PassageMaker announced a new partnership with Nigel Calder, one of the world’s foremost experts on marine systems and maintenance, as part of the magazine’s campaign to improve quality and better deliver crucial intelligence to a savvy readership.
Calder joins the PassageMaker team as technical editor, a role that will involve writing in-depth features about cutting-edge topics and advising the editors about overall coverage of systems and gear. Additionally, Steve Zimmerman, owner of four boatyards, comes on board with regular how-to stories and advice on developing diagnostic and mechanical skills so readers can keep their boats running smoothly.
“We are delighted to have Nigel Calder on board with us,” said PassageMaker editor-in-chief Peter Swanson. “Besides broad technical expertise that commands respect from both the boating public and boatbuilders themselves, Nigel has decades of family cruising experience. As our readers know better than anyone, this is a point of view that cannot be faked. And take it from me, Calder is a darn good writer.”
Calder is the author of six books, including “Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual,” “Marine Diesel Engines,” “Refrigeration for Pleasureboats,” “The Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean” and “Cuba: A Cruising Guide.”
As part of his role as technical editor, Calder will also help develop and lead PassageMaker’s engine and generator instruction at Trawler Fest-Baltimore in September alongside longtime presenter Zimmerman.
Zimmerman is the president of Zimmerman Marine, which operates four boatyards in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, specializing in repairs, refits and maintenance. He has been repairing and building boats for almost four decades. Most recently he contributed a blog to PassageMaker.com titled “Boatyard Bemused.”
“Steve Zimmerman is going to keep our technical coverage grounded,” Swanson said. “Many of our readers have been cruising for decades and know how to keep their boat running quite handily, but we’ve got many others who are just getting started. Steve’s mission is to deliver the nuts-and-bolts information they will need to cruise safely, comfortably and as inexpensively as possible.”
Like Calder, Zimmerman is a veteran cruiser, having transited the East Coast from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas and done the Great Lakes and the Inside Passage to Alaska. He has made more than 40 delivery trips.
PassageMaker is part of the Active Interest Media Marine Group, which includes Soundings Trade Only, Soundings, Power & Motoryacht, Sail and Yachts International magazines, as well as BoatQuest.com and Show Management.
