This issue marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of Small Boats in September 2014. With this September issue, the number of articles published has risen to around 1,000, all of them available to subscribers under “Issues” in the menu bar above. This ever-growing resource for our community is both for our readers and from our readers. Almost without exception, the articles are written by boaters who have some hands-on experience or knowledge that they have been moved to share with our community. A majority of our contributors have never before written for publication. Their sense of shared purpose, at the heart of what we call Small Boats Nation, has allowed this publication to thrive over the past 10 years. Your participation is as welcome as it is essential for guiding Small Boats through the decades to come. All it takes is an email.
A Change of Watch
In February 2014, I received an email from Matt Murphy, the editor of WoodenBoat. The subject line read: “If asked, would you serve?” I had an answer even before I opened the email—WoodenBoat had been my favorite magazine since I built my first boat in 1977. “For some time now,” Matt wrote, “I’ve been thinking of how WB might adapt our print annual Small Boats content into a digital magazine–a monthly, perhaps. The idea is gaining traction here.” He provided a brief outline of the content of the new publication and asked if I was interested in being its editor. I was already quite proud to have had several articles published by WoodenBoat and to have been an instructor at WoodenBoat School. Working for WoodenBoat as an editor focusing on small boats was beyond what I’d ever dreamed of. And Matt’s use of the word “serve” struck home. By accepting, I’d be taking on not just a new job but an opportunity to be a part of something I believed in and admired.
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I’m just loading up the van to go to Port Townsend at the end of the week and hope that as an “editor at large” you’ll be there again this year. Enjoy retirement, my experience is that you no longer can say “I’m too busy with work to volunteer for that” and you’ll find yourself busier than ever.
Best rgds
Rick
Thanks, Rick. I’ll see you at the festival.
Best wishes to you Chris. I hope that you enjoy your time away from the working world. It was always a pleasure to work with you and give something back to the WB community that we all so enjoy. Cheers mate
Sorry to see you go, Chris. It’s been a good run. Jenny will do a good job. I took a sailing class with Jenny and Jane Ahlfeld. Probably back in the late 1990 (Sorry for dating us all) where we sailed the 12 1/2 s.
I think I still have a class photo. That was a good time at the waterfront.
Dave Satter
Thank you for all of the great articles; I’ve always enjoyed reading your column.
Great read and you are making the right decision. And Jenny will do great, I’m sure.
Thanks for the articles I have read here and at SeaKayaker as well!
I will be extremely sorry to see you go, Chris. You have been a very major part of the “personality” of this magazine and your writing has been the main reason I’ve subscribed for so long. And I’ve very much appreciated the Pacific Northwest focus you brought. I will sorely miss it all. Hard to imagine how the magazine can be the same without you. But enjoy a well-earned happy semi-retirement!
Thanks for serving, Chris. I’ve noticed the quality of Jenny’s writing; it stands out, as yours always has. Hope retirement is good to you.
Thank you Christopher for all the great articles and your own tinkering and adaptation of different ideas writers have submitted. I will miss all the little tips and tricks that have come from your workshop and diverse boats. Hopefully when you find the next good one you might find some time to submit it as an ex officio editor to Jenny. I started building my Caledonia Yawl in 2014 and launched in 2021 and felt so proud to be in the Launchings pages of Wooden boat with a few words about the journey. Small boats monthly was a wonderful companion to keep motivated and discover all sorts of ideas and adaptations to different challenges. Thank you for your contribution to building a community.
Sorry to see you go, Chris. The magazine was and is so useful because of your hand at the helm. I always appreciated your test-it-myself, data-driven approach to evaluating new gear and techniques. The diversity of boats and approaches to small-boat adventuring that you featured was always interesting. Your no-fluff editorial guidance for me and other contributors was also welcome.
We’ll miss you, Chris. All the best to you for what comes next.
Congratulations on your retirement, Christopher. It’s been fun being on this end of the Small Boats Monthly pipeline, and I’ll miss you. Being six weeks out from my 74th birthday, though, I get it! Have a great time, where ever you go.
Christopher, congratulations on this new chapter in your life.
I have been reading, devouring actually, your work since 1991.
Thank you.
Kenneth
Thank you for all of your great insights into boat building. Also, your help with the articles I have had the privilege to have been involved in.
I thought of being semi-retired at one time but got too busy with the retired part.
I’m sure you will find many projects to occupy your time and won’t suffer from “project-lessness.”
Well done Chris on your time at the helm!
I’ve enjoyed your work a lot since I became a subscriber. I think you always manage to capture the essence of the magic of “messing around in boats”.
Enjoy what’s to come, Dave.
Very sad to hear that you are leaving for a part time role. But it could be worse…you could have retired completely and that would be worse.
I have been with you for the journey, and always looked forward to reading and dreaming about small boats and the fun, interest and interaction they create for a huge number of peoples all over the world.
So from Aussie, enjoy your future time, know you were most valued and welcome to your successor.
Thanks for all your work and dedication to the magazine. I’ve been with you since 2014. Have really appreciated the PNW articles and the workshop materials. Enjoy your retirement.
Yme Dolmans
Huzzah! Now we’ll be able to bug you more because we won’t be worried about you working on next month’s issue…
We are having fun trading stories with you Chris, and look forward to more adventures with the WoodenBoat Nation.
Your friends,
Audrey (Skipper) and Kent
Christopher, we thank you very much for representing and promoting the small boat world so well over your career as an editor, a builder, and a user of everything small boat related. We, up here in Canada sure appreciate everything you have done, enjoy your time going forward and where ever it takes you. Jenny, we look forward to seeing more of your great work.
