Magazines are going online every day. It seems like they all have a digital version available. At the Wooden Boat Show in Port Townsend I was introduced to a new magazine which is not transitioning to but has launched directly into the information superwaterway. The Inquisitive Sailor magazine is purpose built to be an internet publication for those of us who are incurably hooked on the sea.
I was pleased to meet the publisher Stephen J. Wedlock, the self-described Boat Professor. I got to talk with him for awhile as my grandson explored the nearby vendors booths in search of give away items. Stephen expressed the vision for the magazine well. It seems perfect for the sailor who is also a bookworm. I sensed that we grew up in the company of many of the same authors, Herreshoff, Chappele, Dana, Forester and many more. Not content with vicarious experience, he shaped a course in life that would lead to a wide range of maritime experience. He holds a fifth issue US Coast Guard master’s license for 3000 GRT ocean sail/power vessels, unlimited radar, etc. His resume includes chartering, maritime school programs and marine surveying. The rest of the staff also have a variety of experience in nautical careers and an interest in the sea that reaches somewhere deep inside their souls.
The writers and staff of The Inquisitive Sailor bring a distinctly literary feel to the magazine that gives it the flavor that many will want to savor. One of the most interesting features which is available to subscribers is the PDF copies of The Rudder and Yachting Monthly. I grew up reading The Rudder in the high school library. It’s pages were filled with the fodder that fed my growing interest in sailing craft. It has a noble history having been first published back in the late 1890’s. Many of the great names in boatbuilding and design were featured. They published plans and design reviews of more power and sailing vessels than you can shake a marlinespike at. I was a subscriber in the last few years of it’s existence and mourned it’s passing. Providing access to this incomparable resource alone makes it worth the price of admission.
This is a real magazine with real subscription costs. In the best tradition of fine maritime publications of the past the content will enrich your life with nautical education and entertainment to a degree that is hard to find anywhere else.
From The Inquisitive Sailor website:
A membership to The Inquisitive Sailor includes:
• downloadable mp3s and PDFs of maritime literature (novels, short stories, poetry and articles)
• reissues of 100 year old Rudder (US) and Yachting Monthly (UK) magazines
• expert advice on call from the BoatProf and others through forums
• weather sayings and sea language presented and explained
• access to an increasing resource about boats, navigation and seamanship organized by experienced mariners
• access to historical and current scientific articles
• participation in the design, construction, and voyaging of a small exploration vessel
The goals of The Inquisitive Sailor are:
• to create an online social network for maritime enthusiasts afloat and ashore
• to collect and present information about the seas, coasts, vessels and their crews
• to provide access to extensive resources of historical, literary and scientific materials
• to index, archive, and make searchable all materials
That is a pretty tall order but The Inquisitive Sailor has made a good start on it’s journey. The third edition has just been published recently. It’s featured literary selections this month include Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner, with an introduction written by a relative of his and recorded by Steve Wedlock. Erskine Childers’ The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service will also be released this month as an audio book with PDF download. In history & arts, is a cruising narrative from Point Judith, Rhode
Island, There is an interesting article about “The Enlightened Captain Ingraham,” the Pacific Coast mariner who discovered the Marquesas.
This fine new publication is worth a close look. I am sure you will see for yourself that it deserves your support.
