One of the fun things about working on and reading a periodical that covers a region, as opposed to an entire country or indeed the world, is that when something cool happens “next door” and you had not heard about it that day, it’s almost more fun! WindCheck fills this role in our region. We like to say that the shoreline and waters from Manhattan to New Bedford is our region. And indeed, that is basically our distribution area, including the estuary of Long Island Sound and the two Bays, Narraganset and Buzzards.
It’s not that we don’t want to cover more of Massachusetts, say from the Cape to Marblehead, or that we don’t absolutely love Barnegat Bay, because we do. It’s just that there is only so much the budget and time for our operation can handle. And indeed, there’s so much going on between New York City and New Bedford – not to mention boating tradition and history perhaps unrivalled anywhere else – that we can barely do it justice!
One very fun example is covering events sailed by our friends up and down the area. I could not make the Rhody Regatta this year as getting up to Newport wasn’t in the cards that weekend for me. But what a hoot it is to read about the shenanigans put on by the International Yacht & Athletic Club and its “members.” Or similarly, I do get to regularly sail the Block Island Race because it’s pretty convenient for me, but buddies to the east of the Connecticut River probably won’t make that trip down on a holiday weekend, having just finished their own Wetherill overnighter. We all do get to read about them, and in more detail than an Instagram or FB post would provide, right here in WindCheck. And you really are not going to get the full feeling of local boat building or restorations like the ones Tom Darling dives into, or the latest project our newest regular “rehab addict” contributor, Dave Hemenway, has taken on (credit to the great Nicole Curtis and HVTV.)
I am very grateful for all of this and our regular columnists that provide interesting and important advice every issue. Where else do I get Dave Dells explaining why my jib trim was wrong last weekend and then a few pages later, Captain Vin Pica’s concise summary of why my boat won’t start! Lastly, if you have not been reading a great Women on The Water series of interviews by Coop with Besty Alison, you need to go to windcheckmagazine.com and catch up. This issue has installment number three. Again, everybody from Manhattan to New Bedford (and beyond) knows Betsy, but where else are you going to get a chance to sit with her for a few hours to discuss her remarkable life?
We hope your summer is going well, and see you on the water!
Publisher
Benjamin V. Cesare
ben@windcheckmagazine.com
