I haven't been able to find a good sail/boat log...any advice? I'd love to hear some personal opinions on what people are using!
mdelcharco@yahoo.com
suggestions on good sailing log??
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Tom
Re: suggestions on good sailing log??
I make my own. After the first of the year stationery stores clear out the prior year's stock. I buy an appointment book or diary that is a hardback book that is about an inch thick. With my parallel rules I draw vertical lines down every page and make columns for date, time,latitude,longitude,wind direction, sea conditions, barometer reading, boat speed, and course sailing.The right half of the page is titled "remarks", where I enter course changes,a buoy that's missing, etc. I enter this informatio every hour when I'm sailing.Michael wrote: I haven't been able to find a good sail/boat log...any advice? I'd love to hear some personal opinions on what people are using!
The rear portion of the book I reserve for logging all the maintenance I do, the cost of things I purchase, the date of installation of things I install, oil changes, haulouts and what was done at them etc. Then I have a section for guests to put their information so I can write them later, recipes that I try and like and so on. Finally I have a section where I write a brief summary of each voyage that goes beyond the position and wind speed and all that. I note things like we ran into a school of dolphin about 5 miles out and they played in the bow wake, had a hard time picking out the light on the breakwater. If you steer course 270 from the sea buoy you pick it up just to the right of the hotel lights.
I'm on my third book now and it great fun to pick one up from 10 years back and read through it on rainy days. With this information it's amazing how your mind can recall the details of a trip of many years ago. It's also handy to get it out when you're entering a port you haven't been into for several years and look at the picture you drew of the anchorage so you know to head for the green hill until you see the Coast Guard buoy so you'll clear the rock pile etc.
It's fairly tedious to do, but a joy to have after it's done. I can tell you right where I was at ten in the morning on December 27 in 1988 when we were in the Bahamas, what the sea was like what course we were sailing, the name of that nice couple we met in La Paz on Christmas Day in 1991 and what time the engine quit on that day we sailed from X to Y in 1998.
Oh yeah, the dates are all wrong in last year's calendar, but I just turn the book upside down or ignore them. I'm entering my own dates anyway. Personalities are different and each finds a style that suites their's. I'm fairly meticulous.
TomCambria@mindspring.com
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Tom
Re: suggestions on good sailing log??
I don't know what happened. I didn't touch anyting. I'll try it again.Michael wrote: I haven't been able to find a good sail/boat log...any advice? I'd love to hear some personal opinions on what people are using!
I make my own logs by buying those diaries or appointment books from the stationery store after they go out of date and the stores are unloading them cheap. It's a hardback book about an inch thick with a date at the top and horizontal lines down the page. I take my parallel rules and make vertical lines forming columns which I head Date, Time, Latitude, Longitude, Wind, Sea, Barometer, Course and Speed. The right hand half of the page is for remarks at each hour. When I'm sailing I make these entries every hour. Behind this section I have a section where I keep a narrative account or each voyage. I summarize each days run with things such as: Departed 0700,saw a school of porpoise about 3 miles out that played in the wake. Spotted a beautiful CD 30 and sailed over to say hello to "Outward Bound". Joe says it's the roughest passage he can remember. At 1400 Sally turned green and puked and we made rude jokes about peanut butter and raw bacon sandwices etc. I find this section brings the trip back to you better than the course and speed statistics. Great reading to re-live trips when you're weathered in somewhere.
The rear forth of the book I reserve for Haulouts, Maintenance, Oil Changes, the installation date and cost of new gear etc. I also have a section reserved for guests names and addresses, recipes that I try and like and things like that. I'm on my third volume now.
Evryone develops a log style that suits their personality. I'm fairly meticulous but I wouldn't want to sail with somebody as uptight as Larry Pardee sounds in his books. I've also sailed with people who navigate using placemats with pictures of the coast and a pocket tape rule to mark off distances. Can't handle that either. After you've done it for awhile you'll figure out what kind of book suits your style. I don't see any point in paying big money for a book that says ships log in 19th century script but that's just me. If you're a romantic the type of script might be the most important thing about your log book.
TomCambria@mindspring.com
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matt Cawthorne
Re: suggestions on good sailing log??
