Our History.
From print to pixels. Still searching for the “best boat.”
1979
Vol. 1, No. 1
Best Boat Buys was founded by Jim and Bev Stack around a coffee table in late 1979. Bev’s father, Roddy, was a true boating nut, always buying and selling the best boat he could afford.
When it came time to sell his latest, he asked a simple question: where do you advertise a boat around here? There was no boating shopper on the Cape, so he ran ads in The Boston Globe.
Jim was already working for a weekly shopper, and the question stuck. If local boat buyers and sellers had no place to find each other, why not start one? They called it Best Boat Buys, after the “best boat” Roddy was always chasing.
Vol. 1, No. 1 hit the stands in May 1980. Nearly 50 years later, we’re still here.
1997
Point. Click. Boats.
On May 19, 1997, BestBoatBuys.com launched alongside Best Boat Buys, the print edition, 17 years after Vol. 1, No. 1.
Buyers could now point, click, and search an online database for their “best boat,” or flip through the print magazine.
2020
From Print to Pixels
As the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people shopped and connected, Best Boat Buys embraced a new chapter.
Our print magazine transitioned to an interactive digital flipbook. This preserved the familiar look and feel of the original magazine while pairing well with our website bestboatbuys.com
2026
Today
BestBoatBuys.com now lists 1,000+ local boats from 29 dealers and brokers across Southeastern New England.
And the original lives on: every month we still publish Best Boat Buys as a digital magazine, the same local boat shopper, now in your pocket.
Nearly 50 years after Vol. 1, No. 1, we’re still helping New Englanders find their “best boat,” just like Roddy.