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Old 03-20-2022, 10:00 AM   #21
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Until this boat I did not keep a log for others to see at a latter date. logged oil changes and fixed things when they broke.

With insurance and survey getting more concerning I am getting more detailed in case down the road I am quizzed for an insurance renewal. I quickly enter date of actions and then go back and provide more detail.

I have a pre trip, post trip list but I have not yet logged the results.
Impeccable it is not.
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Old 03-20-2022, 10:24 AM   #22
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I keep an Excel spreadsheet with (if I don't forget to enter it) every maintenance job, with date and engine hours columns. Not fancy, but searchable. Had one for 18 years on previous boat - new owner loved it.

Have another spreadsheet for Spares.
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Old 03-20-2022, 11:02 AM   #23
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I keep a Daily log, a Maintenance log, an Expense log, a Radio log, and Vessel Details (everything from LOA and MMSI to paint colors) all in a single 3-ring binder. That sounds really anal, but most things end up in the Daily log unless they are "important," like a big expense, a radio contact I want to remember, or a distress call on the radio. The Daily log has date, crew, engine hours, oil level, etc. and enough space to write trip info. If we don't leave the marina, I usually just detail any shore-side maintenance in the space left from the last entry in the daily trip log. That means that sometimes I have to glance through the Daily logs to find something (which is always enjoyable).

Many maintenance items (hoses, impellers, filters, etc.) are simply written on with a paint pen. The Maintenance log does have hourly change intervals noted, but it is usually more of a general guideline. I've found that too much requested detail in a log leads to having no entry at all. Too much detail in the Expense log generates questions from my wife. I needed a system that I was comfortable with and could not find a commercial log book that fit the bill. Mine is still not perfect, but works for me.

Since I print out the log pages from an Excell file, I'm able to choose the paper stock. Regular printer paper gets tattered over time from usage and moisture. Heavier paper, more like card stock, can put up with years of use.
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Old 03-20-2022, 11:27 AM   #24
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I keep impeccable maintenance records, all receipts on items purchased for the boat, and record every gallon of fuel used. When we purchased our boat, 22 years ago, we filled the tanks with diesel at @1.20 a gallon.
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Old 03-20-2022, 01:48 PM   #25
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I kept a detailed, but simple maintenance log. It was just a notebook separated into various sections for each system; eg. Engine, Generator, Electrical, Hull, Windlass, etc. etc. Could use a 3 ring binder and add pages when and where you need them. Then, as I did any work, I immediately wrote it down (therefore in time order of the work) in the appropriate section noting, date, hours, work done, by whom, and cost. For those of you who say it takes too much time??? I don't understand that excuse. Each entry took me less than 2 minutes, pretty easy (with the rare exception when a longer entry was needed for larger projects) and was entered as soon as the work was complete (so no memory needed).

Without these entries, I don't know how I could keep track of what was done when, and when the next maintenance for that item was due! A routine check of the maintenance log would show what was due or coming up. I also started using the MV Dirona spreadsheet, which is good, but for me, not a replacement for the maintenance book (only a supplement). When I sold, the buyer was happy with these records, knowing that the records matched what he was able to "see", and therefore gave him a very good "place to start" for his time as owner.
As a prospective buyer, I would prefer to have a maintenance history for the boat, if for no other reason as to know where to start and not have to do "unnecessary" maintenance because I just didn't know.
Just my thoughts, and I know, we are all different.
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Old 03-20-2022, 03:43 PM   #26
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I find it very quick and easy to keep an Excel spreadsheet of all maintenance. I also record engine and genny hours, but not for every entry. I have a 3-ring binder to keep all receipts and every so often I print out the spreadsheet which becomes the first page in the binder. In most of my life, I'm not generally so organized, but I find this is a very simple process that takes almost no time and I'm hoping the next buyer will appreciate someday, but it also gives me a record to refer to if needed. I pay for a lot of my maintenance, so I also record the cost of most items, even if DIY. I guess that can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. A potential buyer might be impressed, or scared off, by the dollar amount spent maintaining the boat.
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Old 03-20-2022, 04:23 PM   #27
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The problem with putting labels on filters and such is that you have to sight each one, log it into your brain, and compare the date to today's date - not so simple for us long-time retired types who do not care what day or date it is.

