Editor’s Letter
Same Destination, New Waypoints
Walking the Miami boat show a few weeks ago, innovation was in the air. New technologies were busting out everywhere, designed to make boating easier, safer, more accessible and more fun for a wider range of people than ever before. From gas outboards on traditional diesel platforms to hybrid alternatives that make the classic battlewagons of old glide like Teslas over the sea, our cruising universe, like it or not, is evolving at an inexorable pace.
A number of you have expressed concern in recent years that we have chosen to focus too much on what’s shiny and new, and not enough on what matters to trawler traditionalists. We get that, but our challenge is to bring you the shiny new stuff along with the traditions that have made this magazine great.
The tech trends our boating industry thrives on may not mesh with your needs or taste, but as Bill Parlatore, founding editor of Passagemaker, wrote in the inaugural issue 23 years ago, “What is remarkable about all this diversity in thinking is that a fairly common theme transcends the differences between boats, cruising plans and owners. It is the trawler lifestyle that binds together all these interests… The lifestyle we enjoy is about quality of life, self-sufficiency, economy of operation, modern conveniences, cruising capability and true comfort aboard.”
Has the way we manage our personal lives changed in the last 10 years? Sure it has. Evolving tastes and emerging technologies have caused us all to adapt and innovate to some degree. Being the world’s cruising authority, Passagemakerr is likewise obliged to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape in our business and in our big little boating niche.
Since 1996, Passagemaker has delivered an entertaining, informative print product to our passionate audience of cruising enthusiasts. We’ve been with you since the day you bought the boat and took the kids out the cut on their first overnight cruising adventure, smiles permanently etched on their faces from the fascination of the great beyond. And we were there as you set out on the Great Loop, tanks filled to the brim, but not completely sure you really had what it took to complete the journey.
An old friend recently handed down to me his complete set of Passagemaker magazines— three hefty boxes of prized literature dating back to that first issue in which Parlatore waxed so poetically. As I helped my buddy lug the last of the literary windfall up to my office, there was a flash of trepidation in his eyes.
“These are not for the office,” he said. “They’re for you.” Right there in those nine words, I felt the weight of 23 years of an undying passion for simply messing about in boats being burned into my soul.
To that end, welcome to the new era of Passagemaker, a celebration of those seafaring individuals who aspire to go farther with their boats, and the industrious workforce that makes it possible for them to do so.
In reimagining a magazine you’ve considered the cruising authority for 23 years, we started with a blank canvas. We asked ourselves what we, as cruising diehards, would want to read. What photographs would best illustrate the world in which we travel? What stories would bring us back to that one particular moment in time we’ll forever cherish? We wanted to reinvent Passagemaker for that special blend of trawler nuts who feel most alive when they’re on the water, who aren’t afraid to venture a bit farther beyond the reef.
Starting with the issue you now hold in your hands, we’ve redesigned this publication to become your gateway to the cruising realm, where we move in sync with the tides and the seasons, the boat dancing under our feet, the compass seducing us to places unknown. With a fresh new face, Passagemaker will continue to explore the extraordinary waters that bind us, enrich us and haunt us until we return, from the cozy anchorages we love to the mysterious places to which we’ve yet to set sail.