Log Book

I am looking to get something a little better then what I am doing. Right now I am just using a note book to record our trips, looking for something to record day trips and future long distance trips. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rich

I like the Evergreen Pacific Logbook.

I use the Weems & Plath as well. It’s old fashioned, but fits perfectly with a trawler.

After using a variety of them, we too settled on the Evergreen Pacific. Not just a trip log but also maintenance log and other information.

A lot of the time, I supplemented it by pencilling in time, date, course and speed on the chart; in subsequent years I have found the combination to be really nice in reliving or re-planning our trips.

I just use a simple hard bound log book available at any office supply store.

One is a personal log showing time spent on the boat, places I went, Things I saw and did. Just brief entries but spanning 20 years and several boats now.

The other log book is for the boat. If it gets done on the boat, it gets a log book entry. Not cleaning and the like, but every bit of maintenance is documented with dates, part numbers, that kind of thing.

ksanders said:

I just use a simple hard bound log book available at any office supply store.

One is a personal log showing time spent on the boat, places I went, Things I saw and did. Just brief entries but spanning 20 years and several boats now.

The other log book is for the boat. If it gets done on the boat, it gets a log book entry. Not cleaning and the like, but every bit of maintenance is documented with dates, part numbers, that kind of thing.

Click to expand...

I also use a hard bound book from an office supply store to keep track of every trip; departure, arrival locations and departure, arrival time. Also used for keeping track of sea time.

I use another bound book to keep track of service, maintenance and installation.

Third book is a fuel log, recording fuel purchase, sight gauge and dip stick readings and fuel tank selection.

ksanders said:

I just use a simple hard bound log book available at any office supply store.

One is a personal log showing time spent on the boat, places I went, Things I saw and did. Just brief entries but spanning 20 years and several boats now.

The other log book is for the boat. If it gets done on the boat, it gets a log book entry. Not cleaning and the like, but every bit of maintenance is documented with dates, part numbers, that kind of thing.

Click to expand...

Yep - I'm in this camp. ^^

syjos said:

I also use a hard bound book from an office supply store to keep track of every trip; departure, arrival locations and departure, arrival time. Also used for keeping track of sea time.

I use another bound book to keep track of service, maintenance and installation.

Third book is a fuel log, recording fuel purchase, sight gauge and dip stick readings and fuel tank selection.

Click to expand...

The Evergreen Pacific log has all those things and more. That's why we settled on it.

Regardless of medium used, of the course of a trip leg, we liked to make regular notations of location, course, speed RPMs and points and events of interest. Also readings and notes from ER visits, which are essential to detect aberrations from normal and in our case comparing the mechanical gauges in the ER to the helm gauges every now and then.

I made notations of dinghy explorations as well, if relevant. It's really fun to review these logs years later and relive those trips.

The most important book onboard would be what the Navy calls a PDL, the Pass Down Log .

This would be a simple description of most operations on board.
Starting the engine, filling the water tanks , changing oil , operating the head.

The next guy to purchase your boat will apply for Sainthood for you.

Started out with the Evergreen log, liked it better than the Weems & Plath, but wanted something different. So I created our own. I used the Weems & Plath cover that was my dad's for years, had a new brass plate made with the line drawing of our Solo, then created the pages. They're bound with a spiral gizmo, laminated dividers for cruise, maintenance, fuel, etc. I printed them with a laser printer on 30# paper, so the pages won't bleed and they're stiffer than note paper. Staples will punch the pages. We archive older logs into a larger spiral binder. Yes, lots of work, but then I'm retired and had fun putting it together.

Another vote for Evergreen Pacific. Everything in one place, well organized, but plenty of room for free-form entries to fit your preferences.

That said, a regular note pad works fine, too. Better still, a 3-ring binder with tabbed dividers.

The most important thing is to develop a system that works for you, and be consistent. Be realistic about how much detail you'll really want to record, and stick with that.