Being Navy-trained as well as having a mind like a sieve, I realized right after I bought my GB in 1986 that I was going to need to keep track of all the maintenance and parts.

Being a computer neophyte at the time but with some very talented computer types working for me, I was soon using dBase III to simply enter date, equipment code (P for port main, S for stbd, G for you guessed it), what was done, and cost into the fields. I could then print this out - not too useful, but at least it was a record. Time wore on, and I eventually was forced to become proficient in Excel into which I imported my original dBase stuff.

Nowadays, I have a number of different pages in my Excel file which are easily searched when I am just looking for some particular item, but the chronological page and the summary of routine maintenance pages are the most used.

With the current boat, I just adapted the Excel file format a bit and started anew with the few maintenance invoices the PO gave me after I read every manual of every piece of equipment on board noting the recommended maintenance items and intervals. This information was entered into the summary page starting with the main engine and running on down seventy items to things like replacing batteries in the SOS strobe and when to grease the SIXTEEN zerks on the boat lift. To quickly see what I need to be doing, I enter only the date and engine hours for main and genny at the top of the page and a yellow background appears in the cell to the right of each maintenance action with the word DUE printed. I print that one page if needed, and it's off to the boat.

I find it gratifying at the end of a busy maintenance day to sit down with this laptop and fill out the few bits of data that all those labors add up to.

What I have never been able to force myself to do is inventory the boat to a micro scale and make up a database of where to find every stored item. That sort of minutia is beyond my patience - I mean what am I to do when I move or use something, remember it for logging???
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Old 03-20-2022, 04:27 PM   #28
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I am sort of anal about keeping track of some things but not all. Maint items are important to me as I lije to expand my spreadsheets of part #s and easy to add a note when an item was serviced / changed. I find I'm not very diligent during the season but find myself catching up during the off season. I sometimes need to look back at orders, shipping notices,betc to peg a reasonable date but SWAGs better than no record.
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Old 03-20-2022, 04:41 PM   #29
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The spreadsheet maintenance log I mentioned in a post above is actually one of MANY tabs in my Excel workbook, which has all things related to the boat. Ship's log, project plans, wish lists, performance data, etc., etc.

I find that one of the sheets in this workbook I spend the most time with and get the most benefit from (other than the ship's log) is my very, very customized spring launch check list. In this list, I keep track of everything I need to do prior to launch and even prior to departure on the first cruise of the season. Each item has a column with the estimated amount of effort (i.e. hours).

With this, I can do some rather accurate planning for situations like this year. We know we have to arrive at our boat in France a fair amount of time ahead of when we want to cruise in order to do spring-launch work and system testing. But how soon? With this check list, I can see that I have ~102 man hours of work to be done before cruising away. But, I only want to arrive a week ahead of time. I can go through the list and find items that can be deferred to be done during the first few days of the cruise...and maybe a few items where I can hire local help (waxing and polishing, for example). While the list serves to help me remember things, I find it to be a very useful planning tool.
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Old 03-20-2022, 06:50 PM   #30
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Quote:
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I downloaded MV Dirona’s spreadsheet he has on this blog about 4 years ago and modified it for our vessels systems. In addition to that, I have a “Ships Manual” so to speak that I am constantly adding notes on everything from systems, projects, and wins and losses.
This is what I did. I took what they created and expanded it with multiple tabs to document maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to various areas (mains/generators/interior/exterior/electronics etc), and yearly expenses.

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Old 03-20-2022, 08:17 PM   #31
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I keep a detailed maintenance record:
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Old 03-20-2022, 08:36 PM   #32
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I keep a detailed maintenance record:
That's really useful information. Thanks for sharing.

