Cruise log - What do you do?

[Seevee]

someone hiting you while exiting or entering a marina is totally avoidable? I am impatient to know how

Lou,

Absolutely, without a doubt avoidable? Probably not. But just not getting into a conflicting situation is fairly easy. If there's another boat too close for your comfort or even appears to possibly get in the way, I could argue to avoid. Stop, turn around, bail out of there, whatever it takes.

In small areas that are hard to maneuver especially when there's other boats, it's not that hard to avoid. Marinas, bridges, and tight waterways are some.

Fortunately, I'm batting 100% on no conflicts, even being on the water about 5 days out of 7.

 

[Seevee]

As for writing with the old fashioned pen or using a computer, I'm 100% with anything saved, will be on a computer. However, often the pen is handier to get started or jot things down when the computer is just not available. Thing like measuring a piece of something, or drawing a picture of something, etc. the pen works faster and better. I do, always, carry pen and paper in my pocket.

 

[psneeld]

To me unbelievable in high traffic areas...sure...when I was in Alaska avoiding others was easy.

A lot of us are good...but there are times no matter how good you are if boating enough, situations arise.

Luck may play, but time and miles trumps luck every time.

 

[Seevee]

To me unbelievable in high traffic areas...sure...when I was in Alaska avoiding others was easy.

A lot of us are good...but there are times no matter how good you are if boating enough, situations arise.

Luck may play, but time and miles trumps luck every time.

Good point, and maybe my time will come when boats trade paint, but I hope not.

The times I've scraped another boat: Zero

The times I've backed off, turned around, or stopped to avoid any conflict: Hundreds

 

[psneeld]

Well...your boat versus a 40 foot, single engine, no thruster, heavily loaded trawler helps a bit....

But immerse yourself, surrounded by novice boaters..... and backing up or turning just puts you in another extremis situation.....no where to go...all you can do is pray.

 

[rwidman]

.............. It has come down to a grow-your-own Excel workbook, or ShipShape Pro. I am working with ShipShape Pro now and so far have mixed feelings. The setup is not terribly intuitive but I think it's functionality will be good.

I just looked it up. Apparently, it won't run on a PC. What's the point?

 

[Ski in NC]

Pen and paper for me. Every bit of computer hardware and software requires much more physical action than just picking up a pen and writing.

 

[Blissboat]

Spiral notebook, pencil or pen. At the end of every day underway, I briefly enter engine / genset hours, position or location departure and arrival times, and incidents. That last is totally subjective - a beautiful spot, a memorable boat, a helpful passing skipper of dockmaster (or the opposite). Maintenance and repair events go in the log if performed underway, otherwise I keep a file with annotated receipts.

If a truly remarkable incident occurs, I will write it up in sort of bullet-points / outline form, in a separate entry, when time permits. That would be mainly just as a memory aid for future reference.

If there are visitors aboard, I record that when they join the ship's company and note when they leave.

Yes, I own and use on a daily basis an iPhone, iPad, and Macbook. It just seems to me that on a boat, the spiral notebook is easy to toss in the chart drawer and can lay there for weeks or months until dragged out for service again. It never needs charging, it's impervious to hot or cold temps, and if it slides off the table and hits the deck, nothing gets hurt.

 

[Panacea123]

Keynote

I use Keynote on my Ipad
It has an imbedded spreadsheet that includes

Date
Place
From
To
Start time
End time
Calculated time (automatic)
Start odometer
End odometer
Calculated distance
Engine hours
Gen hours

Text box for comments days activities etc.
Plenty of room to add pictures
Also include screen shots of anchorages incl lat lon so i can see exactly where i was anchored and i list conditions and weather I would return or not
At the end of the year it can all be printed and bound
Its always nice to open a log and re-live a cruise especially with pictures and events
Fuel log is in a separate spread sheet
Oil changes, zincs, impeller changes etc. are printed from a lable maker and affixed directly to the motors, gen, watermaker etc. so there is never a need to look it up its right there!

 

[dhays]

I just looked it up. Apparently, it won't run on a PC. What's the point?

That is one of the negatives for me. It is IOS only. As such, I am using my iPad which I have most of the time.

That is where a simple Excel spreadsheet has an advantage.

 

[dhays]

Today's boat journal.

 

[Group9]

We keep two logs. My wife keeps a separate one. Mine reads like an engineering report, hers reads like a travel journal.

 

[BandB]

We keep two logs. My wife keeps a separate one. Mine reads like an engineering report, hers reads like a travel journal.

That's the nature of our logs. One is a boat log, one a trip log or journal or diary. The boat log is kept meticulously and at the time, current, immediate. The trip log may be updated later, often at night, in bed, when reminiscing about the day.