There are a lot of boats out there that aren’t very useful.
Most of the boat media is about such boats.
Furthermore, most of the boats you see out on the water these days have a lot of downsides to them. At least around here in mid-Michigan, anyway. 90% of boats that I see in my region are: huge, expensive, clunky pontoon boats with massive engines; superpowerful, expensive powerboats with massive engines; and jetskis.
I see quite a few modest 12-16 foot aluminum jon-boat type fishing boats with compact motors on them…on trailers in driveways. I hope they get used.
How many small, versatile row and sail boats do I see? Hardly any. Even though they’re affordable, easy to maintain, and dandy for fishing our small lakes and for enjoying time on the water.
When we get up north to the occasional gorgeous coastal marina, well, then I’ll see the occasional lovely little all-rounder boat of some kind. It might even be a bit rough. Even then they don’t seem like they get all that much use.
Small boats are a scene that deserve pumping up. Let’s get out there and use em and fix up the beaters and mess around in em!
The “Small Craft Advisor” is a full-color magazine dedicated to everything related to all kinds of small boats. It’s rockin’! It’s also available on newstands.
“Messing About in Boats” is the low-key black’n’white subscriber-only small boat magazine of all time. But this is a scene that can bear expanding upon. “SCA” does just that, wonderfully and professionally so. “SCA” also offers us a wonderful library-catalog of hard-to-find small boat books and media of all kinds! Sound familiar? Well, these folks do it up, and cover their bases, and know what they’re up to. Why, they even offer the 2 best “life of kids” movies out there: 2 episodes of the BBC’s presentation of Arthur Ransome’s Amazons and Swallows club—about the clubs that a little gang of kid friends dream up and the fun they have with their small boats going out bird-watching and crime-detecting and such. Super!
https://www.smallcraftadvisor.com/
