What Do You Record in Your Ship's Log ?

[planetluvver]

I was assigned to do a presentation about a ship's log in regards to cruising by my sailing club. I am not finding a whole lot of organized information on this topic, so I thought I would start a thread here.

I do not own a boat yet, so I am a bit clueless about what would be truly helpful.

[MarkJ]

Like everything, we do things our way... maybe not the 'right' way

As you can see by our log page attached we don't put in all the bumph that is in some logs or in the printed logs.
This page is from Febuary this year in the Indian Ocean on a 2,600nm passage.
We just use a school book.
Basically all I need it for is to show we have some sort of log, keep a record of our L&L at the end of each watch and basic wind and boat speed. Motoring hours are lsited too. unfortunatly this pages shows too much motoring! We had to move from a windless area as we had been becalmed for one week! It was time to use the donk!

Other comments as they come up and allowance for anything fun.
The first page relates to a small bird that flew around the boat, then came back at sunset and flew below and camped on a towel in our cabin! She left a gift which we stuck in the log

Keeping it fun and relaxed keeps the log relevant.

cruising by my sailing club.

My club awards a Cup for the best cruise of the year as documented in the Ships Log. well, we won't be winning one of those!! LOLOL


Mark

[sailorboy1]

Mark - I looked in my manuals, but can not find the approved meaning of the smiling faces in your log.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Mark - I looked in my manuals, but can not find the approved meaning of the smiling faces in your log.

Official Regulations (Logs) Sect 3a (i) "All's Well so I'm Ringing Ma Bell"

Either that or refer to Thread: "Hissing noise??? " Thats what happens when all's not well!


Mark

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

I was assigned to do a presentation about a ship's log in regards to cruising by my sailing club. I am not finding a whole lot of organized information on this topic, so I thought I would start a thread here.

I do not own a boat yet, so I am a bit clueless about what would be truly helpful.

When traveling we record: Time; Ship's Position; Log: Course; Speed; Apparent Wind Speed/Direction; Barometer; Sea State; Relevant Notes.

Log Entries hourly our upon course changes.

FWIW...

[nautical62]

For coastal and Island cruising, I keep mine very short: Day and date, From where to where. Weather conditions. How sailed or motored.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by nautical62

For coastal and Island cruising, I keep mine very short: Day and date, From where to where. Weather conditions. How sailed or motored.

Be sure to record who is in command, how many and who are your crew and passengers. More or less exact time of departure and arrival. This can be important legally (!) in case your log is ever used to establish some fact about your voyage.

Miles run, hours under engine.

Any problems encountered.

Any faults of the boat or equipment; what actions taken to solve.

[MarkJ]

[QUOTE=Dockhead;444078]Be sure to record who is in command, QUOTE]

Yes, well if they want to play that little "its a legal document" game you can play it too!




We just transited the Suez Canal and one of the things the Pilots always do it try to make you go fast. They get home earlier. Everyone gets told faster, faster...

We wrote in our log page for the transit the max RPM and got the pilot to sign it Then we put the engine on 100RPM more than what it said in the log. The first time the Pilot said: Faster! I reminded him of the log, looked shocked at the taco and winked at him, letting him know I saw it was over the RPM. Implication was I could slow down

Other thing you may notice about that log page is tht I mention Nicolle as being Master as well as me. Nic is on the Registration papers as Master incase I have to leave the boat she is in control. Well, some countries don't like females very much and treat them poorly. So I showed the pilot she was Master and told him that it was she that had the money for Baksheish (bribe) and that she controlled that envelope of money!! She was treated very well by both pilots (one on each day)

Yes, Log Books can be useful


Mark

PS If anyone is transiting Suez we have a 7 page(!!) info thing on our website

[David M]

Given the log is a legal document, the pages must be bound. It should not be binder style where pages can be removed or inserted in order to add false entries or hide entries. Officials are wise to this. Also, when crossing out a mistake, place a single line through the error so it can still be read. Initial the crossed out mistake as well. When starting a new day in the log at midnight local, record the date and time of GMT and the zone description (difference between local time and GMT) so there is no ambiguity as to what time it was when something occurred. This is how its done on US flag ships.

