, but these can now come on the boat

 

[dgadee]

When they had an article on replacing gears in an autopliot one magazine didn't give part number or supplier. How dumb is that? More detail on the forum here.

 

[Sandy]

Have the questions published in the printed material changed from those posted here?

 

[lustyd]

If the weight and space get too much check out Microsoft Office Lens app for your phone. You can use the camera on your smartphone to scan the articles and make them digital so they take no space at all. If you have the right MFD you can then store them on a microSD and view them on the plotter (B&G can show documents on screen for sure).