Steve
Thank you, Chris, for your hard work on what quickly became my favorite source for great stories, tips, and all else related to small boats. I especially appreciate your kindness, patience, and writing and editing skills. You always made my writing noticeably better than what I sent to your in-box. I look forward to continuing to work with Jenny.
I have enjoyed the practical knowledge and keen sense of adventure you have shared through this magazine. Enjoy a slower pace with many more small boat journeys!
Hail and farewell! May you find fair winds and calm seas wherever you go.
Wishing you a long and happy ” next chapter “, Chris. I have enjoyed reading your editorials in Sea Kayaker and Small Boats magazines. They will be missed.
(Am I the only one that encourages you to write a novel? I’m sure it would be an adventure for us all.) As a writer, you set the bar high. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you a wonderful retirement.
Thanks for all your dedication and hard work, Christopher. It has been a pleasure reading your articles and valuable following your recommendations and opinions. Enjoy your change of role.
Chris, you’ve served impressively at the helm of both Small Boats Nation and Sea Kayaker. Both magazines had an attractive blend of useful information and entertainment, and they were (and are) authoritative. Readers can’t ask for any more than this. I’ve also appreciated your own pieces, which offered real substance and good writing—not all that common in the subset of editors’ columns.
Now wishing you good times on the water and in your workshop.
You ain’t goin’ nowhere…. Actually we all expect more out of you. That is–More writing-Less office. And-seriously, you deserve every “day of retirement” filled with fun and wonder.
Every best wish for a long and enjoyable retirement. You will be sorely missed but my advice would be to resist, resist, resist the calls for you to do this that or the other. Go at your own speed, do the things that you want to do and enjoy every minute. Know that you have the thanks of so many of us for a job well done!
Thank you Chris for all the great articles in Small Boats and Sea Kayaker and for helping me learn how to write.
Hank Landau
Aw man! I knew this was coming, soon probably. Your education and experience is so deep and broad, amount of influence in boating so wide and lengthy, I figured you had to be getting old.
Didn’t seem to be lacking in energy. Filling a magazine with fantastic tips and hacks, building/using boats, showing them in use like you’ve got a documentary crew following along, and writing about it all simply and clearly, sometimes poetically. I’ve been in awe of you for as long as I’ve subscribed.
Particularly because despite a high reputation in a field often noted for sectarian arrogance, you have been extraordinarily personally attentive to this struggling over-eager newbie: supportive of ideas, teacher of new avenues, encourager of goals, and empathizer of unrelated issues.
I will really miss you.
Well, you aren’t going totally away. You say and I know, you’ll be popping in here and there, sharing ideas you’ve come up with while out on the water, posting beautiful and unusual photos of the excursions. You’ll keep doing it because you can’t help it. You couldn’t have such an impact on boaters if it wasn’t who you are.
Enjoy your extended recurring vacation. You’ve earned it Chris. You put a lot into your life, and you handed it back to a lot of people. Thank you.
Welcome up Jenny. Even if I’ll miss the outgoing personality, I’m looking forward to experiencing the new.
Chris, I was skeptical about the Small Boats digital edition when it first came out thinking there would be too few articles and too high of a price. You proved me wrong, it is an excellent source of small-boat information. Your articles have been my favorites, well done.
Thank you.
Rex
Thank you Chris for the many years of dedication to this fine publication. It was a pleasure to know you, work with you, and read so many of your wonderful tales.
All the best,
Bill
Best wishes for a well-deserved retirement. I’ve been following your work since you took on editing Sea Kayaker in 1989. As a middle school teacher, I built two skin-on-frame West Greenland kayaks with twenty middle schoolers, parents, grandparents, etc. with your book in one hand and tools in the other. I’m still in touch with some of them and their parents who remember it as a highlight of their school years. After fourteen years on a 35-foot wood ketch on Lake Superior, I’ve upgraded to an Oughtred designed Arctic Tern as my semi-retirement boat. Again, I’m indebted to you for a wealth of information gleaned from Small Boats Monthly. Thanks for many years of enjoyable, informative articles. I’m sure we’ll see more as you move into this next adventure.
Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. They are greatly appreciated.
Chris
Small Boats Editor at Large
Hard to imagine you not at the helm here Chris. For decades Sea Kayaker and Small Boats Monthly have provided inspiration and helpful information for countless kayak trips, and eventually the build of a skin-on-frame Whitehall.
Your writing and magazine material has always shown what can result from disciplined passion.
Your commitment to excellence in craftsmanship, writing, and pursuit of what comes from “messing around in boats” regularly results in extraordinary sentences recreating extraordinary moments on the water.
More please!
Dear Chris,
I cannot let your Ten Year anniversary and departure as editor of Small Boats pass unremarked.This is a bit late, but it takes time for information to filter to Australia!
You are largely responsible for my current fascination for all things Wooden Boat – and I am deeply grateful.I have always enjoyed your articles, for their style and thoughtful content; and the evident joy that you take from the boat and situation that you are experiencing.
Your editorial has always been a great opening to each new edition. My favourite was A Rainy Sunday Afternoon from June 2024. In a brief, well written page, you said all that needed to be said in appreciation for the world of wooden boats.
I wish you well in the next phase of Life. Your 71 plays my 73…I’ve decided that one’s 70s are a great stage of life. Let’s just enjoy it.
Warmest Best Wishes
Martin Suthers
Sydney, Australia