Filling in the log - why?

[alant]

"we do have 2 separate electronic plotters both of which (on separate battery banks) have the ability to record hourly positions or track over the ground."
Guaranteed never to fail under any circumstance are they? Do 'all' on board know how to use them? Wish I could be that certain of anything. I've certainly experienced failure in these.

A written Log has importance during any voyage, however short, in forcing us into a regular discipline of making observations about our surroundings, enabling us hopefully to confirm our suspicions regarding where we might be, where we were and what steps we might take to rectify any error.

All sailors, including those in leisure craft, when 'at sea', should have a passage plan. A Log may be a confirmation of this, should it be required. If the 'skipper' is rendered incapable, it should help those now left in charge to work out what they do next, even if it is to call for assistance.


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[Robin]

Actually we have THREE plotters connected to THREE separate (fixed) GPS sets and powered by TWO separate battery banks (neither of which start the engine):-

Raytheon with separate WAAS/EGNOS GPS on battery bank #1 also connected to full instrument system.

Navman with integral WAAS/EGNOS GPS on battery bank #2, standalone.

Yeoman paper chart plotter connected to standard GPS on battery bank # 1 The chart for English Channel West is mounted permanently under fixed perspex cover on the Nav table and larger scale charts are clipped on top when required. Positions can be plotted in seconds using the Yeoman or any other means. Positions are plotted on the chart 'as and when' rather than at regimented times, ie as the coffee is served etc, usually at worst 2 hrs between

If the Raytheon GPS goes down, the Raytheon plotter is wired via a changeover switch to run on the Shipmate which also runs the Yeoman. If the Raytheon plotter itself goes down, we still have 2 others, one paper one electronic and the ability to take lat/long from the other GPSs to plot by hand on the chart.

As for all on board knowing how to use them, there is just me and good old SWMBO (she passed her YM Offshore shorebased top of the class by the way and can usually find the way). I started navigating in the days when buying the £25 Seafix RDF and LED echosounder was 'going electronic', oh and yes I did YM Offshore shorebased as well.

As for the 'Passage Plan', for X-channels/longer trips we use pre-printed forms for working out the initial course(s) to steer, tidal streams, sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, ETA to shipping lanes/clear of lanes, etc. All our regular coastal trips are loaded in the GPS/plotters as waypoints and complete routes. We carry on board usually 2 almanacs and also local + Dover tide tables.

You may not be surprised also to hear that we also carry a laptop, with Neptune Plotter/Planner software as well as Tidecalc (Admiralty) tide times software.

But do we fill in the LOG BOOK? Well yes we do if we are going any distance (say X-channel or Poole - Dartmouth), but not if we are going to Yarmouth/Lymington for the weekend. What is noted, well time, log at start, eng hrs at start, weather, HW times, time, log and eng hrs at finish. Lat/longs with log/time may be entered en route if we feel inclined, any SAR messages for sure are as are specific events.

Finally our cockpit repeater plus cockpit plotter continuously give us bearing and distance to wpt, so unless we suffer really senior moments we can usually remember these to start a paper plot from should the apocalypse occur and all the lot goes out at once.










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[alant]

You seem to have impressively covered most of the usual problems, but have you seen this recent post? If all your back-ups originate from the same input source, then they all could be similarly rendered useless together.

http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=pbo&Number=458053&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1
This event may be extremely unusual, but even the best systems can give erroneous information, for other reasons. Good navigation depends upon multiple inputs from a variety of sources, each used to confirm and evaluate any anomalies.
Keeping a log, is just one method of keeping this input information tidy.
With all your systems, you are unlikely NOT to be doing this in some way, even if not as a formal document, otherwise you'd be ignoring your investment in this instrumentation. You have confirmed this by your comment "we can usually remember these to start a paper plot from should the apocalypse occur and all the lot goes out at once", although I'm not sure my memory is this good.


"if we are going to Yarmouth/Lymington for the weekend" - since this will probably be entirely within the Solent, hence C & D waters, not 'at sea', you may be excused having a passage plan.

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[Robin]

<<"if we are going to Yarmouth/Lymington for the weekend" - since this will probably be entirely within the Solent, hence C & D waters, not 'at sea', you may be excused having a passage plan. >>

Poole is NOT in the Solent, close by maybe, about 13mls by crow. But who says we do not have a passage plan for a trip there? Before we go I'll have a quick look at the weather (for outbound and inbound) and the tides, then the pre-programmed route will be selected from the memory and entered in each plotter. There is no need to write any of this down, its all easily remembered but anyway instantly available on board, even the weather (VHF or Navtex, even SSB/weatherfax). I am not going to fill in a page on the Ships Log either! It is not a requirement to have a WRITTEN plan is it?

