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Old 03-13-2017, 06:22 AM   #1
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Cruise log - What do you do?

Hello TFers,
Few days ago I started a thread about cruise planning. Now let's go one step further. Do you keep a cruise log when you are cruising? If yes how often are you writing down new entry, every 30min, every hour, more? And what are you logging? Position? fuel? weather observation? Anything else?

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Old 03-13-2017, 08:05 AM   #2
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:10 AM   #3
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We don't do that much detail. Usually only a line or two for each day underway, showing destination, nm traveled, and engine hours, unless there is some unusually interesting event that seems worth logging.

Crew/guests arriving or leaving, refueling, equipment issues, and maintenance are logged as well. After the summer cruise is done, I copy the equipment/maintenance stuff to a spreadsheet to keep track more easily.

17 years and 6,000 engine hours of summer cruising filled one small (6" x 8"?) Levenger notebook.
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:26 AM   #4
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Date
Engine hours at start & finish of the day
Who's on board
Highlights of days travel (short)
Fuel purchased goes in the fuel log section
Maintenance / new equipment added goes in its section

That's about it.

We never travel directly from one place to another as we chase down whales/wildlife or check out photography hot spots, so distance traveled would be hard to figure out. (Could use the iPad for that I guess, but don't). We figure out fuel used per hour at the end of the season.

The waterways here are complex with big tides so there are weird back eddies and meandering swirls of currents which can have a big effect on distance traveled...we just keep to the same RPM and try to milk the currents when possible and estimate fuel used per hour rather than by distance.
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:34 AM   #5
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Chartplotters track distance over ground traveled for us. Garmin 2006C, or now CE on the laptop.
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:49 AM   #6
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Nope, not much of a log. When we sailed in open water, 10 days from Norfolk to Tortola, we made entries in a log every watch change. We kept up the log for a couple of weeks. but lost interest after they all seemed the same.

Four trips up and down the ICW, still no log. I do keep a detailed maintenance log where I track fuel consumption and price. All other activities are tracked on facebook.

Gordon
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Old 03-13-2017, 10:28 AM   #7
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I keep a daily log when cruising or need to note service.
Date, starting point name, starting engine hours, starting odometer, starting trip odometer.
Date, ending point name, ending engine hours, ending odometer, ending trip odometer.

For service:
Date, engine hours, odometer, service info

Log gets transferred to a Word document later.

Ted
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Old 03-13-2017, 10:29 AM   #8
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My logged info

I use a combined travel / maintenance log on a daily use or work day basis. It is a simple spreadsheet printout that has blank data locations for date, engine and generator hrs, fuel purchased by tank location, fuel cost, boat location, GPS distance traveled, and a notes section. I use the notes section to log any engine / electrical / maintenance performed or repairs made. I asterisk the first date column if a major service or repair is done so it is easy to check if oil change or other hr or date based service is needed. Takes about 2 minutes to fill in data.

I also keep file folders for boat related receipts… one for upgrades and one for repairs. The on-boat log and the receipt files have made my past boat sales much easier. I can document when and what was done. This works for me.
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Old 03-13-2017, 10:34 AM   #9
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I track from where I start each day to where I stop. I include engine hours. I track each time I buy fuel, the cost per gallon and the engine hours.
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Old 03-13-2017, 10:52 AM   #10
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if the time in the archipelago where I can navigate the visual observations of the various maritime safety signs or islands, so I do not do other markings, as others have written above, but the open sea which does not appear in the other 360 ° as the sea, I mark the paper chart every location within half an hour and check for possible changes in the route. legally it would be good to record in the log book at equal intervals on the location and time, or print the information out of the route plotter which stores time-to-date location. If something happens, and you will be accused of such oil damage, you can prove where you were, what time.
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Old 03-13-2017, 11:24 AM   #11
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I have a small spiral notebook. When I anchor up, I put location, date, eng hrs, gen hrs, odometer reading and the two fuel tank levels in inches. Then nothing til next stop.

If I do any engine or gen maintenance, I log that too.

When I add fuel, log eng and gen hrs, date, odo, tank levels before and tank levels after and gals added.

That's it in the log.

After a long trip it is fun to calc avg burn rate, speed, nmpg, total gals, total hours, total trip length, etc.
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Old 03-13-2017, 11:26 AM   #12
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So what do you guys do w all that engine hours data?
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Old 03-13-2017, 12:17 PM   #13
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Quote:
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So what do you guys do w all that engine hours data?

In our case, we use that to guide scheduling of various service points called out in the engine and genset manufacturers' manuals...

-Chris
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Old 03-13-2017, 12:34 PM   #14
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When Cruising we use a daily log. I have it in Word so I can reprint it....
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:46 PM   #15
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Here's my cruise log. See, I told you I was anal! The numbers in there were just put in to make sure the formulas that calculate totals are correct.

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Old 03-13-2017, 01:58 PM   #16
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I log engine hours at start. Departure time. Cruising speed and RPMs. Wx conditions. Sea state. Time when abeam lighthouses or landmarks. Any significant traffic or notices on CH16. Arrival time and engine hours at shutdown. Position of anchor drop. Maintenance done. Fuel taken on. At back of logbook, I list any jobs that need to be done when time allows. Prioritize list as to urgency.
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Old 03-13-2017, 02:09 PM   #17
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Quote:
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Here's my cruise log. See, I told you I was anal! The numbers in there were just put in to make sure the formulas that calculate totals are correct.

Again, ours is much like yours, just electronically in software we have. Now, we also keep a log that is more personal, than boat driven, that includes where we've gone, what we did there, where we ate, and comments about the location.
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Old 03-13-2017, 02:42 PM   #18
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Everything goes into a steno pad. Time of departure, destination, any stops along the way, end point, fuel tank levels, engine hours, any problem needing fixing, and any people we meet. Start a new pad each season. In the front of each pad is all of the boats details equipment serial numbers, part numbers and such for reference.
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Old 03-14-2017, 12:35 PM   #19
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I developed a format for use in a spiral bound teak covered logbook that belonged to my dad, complete with a custom made brass plate on the front that has a line drawing of the boat and the name engraved. The sheets were duplex printed via laser printer on heavy paper, so they're indelible and have sequential page numbers. Office Depot will punch the pages and have the spiral gizmos to bind the pages into booklet form. I have a section for daily, maintenance, & fuel. When the pages fill, I can remove them and have an archive booklet with laminated covers to keep the older pages. We refer to it often when we're revisiting places, handy for planning or recalling details. Since we cruise with dogs (now dog), we kept a rating of how dog-friendly the stopover was. We log every day of travel, and additional when it seems appropriate. I can be anal with the best of 'em!
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Old 03-14-2017, 12:43 PM   #20
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Cruise log - What do you do?

Pictures. I take lots of pictures, edit them later, and they become the cruise log.
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