You always log the basics. You log weather, heading, course made good, speed over ground, drills, person in charge of vessel, person in charge of the watch, those on watch, unusual events, arrivals, departures, abeam of specific landmarks, abeam of other vessels, position at a given time, when the watch is relieved, injuries, illnesses & treatment, MOB, propulsion/equipment failures. There are plenty of other things than can or should be logged.

Its really a matter of common sense of logging information that you or others may need to reference back to in the future. Logging things that cover your butt are also obviously important....like "Checked navigation lights - functioning".

Its best not to make frivolous entries that have nothing to do with shipboard operations. A personal journal in a separate book for things like "Jane went snorkeling today and saw lots of pretty fish" is best suited for that.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by David M

Its best not to make frivolous entries that have nothing to do with shipboard operations.

What may be "frivolous" to David might seem "essential" to me. In addition to hourly records of everything I need to plot a DR position, I religiously log sightings of all cetaceans larger than a harbor porpoise, the title of whatever book I'm reading while on watch, radio contacts made with old friends, and brilliant ideas to redesign onboard systems.

We also log the moment we see the green flash, of course, on those rare occasions we see the green flash. And the species/condition of any bird that lands on the lifelines while we are underway.

Like Mark, I use a composition book. The last page of each logbook is titled "radio log." Too few sailors are aware of the regulation that you keep a radio log and annotate whenever you hear a mayday. Another page records the engine hours and quantity of fuel anytime I take on diesel, so that I can keep a running track of how many GPH I'm using.

[David M]

Exactly Bash.

Different people will find some things important that others will not. Its up to you to decide what is important and what is not. I'm a firm believer in keeping a professional looking logbook. That's how I was trained plus if an official who is a stickler looks at it, it will be more believable which could keep you out of trouble. Additionally, keeping the log concise and relevant to the operations of ones boat makes it easier for you to reference back to an event.

Good point about the radio log Bash.

Also, keeping an engineers logbook relevant to shipboard systems, maintenance, repairs, failures, engine hours, water levels, fuel levels etc is helpful.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by David M

I'm a firm believer in keeping a professional looking logbook. .

So do I!
You will note that the feather was stuck in the log during NICOLLES Watch! Not mine! She is the UNprofessional!
I was try to catch the blasted bird and shove him in the frying pan. I already had the garlic sauted. Damn inconsiderate bird.

I also note (but not in the logbook) that the bird did not poop in its tempory nest that night.

[planetluvver]

Thanks everyone!

I had been wondering about the "legal document" aspect of a log, in regards to a yacht's log. I had read about not erasing in one web page, but this was in reference to naval vessels.

I am finding it somewhat dismaying, that very little seems written about a yacht's log book, in comparison to other aspects of voyaging. Yet it is taken for granted that a log will be kept!

[Bash]

A friend with a 100' motoryacht once asked me to help him and his professional captain deliver the boat from San Diego to San Francisco. We used a 3-hour on/ six-hour off rotation in the order of captain--owner--me. The captain was strict about the hourly fix being logged and plotted. The owner was fairly lax in his navigational skills, so I'd have to correct his plots at the beginning of each of my watches, and make an appropriate notation in the log.

After a few days of this, I asked the captain why he was having us keep a running plot since this was simultaneously being done by the onboard navigation system, which was programmed to print a hard copy of log entries every half hour. His response: "The only way I can know how good you are is when I see how you handle the log."

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by planetluvver

Thanks everyone!

I had been wondering about the "legal document" aspect of a log, in regards to a yacht's log. I had read about not erasing in one web page, but this was in reference to naval vessels.

I am finding it somewhat dismaying, that very little seems written about a yacht's log book, in comparison to other aspects of voyaging. Yet it is taken for granted that a log will be kept!

Any bit of paper can be a legal document.

There is NO international rule about keeping a log for a pleasure boat, or a pleasure boat visiting other countires. I don't think too many countries would have such a law. So don't fret! I know Australia there is no requirement to keep a log and I think we have discussed it here before, there is no requirement for USA flagged recreational boats to keep one either.




Mark