Logbooks

[sirfer]

Originally Posted by slug

A few years ago I took shelter in Brest , France



While at anchor the French authorities paid a visit

They were sniffing out VAT liability



To do this they examined my logbook and counted every day that the vessel was in the EU



I have also had my logbook examined by Greek authorities on the Turkish frontier





You would be wise to alway keep a logbook

Same happened to me in Brest. They even sent divers down to inspect underneath of boat. Think they were sniffing out more than vat liability. The mood lightened immensely when they saw the quality of wine I had onboard![emoji56]

[MicHughV]

back in the day....ie, before GPS...."dead reckoning" was the name of the game....maintaining a log was paramount....

these days not so much....on a long voyage...the relevant data is only entered on watch changes...and even then, likely to contain some or other reference to someone snoring, etc.

going for a day sail, usually only references when I left and when I returned as I know where I am at all times..might throw in a comment about it being a lovely day.

I am, however, an advocate for paper charts, I like to look at the BIG picture, not a little 6" screen shot....few people have paper charts these days, but a paper chart will have a lot of land references that can be used to identify where you are and are easy to see at a glance without trying to "scroll" thru' a GPS screen mounted on your steering pedestal...

These days, even a phone can give your position, plus a variety of handheld devices....so power outages are not typically a concern...

I often tell this story....on a trip to Bermuda some years back, about 4-5 days out.....I spy a sail on the horizon and note that is is headed my way.
Sure enuff, about 30 minutes later a smallish fiberglass sloop pulls alongside me.
Onboard are an elderly couple, we estimated to be in their 80's. They are both naked as jaybirds and brown as berries.They had left from the Florida Keys some many days ago.
They ask for " directions" to Bermuda as their only navigational tool is a schoolboy atlas.
I give them a position fix, a compass bearing and point my hand to the horizon and tell them " Bermuda is thataway"..they thank me, crank up their engine and are soon a blip on the horizon.

Whether they kept a log or not I could not say......

[fourlyons]

Originally Posted by slug

A few years ago I took shelter in Brest , France

While at anchor the French authorities paid a visit
They were sniffing out VAT liability

To do this they examined my logbook and counted every day that the vessel was in the EU

I have also had my logbook examined by Greek authorities on the Turkish frontier


You would be wise to alway keep a logbook

They were going through the logbooks because you had them; this makes Islandifidels point. This account does not prove it is "wise" to have them.

Furthermore, the idea, that if you have nothing to hide, than you have nothing to fear from people incentivised to hang you, is naive.

[Andreas W]

I have the usual electronics, computers etc. on board, as I am no Luddite. I am also an old-fashioned ex merchant marine officer and used to paper charts, working with sextants and patent-logs, way before there was GPS and all these other nice to have AIDS to navigation.
For the same reason I would also now not sail without paper charts and non-electronic navigation tools, I will also stick to my hardcopy log book as I have done for decades.

[slug]

Originally Posted by fourlyons

They were going through the logbooks because you had them; this makes Islandifidels point. This account does not prove it is "wise" to have them.

Furthermore, the idea, that if you have nothing to hide, than you have nothing to fear from people incentivised to hang you, is naive.

If you can rapidly produce documents the inspection lasts 5 min , not 30 days impounded on the dock while they research your story

Your choice