Logs and passage plans

[MikeJ42]

Does everyone here complete a simple written passage plan (just next buoy/distance/heading) and log entries for every single trip? I don’t mean 50 miles to a place you haven't been before, I mean those that are repeated regularly and you know them inside out? A trip to the marina just down the coast perhaps.
A recent conversation with a delivery skipper told me that an insurance assessor will require these docs to show good seamanship. A lack of them demonstrates negligence and that they are on the lookout for hastily filled logs that are completed from memory.
Everyone in the boatyard that I have asked says they do. Ahem, so do I…

 

[kashurst]

I tend to keep them under the chart on the chart table so they are available if the need arises

 

[colingr]

No but I do keep a log of where we've been, weather, tides, engine hours, fuel consumption, who's on board and any other useful notes like mermaids seen etc.

Passage planning for us is coastal hopping and line of site in familiar waters so I don't do a detailed plan. I would if I was going to a strange area, noting hazards, tide info etc.

 

[PaulGooch]

If i'm off for a days fishing at a regular spot, i don't need a passage plan. Unless you count :

Get up when awake.
Leave marina after breakfast.
Motor to fishing mark 15.
Fish until fedup.
Return to marina.

If i was going on a trip a bit further, i will make a bit more of a detailed plan. I might plot a course on the PC and transfer to the chart plotter. I will print tide charts (even though the plotter does them). I will check on the area to see if there is anything i need to be especially aware of, on a recent trip to the Thames, i had several sheets of A4 printed off with details for the Thames barrier, London VTS VHF channels and phone numbers, marina phone numbers and the numbers of surrounding marinas etc etc. I also calculate fuel and carry plenty of reserves.

On the way, i note the time at various points, note the wind speed and direction, and keep a record of fuel used. These notes can be used to double check the planning for the return trip, or may come in handy if we suddenly change plans.

 

[enterprise]

As Kashurst, all of our regular trips are detailed and printed off, even short hops along the coast ready for inspection.
The only thing we add is the weather, date, times, engine hours and times of H & LW to the preprinted PP.
Found that detailed passage planning is far easier during the winter months when time for carefull plotting and calculations allows.

As to the log book, we do keep a log, but tend to fill it in later, for anything less than a couple of hours trip we don't usually bother (getting fuel, passages on one heading for less than 5 miles etc), although we note down any alteration of course and speed when it occurs.

With both routes and waypoints planned using paper charts then entered to our ploter we feel confident that unless we need to divert, in which case we have contingency plans then we have probably done as much as we can.

 

[RIN]

I do the same as Jokerboat and have done so for every trip made since 2005. Got really good stats on Nmpg etc and also write down cost of marina and other incidentals, cost of fuel bought, friendliness of staff, interesting walks good value restaurants etc. For big trips - cross channel I will do a proper passage plan on a proforma

 

[gjgm]

Does everyone here complete a simple written passage plan (just next buoy/distance/heading) and log entries for every single trip? I don’t mean 50 miles to a place you haven't been before, I mean those that are repeated regularly and you know them inside out? A trip to the marina just down the coast perhaps.
A recent conversation with a delivery skipper told me that an insurance assessor will require these docs to show good seamanship. A lack of them demonstrates negligence and that they are on the lookout for hastily filled logs that are completed from memory.
Everyone in the boatyard that I have asked says they do. Ahem, so do I…

A delivery skipper may need them to explain, perhaps. Otherwise, you are required to have a plan-or perhaps to have planned- but it does not need to be written.
Fuel,wind,tide,distance,weather... I would suggest you would do these mentally anyway.
Or put it the other way.. would you set off with no idea where you are going,how far it is,how much fuel you need, no clue as to whether there is enough water, and no idea of the tides or weather forecasts?

Hopefully not !

 

[Kawasaki]

If i'm off for a days fishing at a regular spot, i don't need a passage plan. Unless you count :

Get up when awake.
Leave marina after breakfast.
Motor to fishing mark 15.
Fish until fedup.
Return to marina.

.

Bloody rubbish and flawed passage plan IMHO
'Get up when awake'
Job to do owt else less yer sleep walking!
'Leave marina after breakfast'
OK , I,ll give yer that case yer hafta 'spew'!
'Motor to fishing mark 15
Fish till fed up'
Well don't go to 15 then
'Return to Marina'

Yeh!? no mention of retiring to the Pub!

Plans like this could give Moboer's a bad name!

 

[CX54WEK]

As we are based on a river we dont tend to do passage plans. We have one for going down the Humber but it is a very basic affair.

For our coastal trips we prepare a passage plan in advance with waypoints, distances, bearings etc. and keep a log of engine hours and times of arrival and departure when they occur. We keep the ones we are likely to repeat on a regular basis aboard the boat along with contingency plan routes.

 

[Kipper]

Never bothered with a passage plan just hit goto on the plotter and have chart and stuff ready if it fails. I suppose it would be a good idea but I have done so many hours aroound the North Wales coast I know how long and roughly how much fuel i need never left marina with less than 30 gallons in the tank anyway. I i would not like to keep a record of what it cost me else I would never leave the marina.

