Seeing a copy of Boating New Zealand somewhere unexpected is a bit like running into an old friend – it always brings a smile to my face and gives me a warm feeling inside.
But truth be told, it’s not that unusual. The magazine turns up everywhere – just check out the photo displayed hereabouts emailed by a Boating NZ reader who spotted a copy of our fine publication in a magazine rack in the library of the New York Yacht Club!
I’ve personally come across copies of the magazine in Australia and several Pacific Island nations. I’ve also seen Boating NZ in a café in Amsterdam, a maritime museum in Denmark (scattered on a bench in the corner of an open-air workshop with other old magazines and books) and, perhaps most bizarrely, in a booth at a lakeside bar in the woods of northern Wisconsin, USA, thousands of miles from the sea.
Of course, you can find copies of Boating NZ magazine the length and breadth of New Zealand, sometimes in the strangest places. Quite a few years ago, while doing a boat review on Lake Te Anau, Tim Porter and I came across a copy in a hut on the Milford Track. Looking well thumbed, it was one of a jumble of books and magazines stacked on the communal table, ready for the next group of weary hikers to enjoy.
One of the beauties of magazines is that they hold our interest long after their publication. You can dip into a printed copy of Boating NZ time and time again. That’s because, in many respects, a five or ten-year-old magazine is just as interesting as the latest edition. There’s always something you’ve missed or perhaps didn’t bother with the first time around, or else a familiar story you want to revisit.
Old copies of Boating NZ have a life of their own. They are passed around between family and friends, and many find their way into waiting rooms, cafes and bars. Others wind up gracing holiday homes, baches and cribs, or stocking our boat libraries.
One reason for Boating NZ’s longevity is the publisher’s continued investment in good quality paper and expensive sheet-fed printing. There’s always a temptation to save money on printing, especially in these difficult economic times, but our high production values set Boating NZ apart from other similar publications, both here and overseas. Our magazine stands up against any print publication in the world, not only for its content, but also for its fine print job.
And that’s not an idle boast. Our printer, SCG, has just won two Pride in Print 2024 Gold awards for print jobs on the September and October 2023 editions of Boating NZ, the only magazine with two wins this year. Pride in Print’s judges could see the magazine’s quality and we think you, our readers, notice and appreciate it too.
Enjoy the August issue!
J
Send us your Pics
Email us a picture of Boating NZ magazine somewhere out of the ordinary, in New Zealand or overseas, preferably with you or someone else reading it.
For every picture published, we’ll send out a Boating NZ cap.
To enter, email editor@boatingnz.co.nz Subject line: ‘Boating NZ gets around’. Please include a postal address with your picture.
