Electronic Logbooks

Greetings. Just curious as to how many of you are using electronic logbooks, and if so, which ones? And of course, how well do you like them? I recently purchased Boating Suite, which I purchased without really reading the specs on the app. It is multi-faceted and offers a trip log, fuel log, expense log, maintenance log, vessel log, shopping list, a "to do" list, as well as several types of reports for these things. It is easy to use and for only five bucks, a steal, especially when compared to the effort of building my own on Access or Excel.

The downside is that it is strictly a mobile app and can't be used on a PC or Mac. That's the part I didn't read well enough. I'm so used to being able to store stuff on the "cloud," or at least backing up from one device to another, that I never gave it a second thought.

It loaded on my iPhone 6 easily and is a delight, except for the aforementioned perceived shortcoming. I probably should add that I've lost one phone overboard, and went swimming with another (quite unintentionally while boarding the dinghy with a case of beer!) The thought of losing all my logs in such a clumsy manner is not pleasant.

Any success stories out there with electronic logs?

I only use electronic versions for our maintenance and system logs. Excel spreadsheet, about 9-10 different individual worksheets. On a laptop, backed up on a desktop, on removable storage media, another laptop, and two tablets. (There are also cloud solutions to storage and access that I haven't chosen to use: DropBox, OneDrive, whatever Apple and Google call their clouds...)

I'm not going to attempt to type anything serious on a tiny smartphone or tablet keyboard.

-Chris

Captain Larry said:

Greetings. Just curious as to how many of you are using electronic logbooks, and if so, which ones? And of course, how well do you like them? I recently purchased Boating Suite, which I purchased without really reading the specs on the app. It is multi-faceted and offers a trip log, fuel log, expense log, maintenance log, vessel log, shopping list, a "to do" list, as well as several types of reports for these things. It is easy to use and for only five bucks, a steal, especially when compared to the effort of building my own on Access or Excel.

The downside is that it is strictly a mobile app and can't be used on a PC or Mac. That's the part I didn't read well enough. I'm so used to being able to store stuff on the "cloud," or at least backing up from one device to another, that I never gave it a second thought.

It loaded on my iPhone 6 easily and is a delight, except for the aforementioned perceived shortcoming. I probably should add that I've lost one phone overboard, and went swimming with another (quite unintentionally while boarding the dinghy with a case of beer!) The thought of losing all my logs in such a clumsy manner is not pleasant.

Any success stories out there with electronic logs?

Click to expand...

Boating Suite here as well.
On the main menu, go to Reports / Log Book Report / then email to yourself the Log Report in CSV file, which is easy to import in Excel or any software CSV compatible.

I like cross platform solutions such as Dropbox, Evernote, etc... I would not be happy with only being able to input information on my phone.

For logs, I still like old school pen and paper. The only disadvantage is that since I leave the logs on the boat, I don't have access to the information when I am not there. I keep a file for specifications, replacement parts, and to-do list in Evernote so I can view and modify it wherever I am.

To do lists and acquisition lists are on 5 x 8" pads. Log books, maintenance records, and systems information are done on Word docs written to thumb drives. Lots of system information benefits from pictures. Having a Word doc with accompanying pictures to remind me how I wired or plumbed something, will be invaluable 10 years down the road.

I think when I sell the boat, I'll offer the buyer the option to purchase the companion thumb drive......after the sale.

Ted

Excel for me. Actually, I use it to create ruled pages for manually entering data while cruising, etc. Places, hours run, fuel bought and costs, repairs and maintenance.


I do copy the fuel log to an active spreadsheet that totals up hours fuel, costs, etc. Not in real time, but after the fact.

Excel for me also. I like it because I can have an almost unlimited number of pages in the book. One thing I'd like to be able to do in it is to set up some sort of a reminder that will open and send me a reminder note when a date for a task comes due.


I'd bet there's a way to do that but I don't know how.

GFC said:

Excel for me also. I like it because I can have an almost unlimited number of pages in the book. One thing I'd like to be able to do in it is to set up some sort of a reminder that will open and send me a reminder note when a date for a task comes due.