I forgot to mention by the by, we also have a sextant on board (albeit Ebbco plastic one), plus the tables/sight reduction forms. We also have Astro programs in both a Casio programmable calculator and on the laptop. I have to admit though that I might not have the exact correction for my quartz watch and may not be able to get this from one of the GPS sets, I need to look at that loophole!

Yes I did read the post you mentioned, I wonder what any aircraft in the area at the time did? In this scenario too the plotter half-hourly 'logged' positions and retained tracks for the previous hours would be present still, only current positions are suspect, so no problem at all in starting a manual plot. Written log data still not required, it is there though, recorded electronically.

We have to be both sensible and realistic. I might die of a heart attack, but I don't carry a surgeon or an undertaker on board.....


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[DeeGee]

Sorry, Robin...
All this kit indicates to me that all your charts are probably not up to the latest NM. You can't kid me that you keep all these alternatives up to scratch? If not, you are in breach of Solas V, and must stay in dock forthwith.....

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[Twister_Ken]

Holy mackerel, Robin

I trust you keep a maintenance log for all that kit.

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[alant]

Robin, I'm even more impressed by this veritable galaxy of gizmo's. Agreed, "Poole is NOT in the Solent" fair enough, your electronics will obviously have a more accurate idea of your starting location than I do!
"I don't carry a surgeon or an undertaker on board....."
Surely you have one of these tucked away somewhere! Try that big tin at the back of the locker.

Sensibly though, I can't believe that anyone sails without taking some note of what's happening, even if it's not called a Log. You've just proved it.

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[Chris_Robb]

Re: DDCC

Tried a number of ways to open Humps videos - no go.

corsair - just formulating plans for next year so that I can keep sailing but yet keep her on the market. No point in having her sit there is there???

Chris



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[Gunfleet]

Re: DDCC

A friend of mine who knows the Solent better than I do (south of Portsmouth, north of the Isle de Wit) asked me if we'd been to East or West Cowes. 'Dunno,' I replied, 'are there two?' I'd have hoped at least one of you was navigating and keeping the log and had a SOLAS plan. I wasn't.

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[Robin]

<<Sensibly though, I can't believe that anyone sails without taking some note of what's happening, even if it's not called a Log. You've just proved it. >>

That is exactly the point I was tryng to make, not everything needs to be written down at least not all of the time!

By the way the tin has fruit cake in it, donated by a Dr though not a heart surgeon....

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[Robin]

Of course, doesn\'t everyone

It's on the computer.

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[Robin]

Stuck in the dock

Yes you are absolutely right, guilty as charged.

However by way of mitigation:-

We have only one set of C-Map cartridges and select which to use in which plotter, the secondary plotter will then have the adjacent area cartridge in it. If you know C-Map you will understand that adjacent cartridges have good coverage charts for the next area, just not the detail charts. All routes & WPTs on the plotters are backed up on memory cartridges and sent between plotters via the Laptop which has PCPlanner with a C-Map reader, the laptop also has the WPT and routes stored as backup. That way they all sing from the same shanty sheet.

Some repositioning of buoys have been updated in the cartridges using the C-Map supplied symbols on inserted 'marks'. Otherwise we carry the latest 'lights' list in the 'Votre Livre De Bord' Almanac as well as printed out Notices to Mariners from Imray's website for all on board charts - no I haven't amended the individual charts except where I thought it essential (revised TSS off Ushant for example).

All this sounds terribly complicated, it isn't though! I like to navigate, but I also like to sail and if the technology is there it allows time to sit back, sniff the breeze and tweak the sails, without having to keep running up and down to plot positions, write the log etc.

I started this by replying to the simple questions in the original post, how did this lot get going!


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[Twister_Ken]

Re: DDCC

We were either in East Cowes or West Cowes, depending on which way up the double decker's chart was hung.

Seriously, though, if you thought the West Cowes wine list was a bit low-rent, you wouldn't have liked Cowes Est one bit.

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[LadyInBed]

I keep a paper log out of habit, and because I think it is good practice.
On X-channel trips I put in hourly entries but on coastal passages I make an entry at ‘significant’ points along the route, normally at WP’s / course changes / tacks.
When Filofax was all the rage I made up a Filofax size log sheet in Excel and have used it ever since. Its nothing fancy just a two line entry recording Date / Time : Compass Headind / Log reading : COG / SOG : CTW / DTW : Position and Comments that might be weather info and name of headland.
I also have a Passage sheet that records such things as Crew : ETD / ETA : Place of Departure / Arrival Tidal info : and WP data.


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[peterb]

John

See my pm.

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