Do You Keep a Written Log?

[Rabbie]

[ QUOTE ]
It's a very good idea to keep one, as it is a legal document and can be submitted as evidence in a court if you are involved in an incident as evidence of your position and course.


[/ QUOTE ]
Strictly speaking, a written log is no different from any other document that may be produced in court as evidence, provided that it is admissable. It is not per se a 'legal document'.

 

[Guest]

Blimey - just read some replies ....

a) No it is not a legal document
b) It is only admissable in court if relevant to the incident and can be substantiated as true. Typical Yacht Logs as bought over Chandlers counters etc. as loose leaf binder cannot.
c) You keep or not as you wish.
d) Good practical exercise to record data to create performance curves for your boat
e) Format ? totally depends on your style and type of sailing.

Me ? I have a Page a Day A4 diary ... and write up as a short story as and when I remember.
I also have a Clutha Ships Deck- Log book as a serious job for serious ventures.
Both note are bound books that pages cannot be removed from. They are more acceptable in marine Court than loose leaf style as you cannot "hide" in them by replacing pages.

I am a Marine Surveyor and owner of Marine Survey Co. with dealings in Abitration courts etc. and I read so much garbage about Yacht Logs and what is and what should be ....

 

[Salty John]

Since setting off cruising in 1989 I've kept a log in a lined exercise book like this:

It records virtually everything of interest such as weather conditions, barometric readings, how we got there, what's happening where we are and what our plans are:

Here is a page showing the deliberations when threatened by tropical storm Fabian:

Here's another page monitoring the performance of the fridge:

The great benefit of keeping a log this way is that here in my study eighteen years later I can recapture those precious moments - good, bad or interesting. Navigationally our specific track was always kept on a paper chart, updated hourly, but virtually every other aspect of cruising was put down in those books. There are nine volumes on my bookshelf and I consult them regularly.

 

[tome]

Yes, we keep a log going always. Force of habit

Not extensive for local sailing - but it records date and times of departure and arrival, crew, miles and engine hours even if just a rare jolly up the harbour

Longer passages it gets much more detailed with hourly positions, weather, tides and observations. Never felt the need for half-hourly entries

Always handy to look back over, and many novice crew return with an RYA personal logbook eventually so we can always fill in any missing details for them

 

[Erre]

Yes, always. Althgough I am sure there is substantial veracity in many of the arguments for the likes of insurance claims, I do it for myself primarily and do so through both habit and desire.

It keeps my disciplines in place, asks questions of specifics to things I may otherwise be vague about. It is amazing how much more careful my observation and estimation is when I commit it to paper. It is also good seamanship and I am old-fashioned enough to try to continually improve my abilities in this regard (I do continually fail, I fear!).

I also like the return journeys one can make by flicking back through old logs. I often insert photos and separately scribbled notes regarding nature, oddities etc. In this respect, an old log is much like an old diary or game book that gives much pleasure in its reliving.

To each their own. 'Tis only my two-penneth.

 

[Seagreen]

Yes, but only on trips long enough to make it useful. Daytrips, no. But anything involving tides I have a passage plan with all the stuff I ought to know on one sheet, including stuff I have to radio in.

I have a columned log sheet on which I record useful stuff hourly (the pump rate of the bilges- its an old boat), and write over as a combined diary and log.

 

[iain789]

NO

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
NO

[/ QUOTE ]

thank goodness, I was beginning to feel like a real cheapskate. I always start off a cruise with good intent and end up just keeping receipts.

I always feel a little silly writing out, ooh nasty entrance in the diary, the pilot tells me it is, the HM generally mentions it is, my memory is pretty sharp so the chances of anything I write down being useful in the future are pretty slim.

I do plot positions and times on the chart, I do write down tides and min and max times for entrance to destination, but have no interest in keeping this information so it is discarded.

I started keeping an engine log, but then fitted hour metres, I know when they require service.

When we sail away I do intend to keep a log, but pottering up and down the uk coast, it is just not worth the trouble, IMHO.

 

[paulm299]

It is worth keeping a log . When my ex destroyed all my gear I lost my RYA log book and as I had not recorded my Voyages ( day trips et al ) elsewhere I cannot recall the total Hours/Miles I have actually done ( Long shore leave after Divorce ) . RYA cannot find my records . I now put start / finish times and destination for all my trips and anything I may have found out on longer trips for future refrence .