Sample Pages from a Yacht log

[Boracay]

We have had a case in Australia where a pilot's log book was rejected as evidence.

Some of the details make interesting reading (you do need to read between the lines a bit).

A somewhat more jaundiced view is here

[jholder]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

If the Coast Guard comes to your boat and it is surrounded by an oil spill/fuel sheen
if you have a log that shows no fuel transfer or other activity that may have contributed to the problem...you are in the clear.

You mean the USCG would not bother to think that maybe that yacht owner failed to write down that they spilled fuel, or at least that they transferred fuel? "I didn't write it in my logbook" doesn't seem like a very solid legal defense.

[jackdale]

This is a deck log that I have used. I keep a separate maintenance log.

http://www.swiftsuresailing.com/documents/decklog.pdf

Jack

[Chief Engineer]

We are talking flight logs of air traffic controllers? Right?

I missed the part about the Pilots Logbook.

Originally Posted by Boracay

We have had a case in Australia where a pilot's log book was rejected as evidence.

Some of the details make interesting reading (you do need to read between the lines a bit).

A somewhat more jaundiced view is here

[roverhi]

Having had the unfortunate opportunity to be involved in a couple of trials, what is written down carries way more weight than unwritten testimony. Just because something was written down had a lot more weight with the judge as far admissability and the jury as far as believability. In short, if it isn't written down, it didn't happen.

[s/v Moondancer]

I was crew on a boat that was accused by port control of endangering a ferry by being in the harbor entrance as the ferry exited...Our log showed we had called the Harbor Master when we were 3 miles out and and been given clearance for that exact time...end of argument!

However, now I call from 1 mile out! and always use a hard bound log.

[IslandHopper]

This may interest some of you....

We, that is the shipping company i work for have not used a written log for four years now, it's all inputted electronicly....

Also, the Nav program i use on my laptop/chartplotter comes with it's own electronic logbook....

All approved and perfectly legal....

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

This may interest some of you....

We, that is the shipping company i work for have not used a written log for four years now, it's all inputted electronicly....

Also, the Nav program i use on my laptop/chartplotter comes with it's own electronic logbook....

All approved and perfectly legal....

I imagine the main reason for that is so management can monitor what is being entered into a pre-defined log book format

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I imagine the main reason for that is so management can monitor what is being entered into a pre-defined log book format

Close, while management certainly benefit from the system, it was implemented due to the huge amount of information that is required to be logged these day's....

It got to the stage where we had 22 separate log books on board, now if the unthinkable happens i only have to grab a sealed hard drive....

[Hud3]

IH,

How does the electronic log work if you need to make a correction? Can you erase info previously inputed, or must you enter the correction and leave the original intact? This is equivalent to the "bound" versus "looseleaf" question with paper logbooks.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Hud3

IH,

How does the electronic log work if you need to make a correction? Can you erase info previously inputed, or must you enter the correction and leave the original intact? This is equivalent to the "bound" versus "looseleaf" question with paper logbooks.

Hello Hud,

You can make as many corrections as you like, but all will be recorded from the first to the last, none will be erased, i will try to explain...

First off, all deck officers have a user id and password and need to log in to use the system...

Say you make a log entry at 2000hrs and you input ABCD, then at 2015hrs you realise you made a mistake, so you click on the 2000 and amend to say EFGH for example...

Now when you look at the daily log it will go something like this...

1700....whatever was logged
1800....whatever was logged
1900....whatever was logged
2000....EFGH

The 2000 entry will have an icon beside it indicating this entry has been amended, when you click on the icon it will bring up your original entry plus your amendment(s) in the chronological order they where made including any and all information inputted...

Also it will show who amended it as your user id is recorded for every entry you make, which also means no one else can fudge your log entry without it been recorded against there user id aswell...

The golden rule to remember is, when you come on watch "log on", when you are relived "log off"...

Hope the above makes sence...