I'd bet there's a way to do that but I don't know how.

Click to expand...

I've never done it but Excel can be programmed and there are date functions. I doubt you could program Excel to open itself on a certain date though. It would have to be running to use the date function.

I have always used a paper log but wanted to switch to electronic.
Never really found anything I was happy with.
Our log is more of a daily diary to record events people we meet and things we see. I wanted the ability to add pictures, text and search by key words ( dates, places, people etc.)
Ended up making a template in "keynote" for my iPad and will give it a test run this year.
Also keep a fuel log and "to do list" in excel

Panacea123 said:

I have always used a paper log but wanted to switch to electronic.
Never really found anything I was happy with.
Our log is more of a daily diary to record events people we meet and things we see. I wanted the ability to add pictures, text and search by key words ( dates, places, people etc.)
Ended up making a template in "keynote" for my iPad and will give it a test run this year.
Also keep a fuel log and "to do list" in excel

Click to expand...

I can also enter text info by voice on my iPhone or iPod and it automatically transfers to my log (with Internet connection)

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like most of us are on the same page, with the same concerns and needs. OMC gave me a valuable tip by letting me know that I can email the log data in a CSV format to myself, to be imported into Excel. Many thanks for that! I've spent some more time looking at BoatingSuite and am going to give it a try, while at the same time continuing to keep my paper logs until I've tested the "system." It has some niceties, such as automatically entering lat/lon at the start/end of the day or trip, directly from the device's internal GPS. I'll see how it goes and will report back with my results. In the meantime, if someone discovers a better electronic package I'd be grateful to learn about it.

Wheelhouse technology for me. Can upload invoices etc as well for good record keeping without the shoe box under the bed.

Captain Larry said:

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like most of us are on the same page, with the same concerns and needs. OMC gave me a valuable tip by letting me know that I can email the log data in a CSV format to myself, to be imported into Excel.

Click to expand...

Can you send the data back the other way? ie if you enter data in Excel can you export it in CSV and then import it into the application?

Excellent question. Hoping OMC sees this since he's far more familiar with Boating Suite than I am.

Captain Larry said:

Excellent question. Hoping OMC sees this since he's far more familiar with Boating Suite than I am.

Click to expand...

Thanks Captain Larry. This is in response to the question:

"Boating Suite allows you to export your data either as comma separated value files (.csv), or as individual entries so you that you can view or print the data on a computer.

Exporting to a .csv file will allow you to open your data in a program such Excel. This will allow you to view, sort and print the data in ways that are not provided in our app.

Exporting an individual entry will populate the body of the email in a format that is similar to the view in Boating Suite. Exporting an individual entry allows you to share information with friends and family about a specific trip or you can print the entry to store a hard copy in a paper log book.

Please note that exported data cannot be re-imported into the app. We provide exporting as a way to view and manipulate readable versions of your data. Although you can’t re-import the exported data into the app, we do encourage you to export your data on a regular basis and retain a recent copy as a failsafe in case something catastrophic were to happen. In this case you would still have your data in a readable format."

Boating Suite is very easy , very fast and convenient in data entry and consultation process with iPhone / iPad (2 iPads aboard in my case).
IMO and using I see no point in to entry datas on Excel then to transferring them into Boating Suite.
This is my way aboard, I understand every one of us has his own way in writing logbook.

Using an iPad may make sense as it is easier to type into than a smart phone and I have found that I almost always have my iPad on board and just added a GPS puck.

dhays said:

added a GPS puck.

Click to expand...

Do you mean a GPS dongle ? Or chart app ?

omc said:

Do you mean a GPS dongle ? Or chart app ?

Click to expand...

Dongle.

Bad Elf GPS with SIRF III + chipset ?

omc said:

Bad Elf GPS with SIRF III + chipset ?

Click to expand...

Bad Elf. Not sure of the rest. I just got it a couple weeks ago and only have tried it once on the boat. It worked pretty well.

dhays said:

Bad Elf. Not sure of the rest. I just got it a couple weeks ago and only have tried it once on the boat. It worked pretty well.

Click to expand...

