What do we read?

Where do we go to get advice on sailing matters? The armchair answer is varied for us. The British sailing (print) press is surprisingly vibrant -- Sailing World, Yachting Monthly and Yachting Monthly are still going strong. We started reading these magazines over 20 years ago and they still seem as relevant. Sure, they have been enhanced by the Internet. Google Yachting Monthly to find great (free) reviews of new yacht models. Practical Boat Owner is a great resource for the boat owner. Need to learn how to splice Dynema?  It is there. And you can download the articles that you need (at a modest cots).

But the World Wide Web has made print journalism less relevant. Or at least it has raised the bar. Why pay 4.50GBP for a magazine when you can surf the web to mine the hard-won experience of real sailor, out there doing what we do best -- breaking things in the harshest wilderness on Earth and finding innovative ways to fix them.

We read blogs, sailing forums and watch how-to videos (mostly on YouTube). They are great for focusing on your interest. And even though we are frugal sailors we still like the 'push' of print journalism (and their on-line equivalent). You don't know all the things that might interest you in life. Blogs will expand your horizon, but there is something to be said for good professional journalists. They have learned that they need to do more than cut and paste press releases from product launches. We find that magazine articles stimulate your interest in new areas. The web then is an huge resource that can be explored given new ideas - a new place to sail, a new technology or product, or an aspect of seaman ship to which you have given little thought.

Finally, reading print gives your eyes a rest ad allows you to 'browse' in a different why. Most of our crew grew up before the advent of the Internet and the web. Are we the last generation that will generally feel this way about books and magazines? Is it just nostalgia or is the World losing something with the slow and ineffable demise of print?