Trailed Logs: What to look for

[GHA]

Don't understand why you are wanting to sail without a GPS unless you enjoy the uncertainty of never knowing exactly where you are.

Have you tried it offshore? It's great, so long as you know fairly well where you're not. Chipping away at the black and white Western idea that certainty in the universe is possible and should be constantly at everyone's fingertips.
knowing vaguely where you are and having the boat pointing vaguely in the right direction, what could be better

Though harder these days with the usefulness of AIS onboard.

Back to trailing logs, cruising I find the Walker onboard handy to check the calibration of the st50 log isn't too far out at the start of a long offshore passage.

if your setting it up for tacking whilst cruising then perhaps asking questions about how your navigation went so badly wrong to result in wind forward of the beam might be more productive than sog accuracy

 

[VO5]

Have you tried it offshore? It's great, so long as you know fairly well where you're not. Chipping away at the black and white Western idea that certainty in the universe is possible and should be constantly at everyone's fingertips.
knowing vaguely where you are and having the boat pointing vaguely in the right direction, what could be better

Though harder these days with the usefulness of AIS onboard.

Back to trailing logs, cruising I find the Walker onboard handy to check the calibration of the st50 log isn't too far out at the start of a long offshore passage.

if your setting it up for tacking whilst cruising then perhaps asking questions about how your navigation went so badly wrong to result in wind forward of the beam might be more productive than sog accuracy

.....and the joy of mastery of working out a traverse for ded reckoning to the amazement and wonderment of ....er....less numerate persons......and all in a heaving sea out of sight of land in dripping oilskins.......Oh ! The Wonder of It !..

 

[AntarcticPilot]

....

Back to trailing logs, cruising I find the Walker onboard handy to check the calibration of the st50 log isn't too far out at the start of a long offshore passage.

....

Good hidden point here. A trailing log is expected to be more accurate than a through-hull one, because the spinner is a) larger and b) operating in a clean flow of water away from the perturbing effects of flow round the hull.