Log keeping

[poiu]

I find myself keeping less and less of a log on passage and day to day, such that I just don't do it at all now. Maybe once a day if on a long trip. Should be enough to dead-reckon from, but basically I don't log keep any more. I know I am not the only one.

Does anyone do it meticulously? Hourly logs with pressure, position, weather and a full diarised detail of all checks details and concerns?

I do keep a maintenance log though. Oil changes, impeller etc.

What is the legal obligation? Could we get knuckles rapped or worse?

[sailorboy1]

I do a minimum log. It is mostly about things important to me that need to know about later. In fact it is mostly mainrenance related

[contrail]

I, too, have become overly complacent. I think it's bi-product of the GPS/Plotter age. But, remember, a log is a legal document and is still a very handy thing to produce, should you run into trouble, either legally or insurance-wise. It's a contemporaneous record of whatever is going on.

In short, we should all still do it. Note to self!

[donradcliffe]

Well offshore I'm usually down to recording the log about every 6 to 12 hours. I include lat/lon, average speed, GPS and knotlog with notes on current, wind direction and speed, millibars, cloud cover, and wave height. Not only is it a start for DR and sextant navigation, it is a good resource for the next time you are on that passage.

Needless to say I record any significant events, both on and off the boat.

[conachair]

H

Originally Posted by poiu

Does anyone do it meticulously? Hourly logs with pressure, position, weather and a full diarised detail

Yes. Gps to several dec places plus pressure. Exactly every hour.
Well the excellent log plugin in opencpn running on a raspberry pi does anyway.
Nearly always add an anchor up/ anchor down entry as it's so easy. Gets backed up automatically and saved to drop box quite often.
Paper book has one line summary entries added now and again of where the boat was and when.
Everything else like oil changes etc goes in evernote

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by contrail

I, too, have become overly complacent. I think it's bi-product of the GPS/Plotter age. But, remember, a log is a legal document and is still a very handy thing to produce, should you run into trouble, either legally or insurance-wise. It's a contemporaneous record of whatever is going on. In short, we should all still do it. Note to self!

Agreed we are the same when doing familiar voyages. In addition to recording details as you are gong along, I think the first entry should be be the start point and state who is on board. Also there is something in the SOLAS Regs about needing to plan a voyage, its one of the few requirements for all vessels so perhaps record a summary of the plan before setting off.

Pete

[boatman61]

The days of log keeping have gone the way of paper charts.. many do not bother, myself included and officials never ask for one's log book any more..
If they need to see proof of voyage claimed they'll ask for last port of call and evidence of that..
I usually include my last dated marina or other bills along with my papers when arriving in the Azores from the Caribe for example.. where my passport is not stamped on departure.. same with USA who have no formal clear out.
They're more interested in how long a trip took and from where than how many times you went below for a poop..

[poiu]

Originally Posted by conachair

H

Yes. Gps to several dec places plus pressure. Exactly every hour.
Well the excellent log plugin in opencpn running on a raspberry pi does anyway.
Nearly always add an anchor up/ anchor down entry as it's so easy. Gets backed up automatically and saved to drop box quite often.
Paper book has one line summary entries added now and again of where the boat was and when.
Everything else like oil changes etc goes in evernote

My plotters keep a log too. I'd forgotten about that. I guess I will present them if asked ever.

Originally Posted by boatman61

The days of log keeping have gone the way of paper charts.. many do not bother, myself included and officials never ask for one's log book any more..
If they need to see proof of voyage claimed they'll ask for last port of call and evidence of that..
I usually include my last dated marina or other bills along with my papers when arriving in the Azores from the Caribe for example.. where my passport is not stamped on departure.. same with USA who have no formal clear out.
They're more interested in how long a trip took and from where than how many times you went below for a poop..

I thought as much and that has been my experience of officialdom also. I did wonder if I'd missed something about a legal obligation, but it seems not so from the responses above.

I do recall reading on more than one occasion that when an accident involving a small boat occurred the boat's logs were inspected and they were considered important evidence. I suppose the lack of log keeping might be seen as evidence of a failing or an indication of a degree of negligence if evidence were being collated against you.

Originally Posted by Pete7

Agreed we are the same when doing familiar voyages. In addition to recording details as you are gong along, I think the first entry should be be the start point and state who is on board. Also there is something in the SOLAS Regs about needing to plan a voyage, its one of the few requirements for all vessels so perhaps record a summary of the plan before setting off.

Pete

I read that a while back and my recollection was that it was in essence of no burden and was something you would always comply with unless you were a bit mad. I just read it again and you don't even have to put anything down in writing. It is really as good as saying that everyone heading to sea must be sensible and demonstrate good seamanship.

[boatman61]

Having been T-boned with serious damage that resulted in a claim I can say that at no time was a log requested in the process.. just my statement of events.

[Hobiehobie]

On offshore passages we keep a log, usually every two hours at change of watch. What else is there to do out there? And it keeps the crew engaged, tuned to conditions and position. And its satisfying to complete a log book page, even though you might never look back on it again. And where else do you note the sighting of a whale, a pod of dolphins and a reminder that oil change hours are approaching? And ours is essential for tracking fuel use, tank being used and water situation.

[svHyLyte]

Inshore, day tripping on the local bays and estuaries, we keep a fairly spare log recording departure time, anticipated destinations or stops, weather conditions, times of arrival and return and the like. Off shore we record departure times, waypoint and destination arrival times, and positions on the hour or whenever course changes are required. We also keep a paper plot of our positions and headings with each. While our chart plotters do keep tracks, I want to have a plot of where we are so that when we loose our electrics, we can make do with compass headings, and a knot-stick (mechanical speedometer) to run DR's. The practice has proven useful on more than one occasion since the advent of our use of GPS based navigation in 1992.

FWIW...

[RaymondR]

I keep a fairly minimalist log of what time I hoist anchor, a brief description of my route and where I anchor for the night. Also any unusual observations or incidents.

I'm not too worried regarding loss of instruments as I have both dedicated plotters and computers and tablets and short of the GPS constellation going down I am always going to be able to crank up one of the alternatives to get a position to mark on the charts I have stored as backup.

I find that the log is an excellent mnenomic If I want to recall previous experiences of a place or voyage.

[puffcard]

Only thing we keep is an end of day, more like a daily journal. I was going thru some of my family cruising stuff and it was cool looking through the logs of passages. Dad would write about many things going on. My sun sights, fishing, even what was for dinner. Since his passing it was nice to reflect thru the logs.

We're pretty slack, think we have about 14 GPS devices, 8 can plot on board. If that goes down might need to bring back the hand plotting and DR logs.

Guess logs could be handy when adding up seatime for a licence.

[Calif.Ted]

About a month ago I got a free sail logging app on my Android phone that tracks time, speed, heading, gps coordinates etc. much better than I ever did. All my history is available on the phone or online at their website. You can add any notes regarding weather, maintenance or anything you want really. Any pictures you take are right there on the map of your track and include gps positions. I haven't tried it out of cell tower range yet and I'm pretty fuzzy on how it's working. I open the app and leave it on the nav table, when the boat starts moving it starts logging, when you stop it asks you to confirm you've stopped sailing. There is no freakin' ON/OFF really, only had 1 day out of 15 it didn't start and that was my fault for screwing with it trying to turn it "ON".
The only "fault" I find is that it divides your track into legs based on the minor course changes made when you are being headed or lifted. So one long tack can get divided into several legs.

[jsc7]

If somebody is suing you or prosecuting you, then a log is a bad thing.

If you are suing somebody else, then a log is a good thing.