Cruise log - What do you do?

[Northern Spy]

A notebook can rest in a shoe box for a couple hundred years and still be good. What makes you think today's whiz-bang electronic technology isn't going to be tomorrows 8 track cassette?

To think that my descendants will have an accurate account of my holding tank pumpouts and oil changes is gratifying.

 

[Lou_tribal]

To think that my descendants will have an accurate account of my holding tank pumpouts and oil changes is gratifying.

to make things really exciting you should keep some samples

 

[kev_rm]

What is this thing you call "paper" ?

if (!have internet)
Excel copy of google sheets
else
Update google sheets from Excel
Use Google sheets.

 

[Lou_tribal]

What is this thing you call "paper" ?

if (!have internet)
Excel copy of google sheets
else
Update google sheets from Excel
Use Google sheets.

Allow me to make your pseudo code error proof:
if (power)
if (!have internet)
Excel copy of google sheets
else
Update google sheets from Excel
else
paper(log, map, food recipe)

 

[Seevee]

Interesting replies.

For me, the log is 100% maintenance items. What it was done and when it's due. And all the little things in-between. I'm going to have to start longing the personal stuff, adding pictures... much for fun.

In several years, I could care less about the maintenance, but bet the personal stuff would be fun to read over.

All paper for now.

And, funny, but also log our flying experiences, all paper, and all details, personal, where we stopped, fuel prices, meals, who we met, weather and how we felt. Need to do that on the boat.

 

[psneeld]

I just keep the basics for when, where and maintenance.

But I do log unusual items, such as time entering /leaving fog and energizing signals for legal reasons. Also if disagreements arise with bridges or other boaters. Any TF Hong needed to defend myself later.

 

[Lou_tribal]

I just keep the basics for when, where and maintenance.

But I do log unusual items, such as time entering /leaving fog and energizing signals for legal reasons. Also if disagreements arise with bridges or other boaters. Any TF Hong needed to defend myself later.

And this comment lead me to my next question.
Are you TFers maintaining incident logs? I mean if something happens, an noticeable event, either with some other boater but not necessarily, do you keep log of it or just keep memory of it? And if you log it what info do you log? Coordinate? details of the event? Other boat identity if any? what else?

L.

 

[O C Diver]

What do you want to be able to refer back to? Do you like walking down memory lane and recalling details or are you more interested in fuel burn and maintenance records?

ENJOY!

For me, memory lane is more vivid in pictures......maybe with a caption to jog the memory.

Ted

 

[ranger58sb]

And this comment lead me to my next question.
Are you TFers maintaining incident logs? I mean if something happens, an noticeable event, either with some other boater but not necessarily, do you keep log of it or just keep memory of it? And if you log it what info do you log? Coordinate? details of the event? Other boat identity if any? what else?

Yes, all that info and whatever else comes to mind... not in a separate "incident log" but just right on the main log pages as necessary. Distress calls would be an example...

We routinely log starting/stopping engine hours, miles traveled, etc., crew list, destination, stops en route, fuel stops (gallons/tank, cost), some maintenance or repairs (but also keep an electronic log for that), etc.

But "incidents" are just highlighted for easier reference should that be necessary sometime in the future.

-Chris

 

[Seevee]

I just don't have "incidents"... never have so I don't record them. I've lost engines, gone aground, had systems failures, etc, etc, but don't call them incidents. An incident would be something totally unexpected that might endanger the boat or the people on board. I just don't do those things..... <g>

 

[psneeld]

I just don't have "incidents"... never have so I don't record them. I've lost engines, gone aground, had systems failures, etc, etc, but don't call them incidents. An incident would be something totally unexpected that might endanger the boat or the people on board. I just don't do those things..... <g>

You have never had a vessel wake you badly that damage or injury might have occurred yet to be discovered? (A LA Mules incident last year)...or maybe the damage is evident yet you can't get anyone to respond immediately?

You never had someone inaccurately accuse you of not following the rules?

You never had a disagreement (either party) with a draw bridge?

You never had someone almost hit you in the fog and blame it on you though they were neither showing l8ghts, sounding fog signals or making prudent security calls?

You never had someone hit your vessel while entering or exiting a marina?

These are just a few types of incidents that happen pretty routinely with cruisers...logging what you believe to be true is invaluable if the log becomes necessary at a future date..

 

[BandB]

You have never had a vessel wake you badly that damage or injury might have occurred yet to be discovered? (A LA Mules incident last year)...or maybe the damage is evident yet you can't get anyone to respond immediately?

