Do you keep a log?

[jimcarrier]

I’m writing a piece for Cruising World about keeping a log. Or not.
Now that my cruising days are over, I wanted to remember places I’ve been, and things I’ve endured and enjoyed.
Alas, I never kept a good log. I’ve got scattered waypoints kept hourly on overnight sails. I’ve got a pile of receipts. And some notes.
But I did remember that my old GPS unit knows where I went. I found I had 400 waypoints. The software to download and display didn’t work, so I’m laboriously typing each one with its lat-longs and copying to Google Earth. Magic! The globe spins, the camera descends, and suddenly I’m back on Spain’s Costa del Sol, and the memories come flooding back.
I have a feeling that I’m not alone. Paper logbooks seem to have gone the way of paper charts.
What’s your story? Have you kept a log of your travels? Paper? Electronic? Photo?
Tell me what your logkeeping, or lack thereof, has meant to you. Memories? Tall tales for the grandkids. What? What do you recommend?
I might quote you, if you’re willing.
Answer here, or write me at jimcarrier@msn.com.
thanks,
Jim Carrier
Contributing Editor
Cruising World magazine

[jimcarrier]

I’m writing a piece for Cruising World about keeping a log. Or not.
Now that my cruising days are over, I wanted to remember places I’ve been, and things I’ve endured and enjoyed.
Alas, I never kept a good log. I’ve got scattered waypoints kept hourly on overnight sails. I’ve got a pile of receipts. And some notes.
But I did remember that my old GPS unit knows where I went. I found I had 400 waypoints. The software to download and display didn’t work, so I’m laboriously typing each one with its lat-longs and copying to Google Earth. Magic! The globe spins, the camera descends, and suddenly I’m back on Spain’s Costa del Sol, and the memories come flooding back.
I have a feeling that I’m not alone. Paper logbooks seem to have gone the way of paper charts.
What’s your story? Have you kept a log of your travels? Paper? Electronic? Photo?
Tell me what your logkeeping, or lack thereof, has meant to you. Memories? Tall tales for the grandkids. What? What do you recommend?
I might quote you, if you’re willing.
Answer here, or write me at jimcarrier@msn.com.
thanks,
Jim Carrier
Contributing Editor
Cruising World magazine

[JoeRobertJr]

Do you use a Captain’s Log?? - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
Saw this relevant thread recently.

I keep mine in Google Docs, so that it is searchable, shareable with family & friends, and can include pictures.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by jimcarrier

.....I have a feeling that I’m not alone. Paper logbooks seem to have gone the way of paper charts.

Hello Jim,
It may seem silly to the average boater, but a bound logbook penned in ink, (initialed) by watch keepers and signed by master noting operating details and precautions ...have legal value.

Precationary Notes on:
Entering areas of restricted visibility.
Dense traffic
Port authorities and Traffic control check ins / instructions
Anchoring notes and bearings
Heavy Weather precautions
Sea States
Crew details, Medical or serious misconduct issues....

....are some of the hard copy records that if you can provide in the event of an accident, insurance claim, lawsuit or inquest....may demonstrate that you operate your yacht at a professional level.

As a retired Superyacht captain and Master Mariner, I have no choice but to keep that bound record even for on my own cruising yacht.

Paper logbooks are still a good idea as a compliment to electronic data, but for basically different reasons.

Your tablet or smartphone is the memories tool as you mentioned, the paper logbook can become a legal document.

Also, the laptop or tablet may not survive a rescue at sea, whereas your logbook can as a final addition to the grab bag along with other documents.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Hello Jim,
It may seem silly to the average boater, but a bound logbook penned in ink, (initialed) by watch keepers and signed by master noting operating details and precautions ...have legal value.

Precationary Notes on:
Entering areas of restricted visibility.
Dense traffic
Port authorities and Traffic control check ins / instructions
Anchoring notes and bearings
Heavy Weather precautions
Sea States
Crew details, Medical or serious misconduct issues....

....are some of the hard copy records that if you can provide in the event of an accident, insurance claim, lawsuit or inquest....may demonstrate that you operate your yacht at a professional level.

As a retired Superyacht captain and Master Mariner, I have no choice but to keep that bound record even for on my own cruising yacht.

Paper logbooks are still a good idea as a compliment to electronic data, but for basically different reasons.

Your tablet or smartphone is the memories tool as you mentioned, the paper logbook can become a legal document.

Also, the laptop or tablet may not survive a rescue at sea, whereas your logbook can as a final addition to the grab bag along with other documents.

As a still currently working Master Mariner (Unlimited) i haven't filled out a Paper Log book for well over 10 years, it's all on the computer these days and most shipping companies have gone the same way.....One of the selling points for the system we utilise is that it does a daily 'dump' through the sat system to head office....

Plenty of approved electronic logs out there for those that want to go that way, on my own boats i still prefer to keep a paper log......

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

As a still currently working Master Mariner (Unlimited) i haven't filled out a Paper Log book for well over 10 years, it's all on the computer these days and most shipping companies have gone the same way.....One of the selling points for the system we utilise is that it does a daily 'dump' through the sat system to head office....

Plenty of approved electronic logs out there for those that want to go that way, on my own boats i still prefer to keep a paper log......

I can see that the electronic log dump for head office satisfies both the commercial and legal needs of company standing orders, but don't know how that would work for a cruising yacht?

Like you, I still prefer the paper log on my boat

[Bean Counter]

We do both, paper log and then when I have nothing to do I fill in the details in a spreadsheet, two logs one for travel and one for repairs and maintenance. Nice thing about the spreadsheets are they are easily searchable, add up things like engine hours, calculates stuff like GPH etc etc.

[gamayun]

Jim, because I'm mainly a day sailor, I've been keeping a sailing diary that kinda functions as a log. I started this when I bought the boat as a beginner 6 years ago. Occasionally, I've skimmed back over it to remind me how far I've advanced in comfort and skills over the years. When I remember, I ask my passengers to write about our day, which usually includes conditions and times. For passages, I use a Rite-in-the-Rain notebook that contains "just the facts" though I will also include a note or two on something I'd like to remember. This stays in the cockpit where I don't have to worry about getting the pages soggy. This seems to work for me. I'm curious, too, what others use and I'll be looking forward to reading your article

[leftbrainstuff]

Absolutely. We log everything related to our journey and the boat.

Our log is captured in evernote as key value pair data. We use a single evernote account and the raw log data is replicated across all our devices running evernote. We replicate daily over cell, wifi, satcomm or hf and pactor.

I then have an AWS Lambda function that parses the log whenever a change is detected on the cloud master.

The parsed data is written to flat files and stored in Amazon S3.

I can then query the data, automatically and auto plot numerical data.

I'm just prototyping a deep learning LSTM model to provide predictive maintenance.

[gmakhs]

Yes , about everything aboard even feelings on bad passages .
Engine hours fuel weather problems all, even for small hops

[Palarran]

Not one thing. I personally see no benefit in it for me. But I have blogged before - that was fun.

[Palarran]

You should get a moderator to merge the exact same two threads you started.

[puffcard]

No not in 50 years, we'll during a couple of ocean crossings did maintain one. Worked on a commercial tug, we did have one, but it was super weak. Should but don't. If you're a license capt or working towards a license, should have one. My sister, who had her 100 ton at 18, keeps a great log book.

[Simi 60]

Not any more, no benefit and robs time from doing important stuff like relaxing.
Keep notes of maintenance records on the tablet but that's it.

[nwdiver]

Untie from the dock or pull the anchor, until anchored or tied up again it's all logged......the log includes notes and diagrams.

Separate log for all maintanace.