Sail log

[Orkia]

I am curious what everyone uses for a sailing log? What do you track?

[BOAT]

If I am out day sailing I don't bother with a lot of logging except just to say "put out on xx/xx/xx from Oceanside" at the end of the day and that's about it.

Out day sailing I don't bother with much logging.

There was a time when it was sort of considered a requirement to log maintenance and conditions and so forth, and if you carry passengers it's still required in some cases. The main point of the log was to keep you out of legal trouble when things bad happened - if the crew was going to attack you in court, or passengers sue you, or there is a collision at sea or a maintenance issue caused a failure - they will ask for your log. In the old days the trading ship companies had insurance requirements for ships log, but now they are not required. The secondary reason was for navigation - you plotted your location regularly in the log. This was a big help finding your way around.

GPS, VHF, cell phones and modern outboard motors pretty much eliminated the need for logs.

If I am traveling from port to port I will jot a note at the ramp parking lot: The date, where I launched the boat, number of people on board, fuel on board, est time of departure and desired heading and that forces me to check sea conditions. That's the only thing I note at the ramp before I depart.

The rest is just an after thought you can do based on your own needs:

I just jot this stuff down quickly usually at the end of the day - :
i note if anything broke so i don't forget to fix things when I get home (i keep records of any repairs)
miles traveled on the motor if used outside of the harbor and speed and mpg (i use my history to gauge how far I can go because conditions effect my mpg a lot so I know the nautical miles traveled on one tank)
moorings: Old habit from camping is we would note the campsite number for sites we liked. We do that for moorings and slips we rent too so I might jot down a mooring buoy number or slip number.
I TRY to note best speed indicated per day (when the numbers deteriorate in the log over a few years time I know it's time for new sails) and it always makes me try to trim the boat well at least once a day.

That's about it.
Your supposed to log a sail plan so if you sink and die they can tell what you were trying to do after the fact, but no one does that anymore. (No one logs that is, people still sink and die).
My recommendation would be to not sink and die.

[Orkia]

Boat it sounds like you are keeping a pretty thorough log. Are you keeping it in a spiral bound notebook or something? I am wanting to keep a log just track progress. Note issues and things that need to be repaired. I was hoping that there was a good app for the phone. I have not found one yet.

[sailboatmike]

If you have an Android phone or tablet there a a few free sail log keepers in the playstore for download

[K9Kampers]

When I was logbooking, I just used a spiral bound notebook.

The first season was daysails, about 30 in 5 months, same lake, same ramp. Mostly just observations of wind, weather, guests,...

Second & third seasons were more ocean & distant locations travels. Log entries were more detailed about weather, wind, water, temps, waypoints, anchorage, repair list, wish list, time/distance projections vs actual, course headings, pretty comprehensive observations. Even observations of grilling burgers over the rail for lunch while sailing and the rudeness of unobservant Canadiacan powerboaters on Lake Champlain.

Seasons four and on - while still sailing a lot, log entries tapered to date/location to eventually not at all.

[Starscream]

I use a 7-year old with a notebook. Log includes wildlife spotted, castles explored, names of the big Lakers seen, fish caught, and exciting events.

[Azzarac]

[quote="Starscream"]I use a 7-year old with a notebook. Log includes wildlife spotted, castles explored, names of the big Lakers seen, fish caught, and exciting events.

Pretty much what Starscream said except our kids are a little older now and we use the digital version of a notebook (MS Word) which also allows me to insert photos. I also log weather and water conditions and notate any mechanical issues in the margin to remind me it needs attention. We then upload everything to Chameleon's website to make our family and friends jealous!

[kadet]

I use a smartphone app Safe Trx http://www.safetrxapp.com/ best thing about it is you can log on and off with the Coast Guard and the app auto updates your position to them. Also has a website that keeps a record of your journeys. Unfortunately I don't think it is available in the USA.

[BOAT]

Boat it sounds like you are keeping a pretty thorough log. Are you keeping it in a spiral bound notebook or something? I am wanting to keep a log just track progress. Note issues and things that need to be repaired. I was hoping that there was a good app for the phone. I have not found one yet.

Spiral , whaaa ? . . ? Is that a paper product? Gee wiz, I'm sorry, the only paper left on 'boat' is in the head and it comes on a roll, no spiral thing.