 

[duncan]

my last trip was the scuttlebutt Cherbourg run last weekend

passage planning was as follows -

1. weather (whether) - and this is always dynamic in that there are forecast, cast off conditions and decision points; in my case out of Poole it's normally 5 miles south of Durlston Head. Tides aren't a separate factor heading to C'bourg for me - they combine with weather considerations ie if it's a F4 SW I would look to be crossing with a flooding tide ie wider tidal awareness is involved. Tables, almanacs, charts etc all aboard.
2. fuel (consideration of gauge/electronic log of miles run from last fill v estimated trip etc)
3. crew comfort considerations - er no crew this time.....
4. there is no 4 - but engine checks done and all electronics are run up before departure (radar goes back off unless required); this isn't passage planning it's boating and I do the same going to Brownsea Island or Alderney)
Equally I will text SWMBO that I am leaving (and on arrival) for XC, as well as a call to Portland when SH.

log is handled by 2 plotters - one of which only records infrequent points and has about a years trips in hand. I have a small paper pad and pencil in grab bag in case of anything I feel it's appropriate to record at the time - unused in a lot of years.

so, the good bit is that no trees get unnecessarily hacked down for me. the balance of the solas V requirements are effectively permanent for my normal crew as the safety equipment remains on board.

I have set all this out like this because I think it represents what a lot of people actually do - the big variables are probably fuel margins (with a 350mile range in best conditions I don't tend to be marginal here - ever), port info when going somewhere new, tides (heading to Guernsey I will have put the days tidal timing on a laminated tide chart of the whole area and have it to hand at the helm as well as considerations before leaving!) - which leaves 'navigation'...... and here there is a huge variation in how people think and act. I am comfortable that from Durlston Head I go 180 to C'bourg, 210 to Alderney or 270 to Weymouth on my compass; and have 4 chartplotters to use 'go to cursor' if I feel like it - I never pre-programme routes with legs, but then again I don't have an autopilot on my little boat Others will do things differently as best fits their needs.

 

[Searush]

There is no requirement for leisure craft to have a written passage plan - altho' there is for commercial craft. Mostly I am pottering well known areas & all I need to do is check tide times (tide table kept on board) & weather (look carefully all around) & off we pop.

Last time I did a passage plan was for a trip to Red Wharf bay which entails 4 tide gates & that was just a list of earliest/ latest passage times at each gate. Old Salt (of fora fame) actually wrote it down for me because I couldn't be bothered. No plan will survive contact with the enemy, so my plan of what I intend doing frequently changes on the hoof.

I used to do it religiously, but that developed my knowledge & understanding of the issues & even tho my memory is now slipping away I no longer find a need to write stuff down.

 

[hlb]

I used to have a bit of a plan written down, years ago. Just a few way points on a fag packet.

Cant remember having much of a plan, going from Plymouth to North Wales a couple of years ago.

About the only plan in my head is. Did we fill the tank up.

 

[enterprise]

I was on my Dayskiper and Yachtmaster courses around 12-14yrs ago now and probably forgotten the biggest majority of stuff but there is one quote I will always remember from probably the very first night.

Our tutor said 'The more you put in, the more you get out', referring to time and effort spent planning.
At the time the comment seamed irrelevant but I can now see the logic, where by forewarned is forearmed, places of interest and sites to see are not missed etc.

The daft thing is I like probably everyone else after training went out and followed the cardinals and bouyage like I was piloting the QE2, how things have changed.

I think some passage planning however small or irrelevant you may think gives a sense of achievement on completion, can make the trip more interesting not to mention more comfortable.

Local inshore passages aside I think it's good practice once in a while.

 

[duncan]

.........places of interest and sites to see are not missed etc.

I couldn't agree more with the underlying principle, and will often spend huge amounts of time considering such issues, as well as the very basic 'where shall we actually go?' question - call it trip planning maybe?

It's not got a lot to do with Solas V voyage/passage planning requirements though (accepting a little overlap with crew comfort and possibly contingency planning)

I still think the MCA's guidance note on the V/34 requirements sums it up best with the into line..."....planning is basically common sense"!

 

[strakeryrius]

Does everyone here complete a simple written passage plan (just next buoy/distance/heading) and log entries for every single trip?

I wouldn't call that a passage plan - that's more of a pilotage plan. I've prepared one of those for entry and exit for all of the harbours I visit regularly, but they live down below with the charts and only see the air if I'm forced to enter after dark or in very poor visibility. Even then I tend to just keep them for backup and use the plotter to confirm what I can see from the cockpit.

I only bother to do a passage plan for trips cross-channel and longer forays down the South Coast. I know my regular cruising grounds well enough that I just need to check times of HW/LW and the rest can all be done by mark 1 eyeball.

 

[Poignard]

I don't make any kind of written plan ('no plan survives contact with the enemy' - Clausewitz?) but I usually have an objective in my head and I have the latest weather forecast and tidal information noted down. That objective may be no more than an intention to get as far as possible before the tide turns, or it gets dark, or the pubs shut etc

I think being able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances is far more important (and safer) than relying on plans. But it depends on what suits your personality.