You never had someone inaccurately accuse you of not following the rules?

You never had a disagreement (either party) with a draw bridge?

You never had someone almost hit you in the fog and blame it on you though they were neither showing l8ghts, sounding fog signals or making prudent security calls?

You never had someone hit your vessel while entering or exiting a marina?

These are just a few types of incidents that happen pretty routinely with cruisers...logging what you believe to be true is invaluable if the log becomes necessary at a future date..

We record things like you're describing but other things too that most would think are silly. A few examples.

-Tows that don't respond to radio.
-Lockmaster especially helpful and what dessert we gave him
-Names of customs officials and notes about them and dealing with them.
-Bridge tender who is always grumpy and tries to get out of opening, but ultimately is nice in his own way. One we first said, "Sir, it might possibly clear with all the antenna down, but it's way too close for us to safely try even then. If you have a problem opening now, we'll wait and go through with the next boat you open for. He opened and has every time since. If a clearance is 22' and with everything down I only get to 21'8" and there's a lot of activity on the water with wakes, I'm not going to take that chance. Key is if I can lower everything and safely clear, not a chance I might clear.
-Notes on dock hands, the nicest and the least likable.
-Boat that was operating recklessly and from behavior and response on radio, operator appeared quite drunk but we detailed each boat he put in danger. He ended up in cuffs and the boat docked. Fortunately when the LEO first observed him his behavior was the same we observed, but we did fill out a statement for him.
-Interesting house under construction to check out next time through.
-Water skier pulled around and then sharply across our bow.
-And the one you mentioned of being accused of wake, when not in a no wake zone and creating minimal wake, just because they didn't like our speed. Our speed was why there was no wake.
-Section of a marina to refuse to dock for whatever reason.

 

[Ted]

How about responding to and/or aiding another vessel in trouble?

Ted

 

[Seevee]

You have never had a vessel wake you badly that damage or injury might have occurred yet to be discovered? (A LA Mules incident last year)...or maybe the damage is evident yet you can't get anyone to respond immediately?

You never had someone inaccurately accuse you of not following the rules?

You never had a disagreement (either party) with a draw bridge?

You never had someone almost hit you in the fog and blame it on you though they were neither showing l8ghts, sounding fog signals or making prudent security calls?

You never had someone hit your vessel while entering or exiting a marina?

These are just a few types of incidents that happen pretty routinely with cruisers...logging what you believe to be true is invaluable if the log becomes necessary at a future date..

''

Psneeld,

I aggressively avoid those things. Some are just too stupid to even mention, like a draw bridge conflict, entering or exiting a marina.... totally avoidable unless someone is intentionally wanting to cause trouble.

In the fog, I could see an issue, but having had that situation, and spend a LOT of fog time in the past few months.... seems like everyone behaved.

Logging it? Little upside.

 

[Lou_tribal]

''

Psneeld,

I aggressively avoid those things. Some are just too stupid to even mention, like a draw bridge conflict, entering or exiting a marina.... totally avoidable unless someone is intentionally wanting to cause trouble.

In the fog, I could see an issue, but having had that situation, and spend a LOT of fog time in the past few months.... seems like everyone behaved.

Logging it? Little upside.

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

 

[AusCan]

I'm with Seevee. I've had incidents, like running aground, an accidental jybe, a rope around the prop, my alcohol stove flaring up; but never anything involving another boat.

It's not because I'm such a skilled operator. Sometimes I only see one other boat all day on the water. I'd be fairly unlucky to run into him.

 

[Lou_tribal]

I'm with Seevee. I've had incidents, like running aground, an accidental jybe, a rope around the prop, my alcohol stove flaring up; but never anything involving another boat.

It's not because I'm such a skilled operator. Sometimes I only see one other boat all day on the water. I'd be fairly unlucky to run into him.

Maybe I did not understand it right but what psneeld meant was another boat running into you.

 

[rwidman]

Wifey B: I'm amazed at all the pen and paper. I'm assuming pen, could be pencil. And so little electronic. Generational I guess. We write nothing.

You don't have to wait for a pencil to boot up.

I posted above what I log. I use excel to create blanks sheets with headings and keep them in a notebook (3 ring, not a PC).

