I have long been concerned about the state of marine journalism, particularly in North America. In my view, most all marine magazines have for decades been little more than extensions of the marketing departments of boat builders and marine gear manufacturers.
Heck, it’s been about 20 years since one of my favourite editors, and marine writers, got fired for refusing to “sell the cover1” and other offences against the publisher (also know as journalism ethics) on one of the leading boating magazines.
And don’t get me started on what a crock most of the so-called boat review videos being produced on both sides of the Atlantic are.
But there is one shining exception, a guy named Peter Swanson who writes at Substack under the banner of “Loose Cannon“.
Not only is Peter a real journalist with decades of experience, he loves shining the light of day on bad behaviour and clearly does not give a shit who he offends—a loose cannon indeed.
Examples since I have been reading Peter’s posts include:
- Working with several experts to figure out why the superyacht Bayesian was knocked down and sunk with loss of life, and in the process hopefully preventing the builder from hanging the blame on the skipper and crew.
- Calling out Sail Magazine for a serious omission of vital information when writing a “boat review”.
- Explaining the recent further consolidation of boating magazines—I don’t agree with all of this one2, but it’s interesting to read Peter’s view.
And much more that’s interesting and relevant.
You can read most of Peter’s stuff for free, although accessing the archived posts like those above requires paying $56 / year. Hum, more expensive than AAC…he thinks.
Anyway, I just paid, and I highly recommend supporting Peter so at least there is one authentic marine journalist left in the wilderness.
Comments
Do you know of any others? If so, leave a comment.
For as long as I’ve been reading boating magazines, most of them have quite clearly been beholden to the advertisers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of the major magazines review any boat or piece of gear in less than glowing, fawning, grovelling terms.
They’re not selling journalism. They’re selling a dream. And they’re taking a nice wad of marketing dollars from the major production boatbuilders to do it.
I do like Peter Swanson’s stuff. He doesn’t always get it perfect – nobody does, not even me – but he is absolutely the guy you want poking around in the dirty dark corners of the industry, asking questions, following vague leads, unraveling threads, and eventually shining a big bright light on something important that we all need to know about.
There are two magazines that I frequently read, which are not as affected by the above – slightly fringe, I suppose – but WoodenBoat and Professional Boatbuilder tend to stay away from the worst of what you describe above – which I fully agree is atrocious.
also enjoy good old boat – and practical boatbuilder when they were a thing… but… sigh.
Hi Ben,
I agree completely about Professional Boatbuilder and have long been a reader. Unfortunately, an informed source reports it is going the way of Practical Sailor which is digital/on line. The most of the year I have been following PS since it stopped a paper issue, I have considered it a shell of its former self and very disappointing. I am hoping that PB does a better job.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Ben,
Good point. I don’t read WB, but I have heard good things. I suspect that the reason they are better in this regard is that, I think I’m right in saying, that the magazine is still privately owned.
WoodenBoat and ProBoat are both still excellent. They are niche publications targeted at technical experts. You can’t put BS in a WoodenBoat article, because the readership includes literally all the qualified shipwrights in the English-speaking world, and they will see right through said BS. Similarly for ProBoat, which is aimed at engineers, surveyors, mechanics, and production line managers. All of whom want to see detailed technical articles surrounded by ads for new products they might want to try…. and very few of whom have much tolerance for “advertorial” content that doesn’t clearly explain the flaws and limitations of whatever’s being discussed.
Both editors know that if they lose their integrity, they lose their audience, and without that, the ads dry up.
That’s quite a different story from general readership magazines like Cruising World, which get their readership by selling dreams to readers and then selling those readers to advertisers – who, in turn, demand glowing editorial coverage, which costs the editor nothing to provide.
Hi John and all,
I am far far from sophisticated in computer/internet matters.
I went to sign up for Loose Cannon and was willing to pay and give it a try for a year, but when I clicked on subscribe, it came up listing the last 4 numbers on my credit card. I found this very unsettling.
I tried everything I could to subscribe another way and failed. I also tried to track how my number got into the Loose Cannon/ Substack system so that I could get it erased and failed.
It all felt very in-secure so I backed out as best I could and am writing you for suggestions.
Thanks, Dick Stevenson
Hi Dick,
I’m also no computer wizard, but have used them for well over 3 decades. Things change quickly, but my guess is that the 4 last digits of your credit card didn’t come from Loose Cannon. It probably came from your Google or Apple accounts, usually as part of your browser. If you have agreed that they should help with filling out forms, the 4 digits is how they show you which card you’ll be using. The rest is hidden from the screen, in case others should try to get a look, but it’s also filled in.
You can disable this sometimes disturbing helpfulness by going into settings in either account. Some may need to be done in settings on your computer or phone, etc. If you google the question, you’ll get detailed descriptions of the procedures. Also Youtube has tutorials.
I can’t give a recommendation for doing this or not, but I have it enabled. However, I use very stringent safety routines, with very complicated passwords, zero repetitions for important stuff, and two factor authentication with a hardware key, where that is possible. “Google Titan Security Key”. Thieves literally have to get the physical object. (I have 3 hidden backups.) I feel safe, but I may be wrong.
Hi Stein,
I don’t think either Apple, or Google pay show the last 4 digits when being used, so I’m pretty sure Dick’s card is saved at Stripe.
