It is hard to believe but this year is our fifteenth since we started publishing Cruising Compass back in 2006. At the start, publishing a digital newsletter delivered by email was a pretty new idea and it took a while for the advertising community in the sailing market to see the benefits of digital marketing. But soon enough the results of a direct link from our readers to the advertisers’ websites became clear, just as the benefits of being able to read a story with a simple mouse click became popular. Now everyone is using digital venues for reading or watching videos on just about everything, whether it is news, entertainment, literature or Hollywood gossip. And that’s why we launched the e-newsletter Cruising Odyssey for power cruisers three years ago and converted Blue Water Sailing and Multihulls Today magazines to digital flip formats last year. One of the real pleasures of digital publishing is the immediacy of the interaction between readers and us, the editors, and between readers and advertisers. Every Thursday morning, when the email containing the newsletter goes out to our 35,800 opt-in readers, we can watch on a world map on the website where we build and send the newsletter as readers all over the world open their emails and start clicking on ads and stories. And soon after that, emails start rolling in from readers and advertisers with comments on stories and ads, answers to the Mindbender, photos for Cruising Shot of the Week, contributions to the Survey of the Week, recipes and article ideas. It all happens in minutes and hours instead of weeks and months. So, as we start the new year with hope for a better 2021, we want to thank all of our readers who are with us every week and for all of our advertisers who make Cruising Compass the best cruising e-newsletter and website it can be.
You can always reach us at cruisingcompass@bwsailing.com or you can reach me directly at george@bwsailing.com. You’ll find more about Cruising Compass on the website: cruisingcompass.com