I do something that started as a joke years ago. A friend on Facebook asked where we were. Using MS Word, I wrote a short piece about our day and where we were now. I posted it on Facebook as a response. People liked it so much, I started doing it every day using the same Word document. At the end of the trip, I inserted photos and did a bit of editing and printed it out in book form.

Now I do this for each cruise and we have the books to show friends or just look back on ourselves.

 

[psneeld]

''

Psneeld,

I aggressively avoid those things. Some are just too stupid to even mention, like a draw bridge conflict, entering or exiting a marina.... totally avoidable unless someone is intentionally wanting to cause trouble.

In the fog, I could see an issue, but having had that situation, and spend a LOT of fog time in the past few months.... seems like everyone behaved.

Logging it? Little upside.

I avoid those things too...but in high traffic areas or if your mast height is very close to many bridge clearances...you really cant avoid them.

All I can say is that most cruisers I speak with, that log a lot of miles on the ACIW run across these things fairly often.

Logging it? Invaluable in court.

 

[rwidman]

........... You never had a disagreement (either party) with a draw bridge?.............

I never disagree with anybody!

Most of these things are too trivial to write down. The exception is colliding with another boat. In that case, both parties should be writing it down and turning it into the USCG. Photos would be important here.

If something unusual happens to us, it would be in the Facebook travel log I mentioned above. Things like having to wait too long for a bridge or almost being hit by a boat pulling tubers. Or getting a serious wake from another boat.

 

[psneeld]

I'm with Seevee. I've had incidents, like running aground, an accidental jybe, a rope around the prop, my alcohol stove flaring up; but never anything involving another boat.

It's not because I'm such a skilled operator. Sometimes I only see one other boat all day on the water. I'd be fairly unlucky to run into him.

Not too long ago I was under an open bridge with a large sportfisherman, an anchored kayak, 2 jet skis and other boats right on my butt approaching fast. Not an uncommon occurrence in my world.

So if anything goes wrong, which it easily could, having pictures (thinking of running a video recorder or go pro) and the basics written on paper or electronic log puts you at the head of the maritime hearing class.

Especially if the kayaker or a jet skier gets chopped up by someone and you can show where your actions were the only ones that didn't contribute to it.

But hey...I hope no one but me writes this stuff down..... ya never know and considering how many of these "trivial" things I seemed to have to review in the USCG..... oh never mind....

 

[rwidman]

For under $100 you can buy a "dash cam", a self contained video recorder that records in a continuous loop of an hour or so. Some people are using these in their cars just in case they are involved in an accident or incident. I don't use one.


Two of these would cover your boat, forward and backward. All you have to do if there is an incident is stop the dash cam and download the video to a computer. Video is better evidence than writing something down.


I have one on my boat but I don't run it continuously, only when I want to record something interesting.


It's an option but personally, I don't feel the need.

 

[Trundlebug]

Interesting to read what people do.

It seems some people put information in the log that I would class as boat maintenance.
I have a separate book for that. At the front of the book, all the jobs that need doing are listed. As they get done, they are ticked off and dated. I always list the engine hours when ticking off the oil and filter changes.

Every winter I have a winter jobs list, which is the same thing listed on the next free page of the book, and enables me to list all the things I plan to do over the winter. I tend to build that list over the summer months whilst using the boat and noticing things that need doing. They too are ticked off and dated as they get done.

I now have a complete service history of not only all the routine maintenance jobs that have been done since the start of our ownership (now 10 years), but all the improvements that have been made too, and when they were done.

At the back of the book are all the boat specifications, part numbers for filters etc, dimensions, fuse ratings, and all the useful information I have obtained or come across whilst doing the jobs listed at the front. That way I can take the little red book with me to chandlers and boat shows, and know exactly what make, model, and size of widget will fit in the space I have available.

Fuel refills are recorded in a separate book, dedicated just for that. Just another little book, with date, engine hours, port fuel added, stbd fuel added, total fuel added, fuel consumption, cost & location of refill. Much easier to keep track of fuel consumption when all the records are in one place.

Now the ship's log on the other hand is for recording journeys. Start time, STW, SOG, and all the passage information at each stage en route. As well as significant things that happen.

OK it's all paper based but it works for me. We all know what Microsoft are like. With the never ending evolution, Excel recorded now will be unreadable in 10-20 years' time without a special "old timer" app which costs a fortune, if you can get it at all.

Written records don't need software licences, don't get obsolete, don't crash or corrupt unless they're drowned in water (in which case so would Excel or a tablet) and are much quicker to boot up.

Passage plans are in another spiral bound book....

 

[BandB]

While many may just keep one log, we also keep two distinctive types of logs, a ship's log and a trip log, which is much like a diary. They share some information, but not all. They both have a record of where the boat went on a given day. However, the ship's log has all the engine data, fuel data, maintenance, engine room checks, etc. The trip log or diary has the narrative of what was seen or events along the way as well as at the destination for the day. From the ship's log we can see all upcoming maintenance requirements, can check fuel usage at all speeds, see what operating temperatures were. From the trip log we can do a quick search and find information on the marinas or anchorages, restaurants we've been to, sites we've seen and even those on our list we didn't make it to.

You do have a search feature on those spiral notebooks don't you, to quickly locate information from prior trips?

 

[dhays]

You do have a search feature on those spiral notebooks don't you, to quickly locate information from prior trips?

Yes. A MkI thumb and index finger (the digit was so named for a reason). I am hardly a Luddite, but for a boat journal, there is something nice about paper and pen.

For maintenance logs I am deciding on what form of electronic record I want to use. 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.

 

[rwidman]

................... OK it's all paper based but it works for me. We all know what Microsoft are like. With the never ending evolution, Excel recorded now will be unreadable in 10-20 years' time without a special "old timer" app which costs a fortune, if you can get it at all. ....

Folks used to write on clay tablets. Those are obsolete now.

Computer stuff can be printed and then you have the best of both worlds. As I've posted in this thread, a pen or pencil doesn't have to be booted up.

I use both a pen or pencil and a computer. The computer isn't always ready when I want to record something but the pen is.

I duplicate my fuel purchases in a spreadsheet (as well as the paper log) and can automatically average my fuel burn since I bought the boat. That's a bit difficult with pen and paper.

As recreational boaters, we are not required to keep a log so anything that works for you (or me) is fine. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[BandB]

Folks used to write on clay tablets. Those are obsolete now.

Wifey B: So are pen and paper.

I read about booting up a computer. It's not always on?

Or a phone or tablet works.

To each their own. I did use pen or pencil and paper a bit when I taught, helping the kids learn how. I asked my hubby the last time he wrote anything other than his signature or a two or three word note and he couldn't remember. He said, perhaps in high school.

Ok, our generation gap is showing.

 

[Lou_tribal]

Not that I want to hijack my own thread but paper and pen are far from obsolete and will never be. I am not against computer as I work in this domain but one of the big issue nowadays is data preservation in our numeric world. Ability to access any numeric data is conditional to the ability to access to hardware/software able to decode these data which put in jeopardy the knowledge conservation and transmission. A lot of people are working on finding a way to store huge amount of data on analogical supports that could withstand time effect just because of that. So yes computer and digital media are a big plus in practicality and usability, but it will never make paper/pencil and this kind of media obsolete.
More than that if you look at the trend... we are now using pencil on computers

L.

 

[BandB]

Not that I want to hijack my own thread but paper and pen are far from obsolete and will never be. I am not against computer as I work in this domain but one of the big issue nowadays is data preservation in our numeric world. Ability to access any numeric data is conditional to the ability to access to hardware/software able to decode these data which put in jeopardy the knowledge conservation and transmission. A lot of people are working on finding a way to store huge amount of data on analogical supports that could withstand time effect just because of that. So yes computer and digital media are a big plus in practicality and usability, but it will never make paper/pencil and this kind of media obsolete.
More than that if you look at the trend... we are now using pencil on computers

L.

Perhaps not obsolete, but greatly diminished in usage. Hallmark has kept hand writing cards alive. We spend most of our time around younger people and most have not hand written a letter unless as a child. Neither my wife nor I have ever hand written a letter. For note taking in college, look at Apple's latest commercial for using a pen on tablet and, if you fall asleep, just recording. Note taking in college is the last time I really did any significant writing.

Now, I'll also admit to a downside. My writing was once very nice and legible. Today, I can still print neatly, but my handwriting has deserted me along the way.

My personal trend is heavily toward dictation. I'm not typing this message.

 

[rwidman]

Pen and paper are apparently obsolete in the restaurant industry, because what I order and what I actually get are usually different!


My laptop is not always "on" on my boat when cruising because the battery only lasts a few hours. It's fine if I leave the inverter running but I don't always want to do that.


If I'm not actually cruising, it's often not even on the boat. Phone? I suppose, but I have a hard time with the small keyboard and voice usually translates what I say into something else.