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Old 03-20-2022, 09:06 PM   #33
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That's really useful information. Thanks for sharing.

Peter
Thx, but only useful for me, and the next owner.

The previous owner started this maintenance spread sheet when the boat was new 2001.
I just kept it going after purchase.
When I first saw the above records I decided to buy the boat, no survey needed. (October 2017)
The seller however insisted I get a formal survey and a sea trial, so I did.
No problems noted, I purchased the boat immediately after the survey.
(Weird transaction, most seller's hope the buyer will NOT insist on a survey/sea trial)


Detailed maintenance records can me worth their weight in gold come selling time, or in case of an insurance claim or an accident.
Also useful for maintaining the tub to high standards.
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Old 03-21-2022, 01:19 AM   #34
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Ha anyone used the apps out there?
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Old 03-21-2022, 07:33 AM   #35
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The seller however insisted I get a formal survey and a sea trial, so I did.
No problems noted, I purchased the boat immediately after the survey.
(Weird transaction, most seller's hope the buyer will NOT insist on a survey/sea trial)
I could be that maybe the owner was torn between keeping and selling the boat and secretly hoping that the sale wouldn't go through. I know that doesn't make sense but I was in that position once. I knew it made perfect sense to sell my boat at the time, but I was not looking forward to parting with it. The first buyer that looked at it offered my asking price, so I couldn't really say no. He did agree to let us go on 1 last cruise first.
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Old 03-21-2022, 10:30 AM   #36
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sample
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File Type: pdf boat log smple.pdf (52.3 KB, 27 views)
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Old 03-21-2022, 10:40 AM   #37
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I could be that maybe the owner was torn between keeping and selling the boat and secretly hoping that the sale wouldn't go through. I know that doesn't make sense but I was in that position once. I knew it made perfect sense to sell my boat at the time, but I was not looking forward to parting with it. The first buyer that looked at it offered my asking price, so I couldn't really say no. He did agree to let us go on 1 last cruise first.
Nah, he was selling it for sure as they were stepping down to a smaller 19'CC.
He insisted on a survey to make darn sure the buyer got a good boat no surprises. He also had a new battery installed in the EPIRB, filled up the diesel tank and gave me $500 in cash towards any unforeseen expenses.
(I know, it sounds like a fairy tale, but it is true and I am still in shock)
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Old 03-21-2022, 01:11 PM   #38
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Nah, he was selling it for sure as they were stepping down to a smaller 19'CC.
He insisted on a survey to make darn sure the buyer got a good boat no surprises. He also had a new battery installed in the EPIRB, filled up the diesel tank and gave me $500 in cash towards any unforeseen expenses.
(I know, it sounds like a fairy tale, but it is true and I am still in shock)
I get it. People who take a lot of pride in their boats want to be sure the next owner is happy with it. Whenever I sold a boat and something came up on a survey, I was quick to pay for it and never debated about it. My feeling is that I always tried to keep everything maintained and in proper working condition, so if something was found to be wrong, I wanted to fix it because my boat never had a known issue that I ignored.
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Old 03-21-2022, 01:24 PM   #39
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I don't find the need to do so. I haul the boat and winterize it for 6+ months every year. I do the same things in the fall when it gets hauled and the same things in the spring before she gets launched.
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Old 03-21-2022, 01:54 PM   #40
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The only thing I am meticulous about are the engines and gears. I do the oil changes and zincs myself, but keep a record. Cummins does all of the other service, for which I have receipts. Since a buyer could always question the validity of self-serving records, I don't believe that my oil change records are any better than no records at all (and conversely, I don't believe that the lack of those records would be a distinct disadvantage), especially since a cautious buyer will want to see oil analysis results, etc.

As for the other equipment, I don't keep any record at all. I know guys who can tell you when every light bulb was changed, etc., but I can't. I can't even show when the bottom has been painted, but I also don't think any of that really matters either.
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