Remarkable Tablet as a ship’s logbook

[ylop]

I hadn't realised there was a subscription too, that kind of things is starting to really bug me in modern life!

I agree. You can use it without the sub but you don't get any of the cloud backup / synchronisation or googledrive/dropbox integrations then - its £2.99/mo.

 

[Gsailor]

@dunedin good questions!

No idea how it might hold up to the conditions - although a paper log book wouldn’t fair well if splashed with salty water either I suppose.

Could imagine it feeling more natural to write on than a tablet with stylus, given it’s designed to imitate paper. I’ve personally never really got on with using iPads as writing tablets

Waterproof paper and pen are infallible.

 

[HenrikH]

I work with a paper log. Would be nice to be able to bring back home the notes from a trip and transfer to something readable for recalling good times. I was on the verge for the Remarkable. But then came the subscription. A small share of the cost, but a dispicable concept.

 

[RupertW]

Working and boating are separate contexts. I have a computer in my office, but I still hand-write, in, for instance, my desk diary, notes to self, etc.
I have the electronics on my boat, but I take pleasure in using paper charts and log, and just regarding the electronics as backup, on the basis that we are taught that one should not rely on only one source of information. Likewise I believe that a paper log is a foolproof point of reference should the electronics fail.
Using a tablet or other device as a nav log is just a solution in search of a problem.

So I should invest in a paper logbook and a pen rather than keep using a tablet which is synced to my phone (and cloud when in signal) just because ….what?
Agree on paper charts and pencils as backup and I like to plot on longer trips.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I work with a paper log. Would be nice to be able to bring back home the notes from a trip and transfer to something readable for recalling good times. I was on the verge for the Remarkable. But then came the subscription. A small share of the cost, but dispicable concept.

Take photos of the log pages.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

So I should invest in a paper logbook and a pen rather than keep using a tablet which is synced to my phone (and cloud when in signal) just because ….what?
Agree on paper charts and pencils as backup and I like to plot on longer trips.

I think that a tablet is a much bigger investment than a pen and paper, and will eventually pack up.

 

[RupertW]

I think that a tablet is a much bigger investment than a pen and paper, and will eventually pack up.

Agreed I’d never buy a tablet for that alone but I already have one for emails, work apps, watching T.V. and streaming, as the only chart plotter, gaming, weather forecasts, manuals, and all work and home note taking etc etc.

 

[Momac]

I think the loss of ability to write is about as important as the loss of ability to do morse code.

I am pleased to say my grandchildren are taught to write at school so thankfully the government dont think the way you do.
More code on the other hand , never really has had a use in everyday life.

 

[Daydream believer]

Morse code on the other hand , never really has had a use in everyday life.

You clearly never sailed in the Channel, S North Sea & Thames estuary, in the days of RDF -pre GPS

 

[ylop]

Agreed I’d never buy a tablet for that alone but I already have one for emails, work apps, watching T.V. and streaming, as the only chart plotter, gaming, weather forecasts, manuals, and all work and home note taking etc etc.

Just an observation - you have a lot of eggs in one basket.

 

[ylop]

You clearly never sailed in the Channel, S North Sea & Thames estuary, in the days of RDF -pre GPS

You clearly don't know what "everyday life" meant!

 

[Daydream believer]

@dunedin good questions!
No idea how it might hold up to the conditions - although a paper log book wouldn’t fair well if splashed with salty water either I suppose.

You need stone paper note books
Stone paper

 

[Daydream believer]

You clearly don't know what "everyday life" meant!

Well I thought that you meant the important bits - not the c..p in between ?

 

[Buck Turgidson]

You clearly don't know what "everyday life" meant!

My everyday life involved identifying nav aids by morse code several times a day for years.

 

[RupertW]

Just an observation - you have a lot of eggs in one basket.

I agree that is the flaw - my phone is the backup device short term, but last time I lost my iPad it was top priority to get a new one but it was a long 4 hours before everything was bought and restored. The power of it is all the data and apps which sit in the cloud and and the device is buyable anywhere in the world I’m ever likely to work or sail.

 

[Momac]

You clearly never sailed in the Channel, S North Sea & Thames estuary, in the days of RDF -pre GPS

Correct.

 

[Momac]

I don't doubt it but that is not representative everyday life from a general public perspective, nor has it ever been.

 

[Daydream believer]

Correct.

I expect that you will never know what you missed.
ie the real joys of navigation & actually arriving where one intended -- sometimes

 

[[194224]]

You clearly never sailed in the Channel, S North Sea & Thames estuary, in the days of RDF -pre GPS

I am not sure that when we fished out the Seafix in the '60s and 70s we deluded ourselves that we were actually "doing" morse code. All that was required was to look up the station you wanted to use in ALRS or elsewhere, look up the Ident and listen for that pattern. Simply listening for and identifying a sonic pattern that happened to be from the morse alphabet is pretty trivial. How many of us at that time could actually listen to and transcribe an intercepted morse transmission or indeed make such a transmission in the first place? I met very few other than those who were communication specialists. Making a record by writing something down that could be used by you or another person at some point in the future does, in my view, more closely fit the bill of "everyday life".

 

[FWB]

I wish that I had kept mine at least as a decoration. I did change the 6 batteries for one large one, improved it no end