Michael,
You can buy hardbound books at the stationary store that are blank except for lines on the page and the page numbers. I enter the pertinent information such as who is on board at the start of a trip and then make up a little table with the weather forecast information for the next few days. I then put one line down the right side of the page and record course and speed there. The rest is completely flexible. The information varies and how often I put it in varies depending on the trip. If I am in home territory the entries are just enough to know where I was that weekend and approximately when. On an offshore trip I enter celestial navigation sight information, lat+long pairs (if a gps is available), crew information, radio contacts. As long as you are orderly you do not need pre-printed lines. If the weather is bad I record the information in a notebook and transfer it over later so that the log does not get rained on.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
You can buy hardbound books at the stationary store that are blank except for lines on the page and the page numbers. I enter the pertinent information such as who is on board at the start of a trip and then make up a little table with the weather forecast information for the next few days. I then put one line down the right side of the page and record course and speed there. The rest is completely flexible. The information varies and how often I put it in varies depending on the trip. If I am in home territory the entries are just enough to know where I was that weekend and approximately when. On an offshore trip I enter celestial navigation sight information, lat+long pairs (if a gps is available), crew information, radio contacts. As long as you are orderly you do not need pre-printed lines. If the weather is bad I record the information in a notebook and transfer it over later so that the log does not get rained on.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
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matt Cawthorne
Re: suggestions on good sailing log??
Michael,
You can buy hardbound books at the stationary store that are blank except for lines on the page and the page numbers. I enter the pertinent information such as who is on board at the start of a trip and then make up a little table with the weather forecast information for the next few days. I then put one line down the right side of the page and record course and speed there. The rest is completely flexible. The information varies and how often I put it in varies depending on the trip. If I am in home territory the entries are just enough to know where I was that weekend and approximately when. On an offshore trip I enter celestial navigation sight information, lat+long pairs (if a gps is available), crew information, radio contacts. As long as you are orderly you do not need pre-printed lines. If the weather is bad I record the information in a notebook and transfer it over later so that the log does not get rained on.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
You can buy hardbound books at the stationary store that are blank except for lines on the page and the page numbers. I enter the pertinent information such as who is on board at the start of a trip and then make up a little table with the weather forecast information for the next few days. I then put one line down the right side of the page and record course and speed there. The rest is completely flexible. The information varies and how often I put it in varies depending on the trip. If I am in home territory the entries are just enough to know where I was that weekend and approximately when. On an offshore trip I enter celestial navigation sight information, lat+long pairs (if a gps is available), crew information, radio contacts. As long as you are orderly you do not need pre-printed lines. If the weather is bad I record the information in a notebook and transfer it over later so that the log does not get rained on.
Matt
mcawthor@bellatlantic.net
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D. Stump, Hanalei
Re: One thing you might not be aware of...
Michael,
A "legal" log book must be a bound book! Wire spiral binding or loose leaf binding is not acceptable. To easy to remove pages and maybe replace them with doctored log sheets! Most of us will never need our logs to support a court presentation, but if ya did need it, it might as well be right....I think I read about this in one of the Navigation books...author escapes me at the moment. FWIW....
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30
A "legal" log book must be a bound book! Wire spiral binding or loose leaf binding is not acceptable. To easy to remove pages and maybe replace them with doctored log sheets! Most of us will never need our logs to support a court presentation, but if ya did need it, it might as well be right....I think I read about this in one of the Navigation books...author escapes me at the moment. FWIW....
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei CD-30
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Neil Gordon
Re: suggestions on good sailing log??
I also use a bound "Record" book from the stationery store. Nice heavy pages, numbered and lined, and the look is almost leather.
Underway, I use an spiral engineering notebook to note the marine weather forecast, etc., and to take notes while sailing. I note the time of departure, sails set, reefs taken, etc. Also course and speed, wind direction, sea state, etc. And I make a record of a fixes (GPS or otherwise). And anything else of note, like whale sightings, or passing historic ships, etc. It's also my radio log, maint log, etc., etc.
Each day I transfer the info from the "rough" log to the logbook, maintaining the detail and adding commentary. My logbook is a complete four year history... who I sailed with, where, when, events of note, etc., etc.
Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
neil@nrgordon.com
Underway, I use an spiral engineering notebook to note the marine weather forecast, etc., and to take notes while sailing. I note the time of departure, sails set, reefs taken, etc. Also course and speed, wind direction, sea state, etc. And I make a record of a fixes (GPS or otherwise). And anything else of note, like whale sightings, or passing historic ships, etc. It's also my radio log, maint log, etc., etc.
Each day I transfer the info from the "rough" log to the logbook, maintaining the detail and adding commentary. My logbook is a complete four year history... who I sailed with, where, when, events of note, etc., etc.
Regards, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
neil@nrgordon.com