Hi Dick,
Substack uses Stripe as a payment processor (as does AAC) and they have a feature to save your credit card for other payments across the internet. This service is voluntary, so at some time you ticked a “save my credit card” box without realizing that meant across the internet use.
This sounds scary I know, and I have to admit that I don’t save my credit card, but in fact Stripe, is very secure.
Anyway, you can ask Stripe to delete your information here:https://support.stripe.com/questions/i-would-like-to-delete-the-information-stripe-has-collected-from-me
Certainly not a new subject. Don Street in his book Seawise, a compilation of 40 of his essays, has an article he wrote for a newsletter “The Telltale Compass” in 1976 with the title “What’s wrong with Boating Magazines”.
Boating NZ is New Zealand’s most read boating magazine and is largely advertorial, they call it “Created Content” now. Ten years ago I asked the then editor why their boat reviews were so uncritical, and her answer, which was at least honest , was “we don’t want to upset the advertisers”!
A few years ago I had a very interesting conversation with cruiser Alvah Simon, who used to write for Cruising World. He described some of the machinations that went on behind the scenes particularly with their “Boat of the Year” features and how the objective seemed to be that everyone should get an award. I think in the finish he felt too compromised and stopped writing for them.
In the past the standout for me has been the UK Yachting World who used to call out problems when they saw them, I remember a review of a Bavaria where in their understated way they stated “some aspects of the yacht’s finish were simply appalling”. They were sued a couple of times for their editorial comment which their publisher always defended. However I do not see quite the same rigour in recent times.
At least Youtube is giving people leads to understand construction compromises/quality issues which are becoming more prevalent with modern yachts. My real “bug” are the number of keel grids failing when yachts have what are quite average grounding incidents, it is clear the Plexus bonding adhesive most use but virtually all the European production manufacturers continue with this configuration.
Hi Alan,
Good observation, all of which I agree with. In fact I was writing for CW at the same time Alvah was and had an identical experience, which resulted in founding AAC.
Well, I subscribed. Need to support real journalism. And I’m somewhat depressed by Practical Sailor’s descent into fluff. Love Drew’s pieces, but the new stuff and videos, well…
Hi Stephen,
You and me both!
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Practical Sailor. They do an excellent job and have recently upped their game. Also Cruising World does an excellent job, at least with their non boat review stuff.
Hi Gino,
I guess we will have to agree to disagree, particularly on the idea that PS upped their game. I would say the exact opposite in that they substituted an editor who is really convincing on YouTube but in reality has limited experienced at sea, for a very experienced at sea editor (Darell) and a hugely smart engineer with a knack for testing stuff well (Drew). In my view, if ever sizzle was substituted for sausage, this is it.
Hi Gino,
I said on an earlier post here on AAC that I consider Practical Sailor to have degraded their magazine with their recent changes. I listened to the first couple of issues (I have since stopped) and the “talking head” spoke in 10-15 minutes what could have been read in a few minutes. Moreover, I consider some advice and comments just wrong and certain comments he made might lead to dangerous decisions on the listener’s part. See my comments on the PS site, particularly on the issue of preventers on one of their “articles”.
I am immensely disappointed as my sailing career has matched PS’s life and I have benefited from their guidance throughout.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
I agree, he was way off base when he spoke about preventers and the accident off NZ. Completely missed the point made by the accident investigation.
Hi Gino,
Having just dumped on the new PC editor, I watched a video last night he just did on buying a boat for less than 20K and I have to confess it was pretty good, other than not mentioning that a boat of that age will almost certainly have water intrusion issues in the rudder and chain plate issues. But he did caution against taking on a boat with too much wrong with it.
Hi John,
have you or any other readers heard any updates on the status of Professional Boatbuilder, since Aaron Porter sent his email 20 December, which opened:
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Professional BoatBuilder magazine subscribers,
After three months of uncertainty about the future of the boatbuilding industry’s technical journal, I’m happy to report that we will continue to publish in 2025. Our founding publishers at WoodenBoat Publications, who halted editorial production of ProBoat at the end of August, agreed to sell the magazine to the International Boatbuilder’s Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in mid-November, closing the deal just as I and the IBEX team were in transit to METSTRADE in Amsterdam. What a relief it was to be able to tell the many friends and concerned readers, writers, and advertisers who stopped by our stand that the title would carry on….
Hi Alan,
That’s all I know too.
A few boat shows ago I was noodling around below decks in hidden corner, investigating how things worked, as I do. It was opening day, the builder’s rep had been ignoring me (scruffy journalist), and I believe had forgotten I was there.
A writer/salesman from a not-to-be-named introduced himself to the rep (he could not see me), made some small talk, and then explained to the rep that they were considering his boat for a “Boat of the Year” entry. However, they should talk about an advertising package for the year first. As the conversation progressed, it became clear that the award was plainly tied to advertising. The boat had merits, no question about that, but no effort was made to disguise the quid pro que nature of the award.
So, yeah.
Hi Drew,
Well that was blatant. Back when I was writing for the mags, as I understood it from the editors I knew and worked with, the pressure was much more subtle. But then we only have to compare the content in the mags from 25 years ago to today to see the change.