I assume everyone uses a phone or a tablet these days? I use one of each on 'boat' - they are connected to each other:



If I am standing in the cabin I usually just start writing on the iPad - if i am in the cockpit I use the iPhone and send it to the iPad - if I am sitting in the head I find that a great time to type a few things into the iPhone but after reading your post about paper products I guess I could use that too in there, but so far I have only used the phone in the head.



Looks like stow away's to me:



Y

[K9Kampers]

... the only paper left on 'boat' is in the head and it comes on a roll, no spiral thing.

I assume everyone uses a phone or a tablet these days?

I once tried using a phone in the head, but found that I prefer paper instead!

[Seapup]

I am curious what everyone uses for a sailing log? What do you track?

My spouse has kept a paper logbook on each boat with my encouragement and its fun to flip back through actual paper log entries in later years. In the beginning it was more sailing related, places and distances, now it is more of a fun narrative with sketches on most pages and the colorful stories we hear, jokes, and quotes from the people we meet. Last week we went camping in the mountains and multiple times said to eachother our standard reaction of "where is the logbook" when something unexpected and fun happened.

I also keep two simple hashmark logs of days untied from the dock sailing and nights at anchor on the inside cover, this was an eye opener for me and a great positive motivator. Our local mag for the Chesapeake bay does a 100 day challenge each year. 3 years ago I kept sloppy notes and am not sure if I made it. Last year I started the hashmarks and they kept me motivated to sail through November to reach the 100. This year with the goal still fresh in mind I was out Jan 1 & passed 100 in August with over 4 months left to spare. Last year my anchorage goal was 50 nights aboard, this year was 60. I also reset the trip log on the GPS at the beginning of each season with a goal. Last year was 1000, this year 1200.

[BOAT]

Yes seapup, your using the log the way it's intended for guys like us.

People who sail around the world alone often say that writing in their log is what keeps them going. We really don't call that a log, but these things can be put into a log. The log was usually just the legal requirements of the liability carrier insuring the contents of the ship for the trading company, and certain things were required to be noted by their standards including all health issues regarding the crew (it was the insurance companies which prompted all ships to carry a crew compliment of a medical officer after so many claims for lost cargo due to sick or injured crew that made the ship too hard to manage with a short crew). That's why they started putting doctors on board - not to protect the health of the crew as much to protect the cargo. So crew complement and thier condition is usually still noted by habit for most skippers.

Most really are creating what's called a SEA JOURNAL, and those are really cool and that is what seapup is really creating in the same spirit and legacy of Richard Henry Dana who had one of the most famous sea journals that became a book called Two Years Before the Mast.

I wish we all did sea journals, it would be great reading for our old age when we are all confined to the docks in our wheelchairs.

[Interim]

Mine is a bound book that says Boat Log on the front and has a nice little pre-printed form in side to record regular data. It is interesting the things you get as gifts if you have a boat.

I record date and time, fuel and board (and afterward fuel used), passengers, and any interesting events. The latter are good for a re-read over the long, cold winter, to trigger happy memories while waiting for Spring.

--johnb

[K9Kampers]

I assume everyone uses a phone or a tablet these days? I use one of each on 'boat' - they are connected to each other:

Come over to the right coast and sail the coast of Maine...you won't need any of those 'lectronic distractions here, so much to see!

Of course it was neat in your video how you looked up where the whales were in relation to your boat at sea!

[BOAT]

I assume everyone uses a phone or a tablet these days? I use one of each on 'boat' - they are connected to each other:

Come over to the right coast and sail the coast of Maine...you won't need any of those 'lectronic distractions here, so much to see!

Of course it was neat in your video how you looked up where the whales were in relation to your boat at sea!

I can only use the sonar to tell if I have passed over them - if I see that I have passed over a whale the first thing I do is turn off the sonar!! I run to the chartplotter and unscrew the nmea cable on the back that connects the sonar to the chartplotter - that cuts all power to the sonar. The reason is that the sonar makes a loud 'clicking' sound in the water that can be irritating to the whales ears - I did not believe that until I got the sonar - we used to approach the whales very easily before we got the sonar but we noticed that after getting sonar the whales would run away from us. We started shutting down the sonar and the whales stopped running away and would let us approach them as long as we were under sail.

These are pictures of the whale targets from other boats:



I am afraid of sea creatures so I never wanted them around anyways but now that I am old with a wife on board she wants to see the animals so I try to get closer to them.

More targets: