Conference unifix::sailing

    Here goes . The log page is a double page of a A4 sized book. The
    headings are :               
    Date,time,log (As in nautical miles...),course steered,baro pressure,
    Wind dir & speed,leeway,Engine, Commentary.
                                 
    In the Engine Column we enter no of hours run and cumulative total
    this helps me decide when I need to service it.
                                 
    In the commentary we enter the position and how derived plus the
    DECCA position. We also enter any other notes like conversation
    with another craft.          
                                 
    On passage say from Chichester to Cherbourg we will enter the last
    Fix as we leave the UK side and then calculate DR & EP every hour
    on passage until we can get a fix on the French side but we still
    log every hour untill we are safe in harbour. In murky conditions
    we have been known to log every 15 mins in other less stressful
    passages we will enter the start and engine off times plus key items
    like passing a navigational buoy. We always enter all columns
    especially the barometric pressure one....... 
                                 
    Hope this helps..........Pete                                      
                                 

    I will be keeping 2 logs:
    
    1) the "maintenance" log I have going now.
    
    2) the "sailing" log like .1
    
     I have a wooden boat,a nd I am doing some rebuilding on it, and
    I am trying to keep a maintenance log because I want to track jobs
    done vs jobs left to do, as well as compare estimated time to perform
    a job vs actual. That way I can get a better line on when the boat
    will be ready for commissioning. It also gives me a feeling as to the 
    condition of the boat - strengths and weaknesses.
    
     I am trying to "design" a sailing log. I want the basic information
    as listed in .1, but I want an enlarged comments section as I hope
    to log a lot more than positions. For a long time, I will be
    experimenting with rig tuning, and learning about handling my
    particular boat in a variety of conditions, and I want a lot of
    space to record my observations. I also hope to record less technical,
    more impressional information - what I see, hear, etc...
    
    		Gregg
    
     

    re: .1 and .2
    
    This is exactly what I'm looking for. But how do you find time
    to sail AND enter all of this info at the same time ? Dashing up
    and down from deck to cabin is tough enough as it is (assuming 
    "refreshment" and trips to the head) PLUS the additional trips to
    maintain the log.
    
    Do you keep the log on deck with you ? Do you log as much when/if
    you singlehand ?
    
    JC
    

   re.2 The comments is one half of the double page ie book open comments
    are down the whole of the right hand side I am able to enter most
    useful comments especially early in the season when tuning the rig
    and settling things down.                  
                                               
    As regards the time it takes about 3 minutes to plot positions and
    enter in the log. I note the log reading on the way down ,the DECCA
    is on the chart table as is the barometer. On passage single handed
    or with the wife the log gets entered even if this means heaving
    to. We also keep a VHF log as required by UK law and a maintenance
    log for the yacht ie jobs that need doing when etc       
                                                
    Tidal streams are strong near to the French and English coasts and
    the English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the
    world with laws governing shipping crossing the lanes, position fixing
    is key as is an updated log. Theoretically it should be possible
    to keep all the info on the chart and update the log later but this
    becomes impratical after a while because of the marks left by previous
    erasures.......                                                      
                                                                         
                                                                         
   Pete                                                                  
                                                                         

    Re: .3 having time to write
    
    I think this is a good question. In my boat, a log in the cockpit
    would be very wet. I have been pondering the use of a small cassette
    recorder - like the ones used by the movers and shakers of the world.
    The pocket sized kind is useful because it is easy to carry, and
    can hold a lot of information.
    
     Another advantage is the fact that when you SAY something, you
    have a better chance of remembering it, than if you noted it in
    your mind and made a resolution to remember it. You have to plan
    for the thing to break, or run low on battery power, etc.
    
    		Gregg

    I must admit - my first year with a keel-boat I only made log entries
    when navigating in reduced visibility and therefore going buoy to
    buoy.  Looking back, it makes a strange looking book as there were
    many times that the boat was used for which there are no entries. 

    This past year, I have been religious about making entries for at least
    windspeed, intended destination, persons on board, time and log out and
    return even if only for a daysail.  Recording engine hours lets me know
    something about usage and battery charging times (record the battery
    switch position too!).  By noting how long it takes to go from one
    point to another and under what conditions, with what sail combinations
    you used, you get a handy way to make more educated guesses at ETAs in
    the future. 

    The log also functions as a diary - allowing you to look back to
    see where you were this time last year, with whom and so on. 

    My understanding is, that for insurance purposes, you darned well
    better have a log (deck log) to show that you knew (or thought you knew
    and made every effort to know) where you were when some disaster
    struck.  I ended up submitting a copy of my deck log after a charter in
    the Bahamas to the charter company in attempt to prove the charter
    captain incompetent.  He had made wonderous entries he believed to be
    accurate, yet in retrospect they were hilariously inept. Suffice it to
    say I will never charter with Hirsh Yacht Charters again - but that is
    another story. 

    Keep your log book relatively dry, use indelible ink (not a Flair
    - they bleed badly) and don't worry about using multiple lines if
    you buy a pre-printed log book.  Above all - look at the log as
    protection, a friend, a reference book - anything but a chore. 
    You might even try running a guilt trip on yourself if you finish
    sailing for the day and have not made a log entry.
    
    Carl

My log is not as fancy as others listed here.  I have a loose leaf note
    book that I keep.  At the end of the day, when moored, I enter wind
    speed, Knot Log reading, compass coursed (if rememberd) and significant
    events of the day, sails used and who the crew is.
    
    I also enter any repair/updates to the boat when done, where the
    boat was located (back yard, mooring).
    
    I have been doing this for about 4 years.  It may not be the best,
    but it give me a running history of what has happened to me and
    the boat.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Tom
    
    

    I also keep two logs on Second Wind.  One is that which everyone
    has referred to and maintains routine sailing data and notes.  The
    other is a journal of the trips we have taken and the places we
    have visited and experiences we have had.  I also enter guests in 
    this book.  The writing of this info by the flicker of a kerosene
    lamp with a snifter of cognac sets the stage for a fine nights sleep
    (if your anchored securely in a sheltered cove).
    
    The journal, along with photos, help the non-sailing months pass
    more rapidly between issues of Bay Magazine, the Practical Sailor,
    and Cruising World.
    
    Hank

Re .5 and others

    
The recorder trick has worked very well for me! I have used a "mirco
cassette recorder" for the last two seasons and now I'm hooked. Our small
open boat on coastal waters is not comfortable for trying to write log
entries, but we do need to record many items for both legal and routine
info purposes. 

The "hard" log entries are made after each outing and placed into different 
sections of a standard Coast Guard Auxiliary log book. The log is divided 
into a deck log, radio log, maintenance log and other handy sections. This log 
book also contains useful info on VHF channel assignments and procedures, 
hand signaling, flags and sound signals, and more. A fresh log book each 
season sets me back three bucks.

I've found that the recorder is a great way to remind myself of things to
check, repair or modify later. It also makes it more likely that other items
get reported, e.g. problems with an Aid to Navigation. 

Jerry

    One aspect of keeping the log that I forgot to mention in earlier
    entries is that of safety. If the log is updated regularly and
    positions noted it does mean that the current watch keeper (My wife
    and I do 4 hours on and 4 off on night passages or passages longer
    than 10 hours) will always have a sound base to work from if conditions
    change radically ie weather or a problem with the craft. If you
    get into a MAYDAY or PANPAN situation  by referring back to
    the last entry which, will at worst be one hour out of date, will
    give the relevent rescue organisation an area to search but more
    likely do a DR/EP to estimate the search pattern.              
                                                                
    In the UK there are no rules about having to keep logs or even for
    that matter to be insured but I do not know of any coasting craft
    that does not keep one. In an open day boat years ago we used an
    ex army map case with a chinagraph pencil for the passage transferring
    to a more permenant log at the end of the passage, the "Dictaphone"
    sounds like the modern equivilent.
                     
    Pete                                                            
                     
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      
                                      

    I have been using two lab notebooks, one as a maintenance log and
    one as a deck log.   Pounding along in a small boat makes for some
    illegible entries, I like the recorder idea.
    
    Also, where is the USCGA log book discussed above available?
    
    J

    The USCGA log books are available from your friends in the Aux.
    Boat U.S. and other marine supply folks have similar logs, but not
    perhaps, as complete or cheap. If you're attending a boating safety
    class or know your local Aux people, they can usually arrange to
    order copies of items such as the log.
    
    Jerry
    

RE: several comments,

Keeping an updated log is also cheap and wise insurance against the chance
you'll have to defend your actions to a court or your insurance company. 
There are many legal precedents where log entries have been accepted as
legal evidence in both civil and Admiralty courts:  An anchor light was
lit (so the vessel that hit the plaintiff's boat at night was at fault), a
lookout was not logged as having been posted (so the court assumed no one
had been), fog signalling was commenced (helping establish the exercise of
prudent seamanship on the part of the defendent), and so on. 

On PUFFIN I used to keep the chart on deck, folded appropriately between 
two 1/8" sheets of lucite or lexan, about 24" square, and hinged with duct 
tape along one edge.  This kept the chart from blowing around, and 
certainly much dryer unless it really was raining (in which case a good 
quality clear plastic bag was put over the whole thing).  It also allowed 
me to note fixes, conditions, and comments in grease pencil wherever I 
wished on the lexan, which could be transferred to the log at my 
convenience, usually about the time I was ready to sail near the edge of 
the inserted chart.  A little rubbing alcohol removed the grease pencil 
markings quickly, and then I was ready to begin again.

BTW, an easy format for necessary data is SS/HHH/TTTT, where SS is speed 
in kts, HHH is heading in degrees magnetic, and TTTT is time (0000 -
2400).  Thus, I would have something like 56/330/1040 (understanding that
instead of setting a speed record, I understood that to mean 5.6 kts.) 
The advantage of this format is consistency, no need to label due to
different length data elements, concise notation, and developing the habit
of recording all three on a regular basis. 

J.

  
    A very nice preprinted log is the Mystic Seaport Museum Store one,
    available in 2 bindings.   It is wire bound and has the "right"
    entries for me.  Besides, I think part of the price goes to a good
    cause!