Keeping a logbook - advice needed for a newbie

Molteni

Molteni

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I've crewed several times in the Bristol Channel, having gained my Day Skipper in Cornwall last year. Needless to say I'm now totally hooked!

I've kept rough diary entries for these trips, but would now like to formalise them for future reference.

Is there a recommended sailing logbook to buy, as there seem to be several on the market?

Thanks in advance

Mike
 
I change my mind quite regularly about what I put in a log book, currently I use the RYA Sail Logbook as it covers most issues and has pages for notes etc. The thing I value most is looking at old ones and remembering stuff I had forgotten. Also who was on a particular voyage can be handy.
This is for an individual vessel though, if you are talking about a personal logbook then your RYA G15 logbook and cruising syllabus may be the way to go but it is a bit short on space if you want to record your more philosophical musings.
 
Two types of log books. One for the boat, recording passages and boat related issues. Many types on the market, but some people choose to make up their own with the information that suits them. The other is your personal log to record your experiences. The RYA one is a good format to follow, but some people also keep a more diary like record in addition.
 
When we brought our first yacht a good friend ( slightly older and wiser) advised that we get a log book and write in it what happened on each trip, not just the navigation etc. but what happened and how the crew got on etc. He said if you don't write a log you loose a lot of valuable memories. So we try and write up the log book on each trip. Looking back at the log book they were right, lots of things come back to mind which had been forgotten.
 
seumask said:
When we brought our first yacht a good friend ( slightly older and wiser) advised that we get a log book and write in it what happened on each trip, not just the navigation etc. but what happened and how the crew got on etc. He said if you don't write a log you loose a lot of valuable memories. So we try and write up the log book on each trip. Looking back at the log book they were right, lots of things come back to mind which had been forgotten.
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Very true. We have always logged every moving hour regardless of where we are. I have all my logs back to the mid-1990s and often refer to them for a variety of reasons.
 
Molteni said:
I've crewed several times in the Bristol Channel, having gained my Day Skipper in Cornwall last year. Needless to say I'm now totally hooked!

I've kept rough diary entries for these trips, but would now like to formalise them for future reference.

Is there a recommended sailing logbook to buy, as there seem to be several on the market?

Thanks in advance

Mike
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As Tranona says, there are two different meanings of log book.

1) boat's log book, where you make a regular record of position, conditions, etc. etc.. during a voyage and add a narrative if it suits you.

2) Log book for recording your experience as crew for presentation when you sit an RYA exam. Make a record of each trip with days on board, miles, night hours and max conditions and get each entry signed by the skipper.

I'm guessing you mean the latter. The RYA sell a log book for this - it has lots of extra info on the RYA training scheme which doesn't leave as much room as you expect for recording your trips. The extra info is all available on their website anyway. Having filled two up, I now just use an Excel spreadsheet, but I've stopped collecting autographs since the YM exam. Getting each trip signed is more important when you haven't yet sat the exams.
 
seumask said:
When we brought our first yacht a good friend ( slightly older and wiser) advised that we get a log book and write in it what happened on each trip, not just the navigation etc. but what happened and how the crew got on etc. He said if you don't write a log you loose a lot of valuable memories. So we try and write up the log book on each trip. Looking back at the log book they were right, lots of things come back to mind which had been forgotten.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Although it's not that unlikely that awful things will happen continually if you don't , an entry on the hour is a very good habit to get into.

If nothing else it can show just how unreliable memory can be :)

As a ships log anyway, the OP sounds like he's after something more like a crew log as mentioned above.
 
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I have 2 log books 1 for the serious stuff i.e. wether, miles, barometer, engine hours, position ect done on the hour if on a passage. I also have 1 for all the things like seeing dolphins or porpoise all the day today fun i tend to record this as it happens or just after on my phone or in a rough note book then type it up on to my laptop later
 
I try and keep a log on my laptop. just a few lines about who was on board, weather, wind speed, destination and anything that happened etc
 
We just have one, in which we record weather, course, conditions etc, major waypoints , VHF calls, (every hour on long passages, as and when on shorter ones). But we also write entries on porpoises, Dolphins, sea eagles, interesting boats etc. we write on the right leaf, and afterwards stick photos on the left, and put in sketch maps of the harbours or anchorages with observations to make it easier if we visit them again. My partner has just compiled all those harbour and anchorage comments and maps as a reference for this summer's trip.

It is great to look back at a logbook with a bit of detail in it to recall particularly good days and lovely locations.
 
What is logbook actually for?

If you are just logging miles to get record for YM then as you will probably have the RYA one anyhow then just use that. 1 line per time on board, whether that is 1 day or a fortnight.

If it is the boats formal log then you will need much more information. Regular records of position, course steered, log, wind, etc.

If you are doing it as a reminder of your trip then plenty of space for comments, thoughts etc. I find a large notebook works reasonably well but we only use it as a boats log when out of the solen, not for logging a trip from the Hamble to cowes!!
 
I bought log books at a chandler. Every two hours Jane or I updated it with: Time, date, position, heading, barometer reading, any weather forecast we received, wind direction and speed and engine hours. The engine hours were totalled and written at the bottom of the page which was added to a running total on eacg page. This was for long distance sailing.
 
I use a week to view diary to enter ever trip even if just a couple of hours on the tide.
There is a very sound reason for this in addition to those previously alluded to.
As sailing is virtually a non regulated hobby/pastime it is only a matter of time before some, not so bright civil servant/do gooder/ interfering busybody/money grabbing government official decides that it need regulating/licencing. So just as Grandfathers Rights existed and was applied in years gone to some things (which elude me at present) I am compiling evidence that I have done this sailing malarky safely and consistently for many, many years and therefore should not have to be tested taxed etc.

Call me cynical but someone (Probably Ed Balls/Milliput) will wake up to the number of people doing it and, as there are many, then it's a 'wonderful' Tax raising opportunity, and of course we sailors are all wealthy/rich so its a natural follow on from the Mansion Tax!!!!

Oh I feel better for that rant. Good night.
 
I really like the loose-leaf format. I can keep each journey in a separate plastic wallet, and then can take relevant previous journeys with me on a particular trip. I've used this one: http://www.chartsandtides.co.uk/static/logbook.pdf since I started sailing. It's free and records what I need. What's not to like? :)

I also then keep a record of stuff in Excel which logs hours, miles, etc - just for my own interest really, but is useful to know if I ever head down the route of getting my ticket...
 
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