Re: Whats wrong with todays Magazines (part 2)

[Sailfree]

Re: Whats wrong with todays Magazines (part 2)

As the floor was threatening to collapse under the weight of magazines I decided to archive all those over 1 year ( I may need to refer to a recent advert for products so kept last 12 months).
Cut out the pages that had articles I may later wish to refer to or others that I thought good for inexperienced crew if they wished to expand their knowlege also the odd letter reply that gave a telephone number for certain Volvo parts (so I would only feel partially robbed by the prices!) but was suprised by how few pages were worth retaining for some of the magazines in some cases none! It made me question whether certain magazines was worth buying in the first place. In my case a major reason is the initial pleasure of reading them during long winter evenings and the hope of a good article on the next page (yes its like buying a lottery ticket) perhaps I need to be more selective in the summer when I can actually fill most of my spare time with actual sailing.
What do others do with old magazines and what % do you find worth retaining.

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[Plan_B]

Re: Life of a boat mag

<What do others do with old magazines and what % do you find worth retaining>

Mag arrives on mat. Quick flip thro straight away, then read front to back (not incl. regular adverts). SWMBO does similar. After 3 weeks on coffee table mag stored in or beside box in study to make room for next edition.

Most recent years mags are kept complete. 2nd oldest year has all adverts and pages not required ripped out. Each winter 3rd years mags have all items of value taken out and filed in appropriate files. (Pilotage, maintenance, equipment/tests, reports etc.), and kept for posterity (or something). Items of direct relevance to
our current boat are placed in the boats own file for handing on to next owner.

I mentioned all this to an aquaintance recently and he asked " but do you ever read the filed articles again"? I had to admit that I did not - but I might someday.

The boats own record file however, is regularly referred to and is constantly updated. (I was fortunate to be handed just about every manual and all the original invoices on purchase and have kept that going for the next owner, along with all the tips (how the hell do you get the oojimiflip out), and boat characteristics). I digress.

Percentage retained - about 25% I guess. Some of it I sometimes end up with twice. Similar articles from a different mag.

I still have 'Hot Car' issue No. 1 from the 1960's in the attic somewhere which I'm keeping for posterity. I digress - again.

It would be great to have the mag issued with its own CD - that way I could throw the mags away after a year or so because everything is would be on CD. Searching for a subject might be easier as well.

Regards

Dave D



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[AndrewB]

Gifts for favours.

When long-distance cruising I've found old YM's and PBO's make very acceptable thank-you's for small favours from other yachties, specially those from outside UK. Many long-distance cruisers are avid readers, and they are easier to stow than the traditional bottle of wine, healthier than a packet of fags.

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[DeeGee]

Re: Gifts for favours.

Gee Harry, thanks for fixing my engine - I hope you didn't swallow too much water diving down and sorting the stern-gland. Please don't feel I have gone too far over the top, but I would like you to have this vintage copy of YM, Aug 2001, has a great article on cruising the Baltic. ;-))



<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[Mudplugger]

Re: Gifts for favours.

Like most I used to keep all copies in date order. but when the ceilings in the bedrooms started bowing, decided that the weight factor was getting a bit intimidating..... PBO from 1st issue to Dec 2002, YM from mid 71 to date, YW from mid 80,s. Asked around if anyone interested, no response, so hired large skip....Skip lorry driver complained bitterly that the weight of skip was such that he was probably overweight.....But the ceilings are now level!!!, and copies now binned after a year.

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony W.

 

[Altair]

Re: Life of a boat mag

In the interests of marital harmony and prior to heading for the Med, I spent many evenings last winter 'editing' over twenty years of various boating mags lovingly stacked, and taking up a mere third of our basement. I was quite ruthless in cutting out articles that would be relevant to my future sailing. From earlier mags I found a number of interesting, well written items worth keeping, but over the past five years or so the standard has dropped considerably and I retained little.

Counting the number of mags bought over 20 years (I subscribed to 2 and bought others on a regular whim) there is little of substance worth having. At the time I did enjoy the anticipation of them arriving on my doormat, but in all honesty, there was generally a feeling of disappointment once read. I stopped subscribing last year and now buy at newstands having first perused them and satisfying myself that the content justified the purchase. I find that I have bought very few over the past 9 months and don't feel less well informed or entertained!

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[maxxi]

Re: Whats wrong with todays Magazines (part 2)

Funny, but if you read an article in one IPC sailing magazine, it's a fair bet that it emerges only thinly disguised under another of their covers, within a short time of the original. Do they really think that yachtsmen are so wealthy, or so stupid, that they are content to buy the same thing twice??

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[Birdseye]

Re: Whats wrong with todays Magazines (part 2)

i suspect that there are only so many sailing subjects on which you can write. so when you take up the interest and everything is new, all the mags are worth reading. by the time you get to year 5, you are seeing large numbers of repeat articles, and few novel ones. so you stop buying.

just how many times do you want to read an article on laying up tips, or boat electricity supplies?

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[charles_reed]

God help the two of you..

when you need to move - my 1982 move put me right off hoarding magazines.

Scanners and CDs have been a very welcome way of archiving materials and using a relational database allows you to search very quickly.

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[wallu]

Re: God help the two of you..

I second the scanner/CD system. Much easier to take to the boat instead of heavy binders. Also easy to put multiple copies to failing system based on a subject.
Wallu

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[dragoon]

Re: Whats wrong with todays Magazines (part 2)

If any one is throwing out old MBYs and happens to have April 1982, please let me know. I would dearly like to get hold of the original of this edition.

Cheers,
Paul

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