PBO or Yachting Monthly?

[Modulation]

I've done the journey from PBO to YM and back over the years.

Owning a couple of little project boats where I'd be lucky to get across the Channel once a year - PBO for me

Bigger, better equipped boats where I was extending my cruising range to South Brittany and Spain - YM every time for pilotage, techniques and local knowledge

Now with a larger project-ish boat in the Med, YM seems totally Northern Europe focussed, but PBO is telling me how to do the things I'd otherwise have to find a local to do.

Brilliant! What an elegant reply. Wish more of the contributors had your perspicacity!
And no - I'm not being facatious.

 

[ianc1200]

Wooden Boat is the one I get regularly, but recently that too seems to be about very expensive boats out of my league. I've tried Small Craft Advisor recently, mainly about sub 22' boats with the added pleasure of seeing Dylan in print there too.

 

[prv]

YM got a half decent boat and started destroying it

apparently it was all in the furtherment of safety for sailors

apparently...

but we know that is not really true -- any more than blowing up a caravan is about education

so that puts them at the Clarkson end of the spectrum

OK, the final explosion was somewhat pointless, but I reckon I learned more from the Crash Test Boat than I have done from my PBO subscription in recent years. In particular the holing and the powder fire-extinguisher stuck in my mind. From the former I'm a little more prepared for what to expect should I ever knock a hole in a boat (and what works for plugging it), from the latter I've already replaced the powder extinguisher I had on board after seeing how they white-out a cabin.

so....my advice is to decide if you would rather see a boat being blown up or a headlining installed by a bloke who is at the same level of the learning curve as you thn I would go for PBO

Thing is, I can probably get just as much good advice (or better) from here than I would from the typical PBO article on a practical task. Mildly interesting to read some of them, but if I was replacing a headlining (say) and had any doubts, I'd ask here rather than look back at an article.

Pete

 

[dylanwinter]

all true

OK,

Thing is, I can probably get just as much good advice (or better) from here than I would from the typical PBO article on a practical task. Mildly interesting to read some of them, but if I was replacing a headlining (say) and had any doubts, I'd ask here rather than look back at an article.

Pete

the crash test boat was good stuff

dramatic

fun

as for learning stuff from the web

that is the problem PBO has to live with

the web, here actually, followed by TSBB would be my first port of call when I have a problem


but we are members of the digerati

my father in law would never look on the web

for him the the information in PBO is well organised, brief and clear

they also cover the sort of boat I might conceivably sail

never going to come within £63,000 of affording a YM starter boat

Dylan

 

[gjgm]

Personally I think they overlap too much, and it seems to be in the Solent

I would like to see more Practical articles in PBO, but not ideas like putting up a manky set of shelves, more things like: engine servicing, rudder bearings, seacock cleaning, finding above water leaks, DIY devices...

Maybe you should buy the PBO extra magazine for about £4.50 that is the reprints of many of their articles in one booklet?
It covers all sorts of stuff.

 

[Zen Zero]

I buy one or the other in airports when passing through the UK; and sometimes buy the other on the way back.

I found PBO most interesting and useful when my boat was out the water for a major DIY refit (everything! it took a year and a half! and a ton of munny!) and YM became more interesting when it was back in the water again and sailing. From this, I gather that PBO is about fixing boats and YM about sailing them; so it depends on what you prefer doing.

I had a lot of fun fixing Nereide, but I enjoy sailing her too!

 

[AndrewB]

I started as a regular subscriber to PBO 30 years ago, and then switched to YM for many years. But the cost of both magazines is now considerably higher in real terms, and too much for me.

So I'm now just an occasional buyer. But if the two could be combined with a significantly lower cover price, I'd definitely subscribe again.

 

[dylanwinter]

shucks

Wooden Boat is the one I get regularly, but recently that too seems to be about very expensive boats out of my league. I've tried Small Craft Advisor recently, mainly about sub 22' boats with the added pleasure of seeing Dylan in print there too.

bless you for that

PBO is easily the best sailing magazine in the UK - but best to discount what I say as I earn money from them..

But Small craft Advisor is a guilty secret

It is a wonderful publication. Like a throwback to the past – in a good way. For starters they never put words on their front page image. It is always a great picture that has been thoughtfully cropped.

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/small-craft-advisor.jpg

It is the sort of boat that I would stop and gaze at as I was walking down a pontoon or a quay.

They give me a completely free hand with my subject. I offer them images but the quiet editor, a man called Josh, tells me that people want to read the magazine rather than flick through it. They use the same simple image on my column each time – “because people want to know where they are in a magazine” says Josh

The magazine pays $100 a page – which is less than I was earning for words three decades ago. The World has changed for sure.

But it is a great pleasure to write for them and they pay what they can afford and they pay me on time – so what more can I ask.

I have taken the liberty of posting a few scans from one of the editions. It will give you a feel for the magazine and the way it treats its contributors and images.

I have included four pages of an interview with Roger Taylor of Ming Ming http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Mingming.html fame.


http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/small-craft-advisor-5.jpg

If anyone wants their words or images removed they will come down in a trice

but if you fancy a magazine subscription gift for Christmas…. well Small craft Advisor would make a refreshing change - or addition to your current susbscription

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/small-craft-advisor/

Dylan

 

[Zagato]

bless you for that

The magazine pays $100 a page – which is less than I was earning for words three decades ago. The World has changed for sure.

Dylan

Similar for car magazines, your lucky to get £75 for a whole article as there are so many people happy to just have their article in print for free!