If you’re anything like me, you can’t stand being stuck in the house. It appears as though we will be “social distancing” for quite some time, and the uncertainty can in itself be a terrible distraction. I’m guessing many of you are looking to do something that doesn’t take too much time or concentration, and we’ve seen enough headline news to last a lifetime. I have a suggestion. Take a few minutes to revisit the joy of reading a magazine.
The Landing School mission statement has a line “preparing men and women for a career in the marine industry.” Key to this is understanding the term “marine industry.”
The Landing School library, named the Patience Resource Center in recognition of the funding provided by long term board member Peter Worrell, owner of the sailing yacht “Patience.”
Conferences get me fired up. Earlier this year I was at the Massachusetts Marine Trade Association Business of Boating Conference, and I look forward every fall to the International Boatbuilders Exhibition & Conference (IBEX), which covers a range of topics and is a truly national event, but is still primarily targeting boatbuilders. Conferences are a great way to get face to face with industry participants and hear firsthand of the issues they are dealing with on a day-to-day basis (but I don’t see these types of large gatherings happening anytime soon). These challenges do tend to be geographically focused, or target a specific sector (dealer, repair, electronics, composites). The “industry” is much larger than that, as is apparent from the places our graduates find employment.
Many of us subscribe to regular newsletters that appear in our inbox and are a quick way to receive updates. These are a little like the hourly headline news we get on the radio, online, or on the continuous cable news channels. Designed to be absorbed at pace, and to give you the highlights in the shortest amount of time. You gain knowledge, but not necessarily understanding. Differentiating between these is something we need to do in our teaching, so I am acutely aware of why it takes time, and effort, to achieve that understanding. For instance, if you want to know the difference between these two concepts, consider what you “know” about COVID-19 from watching the news, and what you truly “understand.”
This brings me to the value of traditional print media. I was reminded of the traditional sector-focused magazine when I was recently asked by Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS), a long-time scholarship supporter of The Landing School, to write a few words about our Town Class build in Wooden Boat Building for Rudder magazine. The Rudder was published monthly from 1891 through 1977, but is now in the ACBS’s safe hands as a quarterly compilation of news from the antique and classic boating world for their membership. I knew we had some hard copies of the Rudder in our library, so I thought I’d start the process by looking back to the year the Town Class was designed (1931) and see what was being written back then.
Ninety years ago an article on laminated planing boats – today it’s reusable vacuum bags and electronics…and still “novel” shapes and wooden construction
We are missing April & May, but March 1931 was a bumper issue: 200+ pages at 50 cents, not the regular 35 cents, so maybe they took a break in the spring. I started leafing through the January edition, and only got a third of the way in before I knew I had to stop. It was fascinating. Adverts for paint, lumber, and engines. Chris-Craft runabouts starting at $1295 at the New York boat show. Lots of powerboats (some things never change) with a few beautiful schooners scattered amongst. Even a story on a new “thrilling sport available to the motor boat owner”: a 1930s version of a jetski, which was a gliding seaplane you would tow to altitude and then glide back to “land” on the water. Frank Huckins wrote eloquently in support of the modern planing hull, and focused on the need to reduce weight. He had test results comparing a scarfed keel construction with fasteners to his (patent pending) laminated construction using waterproof glues. The latter took more than twice the load without failing. Letters to the editor included the first use of Bakelite, a predecessor of modern composites, on a centerboard. A text by Dr Curry on “aerodynamics of sails and racing tactics” could be purchased for $7.50. The day would quickly disappear if I tried to read the whole year’s worth of articles.
Since then, I have taken more notice of the magazines that arrive almost daily at the school. We receive multiple copies of some that end up in my slot in the mailroom. I am always taking Professional Boatbuilder and WoodenBoat home to read. Many of the periodicals are related to our higher education “industry.” Those with a marine focus range from local New England broadsheets and colorful surfing magazines with waves you only dream about in places you only dream you’d ever visit, to glossy international superyacht “books” fit for a coffee table…on a superyacht.
The shelves behind house SNAME Proceedings, Rudder, Yachting, Sail, Wooden Boat and other magazines, in some cases dating back to the early 1920’s
I tend to eschew those magazines aimed at the boat owner/buyer, as I know that when you start dreaming about owning another boat, it’s a slippery slope. Rather I am reading, and learning, about the commercial world through the likes of Workboat or Marine Log, or the latest composite materials from JEC Composites or Composite Manufacturing . One magazine that is on the fringe of my direct experience, but near the top of my list is Boating Industry , as it gives me a view of the whole country, combined with pertinent numbers, insightful opinion pieces, and a couple of longer stories, mostly about the business of selling and servicing, rather than my “safe space” of building.
Some outtakes from the February edition provide an excellent example of what I can glean in a short period, longer than takes to read an email newsletter, but without the commitment of multiple days at a conference. Our business is just like many others, with a large and diverse base of potential customers. Increasingly we are told it is through social media we should direct our marketing efforts. This month in Boating Industry Matt Sellhorst gave us a page on FaceBook Live and David Gee provided us advice on “making it go viral.” Joe Iribarren explained why you need a roadmap to internet marketing success. All very useful snippets about how to be successful in the digital world—delivered on paper in a magazine!
Even Ken Rusinek, senior Yacht Design instructor due to retire this year, can be found in a corner on occasions reading up on the latest and greatest sailboats.
Taking time to read a few of the magazines that cross my desk, as well as a few from past years in the library, is something I need to do more often and right now I have the time. It complements the inflow of information from email newsletters, Facebook posts, and attending conferences, and boat shows. We all need, in all aspects of our lives, a selection of information sources to get balance and depth.
I urge you to find a quiet corner and slip away occasionally. Once you’ve devoured the newest editions of Professional BoatBuilder or Sailing, pick up some old editions of those same magazines, or other magazines in your recycle pile and on your shelves. It’s a wonderful diversion from what’s happening in the world around us and takes your mind to other places while stimulating and driving a desire to get up and do something.
Keep an eye out for my next blog post in which I will discuss starting a project with an uncertain window of “social distancing” ahead, How Big a Boat Should I Tackle?
Richard Downs-Honey