Ok, Good choice. Bad Elf is by far the best GPS dongle.

omc said:

Ok, Good choice. Bad Elf is by far the best GPS dongle.

Click to expand...

It wasn't all that expensive and was very simple to use. Both of which are very good for me.

dhays said:

It wasn't all that expensive and was very simple to use. Both of which are very good for me.

Click to expand...

Sure.
AND iPhone (5) compatible, very accurate high performance GPS signal. quick GPS fix, doesn't eat much battery power (iPad).

kelbylinn said:

Wheelhouse technology for me. Can upload invoices etc as well for good record keeping without the shoe box under the bed.

Click to expand...

Wheelhouse looks like a comprehensive program. What is the price range for it?

For OMC, as well as any others who may be following the discussion about BoatingSuite.com, I have communicated with the president/founder of Boating Suite. I have learned that there IS a way to backup and restore date to/from another computer. It involves using iTunes and a simple cable, similar to how you back up photos and music. I have pasted the procedure below. This really eases my tension about losing data, and makes me even more impressed with the app. Again, it's only five bucks. Here's the procedure:

Backing Up and Restoring Your Boating Suite Data:

The following instructions will walk you through the steps to backup your Boating Suite data.

Note: You must connect your device to iTunes to import data.

Backing Up Your Data

1. Launch Boating Suite on your device.

2. Click on the Settings icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

3. Click the Backup button. You will get a confirmation that a backup file was created.

4. Connect your device to iTunes on your computer via the device’s USB cable.

5. Launch iTunes on your computer (note: wait for your device to finish syncing before continuing).

6. In iTunes, select your device then click on the Apps tab for your device.

7. Scroll towards the bottom of the Apps page and you will see a section titled File Sharing with all of your app that are able to share files.

8. Click on the Boating Suite app in the left column.

9. In the right column, you will see a backup file that is timestamped with the data/time that you created in Boating Suite.

10. Select this file and drag it to your desktop or click the Save to… button in the bottom right (you may need to scroll to see this button).

11. Verify that the file was successfully saved to your desktop.



Restoring Your Backup File

1. Find the backup file that you saved to your computer’s desktop.

2. Rename this file “boatingsuite.bak.restore” (without the quotes)

3. Connect your device to your computer and launch iTunes.

4. In iTunes, select your device then click on the Apps tab for your device.

5. Scroll towards the bottom of the Apps page and you will see a section titled File Sharing with all of your app that are able to share files.

6. Click on the Boating Suite app in the left column.

7. Drag the file boatingsuite.bak.restore into the right column on iTunes labeled “Boating Suite Documents” in the File Sharing section.
(You can also click the Add… button in the bottom right corner and locate the file).

8. Click the Sync button on iTunes to sync your backup file to Boating Suite.

9. After the sync is complete, disconnect your device from your computer.

10. Launch Boating Suite on your device.

11. You will be presented with a Welcome screen.

12. Click the Restore button.

13. You should get a confirmation message if your backup files was properly named and synced.

14. Your data should now be restored.

Note: These are in addition to being able to email data to yourself via a CSV file to Excel.

Hope everyone has a great weekend of boating.

Thanks for the information. FWIW, I really don't like having to use iTunes to back things up on IOS devices. However, it is the way Apple set it up and not too many other options. I would much prefer if developers would use a separate data file that could be synced with soothing like Dropbox or Mega.

I bought Boating Suite when it would sync with my iPad using iCloud. Then they disabled iCloud but promised a new sync function, as advertised in their developer comments. Never happened. Felt like a bait and switch to me. I now use ShipShape.

That is odd. iCloud is such an obvious way to go. Wasn't aware that they originally used the cloud.

Dave, I agree about using iTunes. However, it works, even for a relic like me.

I just purchased Ship Shape; like the looks of it, as well.

Captain Larry said:

That is odd. iCloud is such an obvious way to go. Wasn't aware that they originally used the cloud.

Dave, I agree about using iTunes. However, it works, even for a relic like me.

I just purchased Ship Shape; like the looks of it, as well.

Click to expand...

I don't use iTunes but then I try not to use iAnything.