I scan my Evergreen Pacific pages in once in a while, so I have all my logs going back three boats. Obviously the maintenance and fuel records on prior boats are of little value now, but the cruising logs are nice to have handy.

I’m with Maerin, I made my own using EXCEL and a three ring binder.

Anybody using elecrtonic logging only...? Any recommendations?

This looks interesting...

https://www.landfallnavigation.com/ship-s-log-deluxe-v4.html

Evergreen since day #1, April 2008.

I use a small Android database with separate libraries for Maintenance and Parts. It resides on my phone so part #s are always with me when I run across something in the chandlery. Searchable, backs up to cloud for sharing between devices, exports to Google sheets on demand. These files will be handed down. I use Voice to Text in a journal app for an operations log. Each entry is automatically date/time stamped; searchable, backs up to sd card. This log will not be handed down because of privacy issues for me and my guests.

I messed around with electronic for a little bit and found it more time consuming than manual entry. Especially underway while at the helm.

I've always kept my logs in pencil in case of moisture mishap.

When cruising we have asked guests to sign in to our log book, contact info ,

but the most fun we also asked for their favorite boat recipe.

Great fun to read a couple of years later!

Buncha Luddites.

LongJohn said:

Buncha Luddites.

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That gives me a good idea for my next boat's name...should I make it "M/V Buncha Luddites"?

LongJohn said:

I use a small Android database with separate libraries for Maintenance and Parts. It resides on my phone so part #s are always with me when I run across something in the chandlery. Searchable, backs up to cloud for sharing between devices, exports to Google sheets on demand. These files will be handed down. I use Voice to Text in a journal app for an operations log. Each entry is automatically date/time stamped; searchable, backs up to sd card. This log will not be handed down because of privacy issues for me and my guests.

Click to expand...

I also use electronic log, on the cloud, with my laptop with me on the boat. If something hapens to the laptop the log is still in the cloud. The laptop is used for navigation so is ALWAYS there. I created my own log pages using a simple spreadsheet. Available log pages never matched my needs. As to the ease of use at the helm, I use a notebook that is used to update the log at the end of the day.

Jim Healy was kind enough to send me screenshots of the excel spreadsheet he uses, and I set mine up from that. Separate worksheets for ships log, maintenance, scheduled maintenance, day journal, etc. I like the fact that I can be as verbose as I want without worrying about space, as well as the ability to quickly search for anything and automatically calculate totals - fuel burn, fuel costs, days on board, person days between pump outs, etc. Every once in a while I print out the most recent pages and sign them so I have a hard copy, but that’s probably overkill.

LongJohn said:

Buncha Luddites.

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Yeah! What he said!

I just made my own on spreadsheet, printed them off and put in three ring binder.

I have the Weems & Plath but don’t actually follow their format and simply enter all info per event.
Since I leave the book on the boat I take some good photos of each completed page, which I add to my “ST44” album. I can always refer to these cloud photos for reference purposes.
Works for me but I will switch log books once my original is filled.

Excel Logbook

I made mine in Excel over the past 5 months of making short cruises with my new-to-me Hat58LRC. It might be a bit too much for many - I'm a bit OCD.

It has a NavLog on the first tab, then a tab each for engine room monitoring record, scheduled maintenance, unscheduled maintenance, fuel and hours used, parts inventory and location, etc.

It's easy to modify for your ship. I couldn't upload it bcs TF doesn't allow .xls files to be uploaded, but if anyone is interested send me an email and I'll send it to you. I like it (of course), and I think it's comprehensive.

Good luck

After trying a couple of different logbooks and looking at many more I use an electronic Excel spreadsheet that I customized. Gives me everything I need and want. My problem with many of the commercially available logbooks is too much detail.

Pacific Evergreen. I'm on volume 6. Agree with other comments. One negative: The tabs need to be reinforced with heavy usage...or maybe it is just the oil and hamburger grease on my fingers.
Jim Ferry
lady sue