Knotstick - every boat should have one!

[rhumbunctious]

Over three days of varying winds?

Presumably one would be logging speed and bearing are regular intervals during those three days such that one's dead reckoning would be reasonably accurate. Even if using a walker log, it would be wise to log details a bit more frequently than every three days or so.

 

[emandvee44]

knotstick

Walker trailing logs are available on ebay at the moment. I have purchased two(don't ask) in the last month, one a KDO model (no speed indicator) and one KDS with the speed indicator).
Also look on ebay.com - opens up a whole new world. You can also find walker logs on other sites, for example yacht clubs & class association sites (where I bought one).

Cheers,

Michael.

 

[snooks]

what do people use as a non-electrical back up to record speed and distance?

I don't have a back up....why do I need one?



We plot the position on the chart every hour, steer the compass course, we'd only be an hour out at most. Our boat more or less travels at 5 knots. We know what direction we were heading, if we travel faster than 5 knots we get there faster, if we travel slower than 5 knots, it will take longer.

I'm not crossing oceans, so why do I need a back up?

ps I do have an electrical back up, my iphone which I can run for 2-3 days without power (not with GPS all the time obviously), and I don't plan on being at sea for that long.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

OK, as the Walker Log is no longer available (new) what do people use as a non-electrical back up to record speed and distance?

I'd use the time-honoured technique of throwing something floating off the bow and timing it past the stern. For dead-reckoning, doing this once or twice an hour would be adequate - the original ship's log worked in a similar way, and measurements once a bell were good enough for Capitan Cook, so it should be OK for me!

If I was really feeling luddite, I'd create a traverse board, which records speed and course.

 

[haydude]

Surfing the net this morning, as you do, I came across this: http://www.knotstick.com As the Walker Log is no longer made, I think this could be the next best thing. What do you think?

How did I do all these years without it!

Do you mean the ports I called into weren't really those I thought?
I must have an inaccurate Almanac too!