Monitoring

[clunk]

Does anyone else keep a diary, spreadsheet of fueling, water filling, emptying cassette toilet, cleaning, etc? Or is it just me, drives my other half mad.

[Guest]

Used to keep a log of fuel fills.

 

Beyond that.

 

No.

[clunk]

2 minutes ago, M_JG said:

Used to keep a log of fuel fills.

 

Beyond that.

 

No.

Bugger, maybe she's right.

[Lily Rose]

16 minutes ago, clunk said:

Does anyone else keep a diary, spreadsheet of fueling, water filling, emptying cassette toilet, cleaning, etc? Or is it just me, drives my other half mad.

A Google spreadsheet (now that I've sacked Microsoft) log of time spent on the boat, where we went, servicing & repairs, diesel fill-ups plus any significant events/mishaps etc.

 

Certainly don't bother with mundane stuff like filling the water tank of emptying toilet cassettes etc. That sounds like an unhealthy obsession to me.

[RichM]

 

32 minutes ago, clunk said:

Does anyone else keep a diary, spreadsheet of fueling, water filling, emptying cassette toilet, cleaning, etc? Or is it just me, drives my other half mad.

 

No I didn't, but maybe I should have kept more detailed record of my expenses in relation to boating. I just had a general budget which included the maintenance/running costs of the boat and kept within that. 

 

Do you do anything with the data you have collated? If not then perhaps maybe question whether or not it's worthy of your time. I can see why you may want to keep record of your fuel usage but everything else you mentioned seems somewhat OTT on the face of it. Each to their own though.

[Tony1]

 

I make an entry in my google calendar every time I fill the water, but it's not for the sake of having a record. I record it so that I can quickly check how many days it's been since it was last filled, and so I know when I'll need to get to a water point. 

Likewise with the gas bottle- it needs changing about every 6 months, so I make a calendar entry, and then I know when it will be next due. 

I also make an entry when I moor in a new location, for the same sort of reason- I can check exactly when 14 days are going to elapse, and I don't have to rely on my poor memory.

[RichM]

20 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

I make an entry in my google calendar every time I fill the water, but it's not for the sake of having a record. I record it so that I can quickly check how many days it's been since it was last filled, and so I know when I'll need to get to a water point. 

Likewise with the gas bottle- it needs changing about every 6 months, so I make a calendar entry, and then I know when it will be next due. 

I also make an entry when I moor in a new location, for the same sort of reason- I can check exactly when 14 days are going to elapse, and I don't have to rely on my poor memory.

 

For me personally, I could estimate how much water was aboard by looking at the waterline at the bow. She would sit lower in the water with a full tank and vice versa. I could use this to guestimate how much water she had aboard. She would also rock side-to-side more easily with less water aboard which was a tale tale sign of needing a fill up pronto!

 

As for gas, I just ensured that I always had a spare bottle aboard and replaced one as soon as the other had depleted. It was at worst a minor inconvenience when having to swap them over but then I only used gas for cooking. With your method, I guess there is a risk you could end up replacing it prematurely?

 

As for ensuring you don't overstay your mooring; You could also use your phone to set a reminder as to alert you when to move on. If you have a smart phone, you could use Siri or Google Assistant to set it for you via voice command, thus negating the need to type anything. (if you prefer) 

 

edit: Just realised I wasn't replying to the OP. Whoops, long day! Edited to fit given context. 

[Tony1]

1 minute ago, RichM said:

 

Fair enough, that puts a different spin on things. If it works for you then why not stick with it. Unless your wife wants the task of ensuring you don't run out of gas/water?

For me personally, I could estimate how much water was aboard by looking at the waterline at the bow. She would sit lower in the water with a full tank and vice versa. I could use this to guestimate how much water she had aboard. She would also rock side-to-side more easily with less water aboard which was a tale tale sign of needing a fill up pronto!

 

As for gas, I just ensured that I always had a spare bottle aboard and replaced one as soon as the other had depleted. It was at worst a minor inconvenience when having to swap them over but then I only used gas for cooking. With your method, I guess there is a risk you could end up replacing it prematurely. 

 

As for ensuring you don't overstay your mooring; You could also use your phone to set a reminder as to alert you when to move on. If you have a smart phone, you could use Siri or Google Assistant to set it for you via voice command, thus negating the need to type anything. (if you prefer) 

 

Of course there's nothing wrong with the way you're doing it and now you've given some context, it doesn't seem all that crazy. (except maybe the toilet )

 

I dont think I was entirely clear above- I dont change the gas bottle automatically at 6 months- when 6 months are up I just check it. But I always have a spare available. 

To be fair, I got a bit paranoid about gas supplies during the lockdowns with so many of the sellers saying they weren't sure when their next supply was coming, so I do like to know when its coming due as I can plan to be close to a marina or fuel boat, and get a new spare asap. But that is me being over -cautious, no doubt about that.

Re the water tank- yes I can see the bow rise a bit as the water tank empties, but to my inexperienced eyes that change in bow depth doesn't even come close to giving me a rough idea of when it'll run out. It sounds quite traditional and boaty, but a one-word entry of 'water' in my calendar gives me a 'run-dry' date that I can rely on, to within a day or two.

And I do not take any chances when it comes to running out of water. I want to make sure I'm not too far from a facilities point when I'm running low, especially if there's a chance of things freezing. 

I used to carry a 10L container of emergency water but I didn't use it in two years, so I've stopped now. But without an emergency supply, I need to know when the water's going to run out. 

Re the mooring- I deliberately don't set a specific reminder date with the google calendar entry for the date of mooring, because I dont know what date I'll be leaving. I may stay for  two days, or it may be 14, depending on all sorts of things. And as often as not, I wont leave on the date I originally planned anyway.

So the original mooring date is usually the most helpful, and I've lost count of the number of times I've been stood there scratching my head and wondering when I arrived at a place, saying 'no, wait, I arrived on Friday, because it was the day before the football game, wasnt it? Or was it?' etc, etc. Making a quick entry just takes out the doubt and the head scratching.   

 

 

[Rob-M]

I have a spreadsheet to record days on the boat, where we are moored, miles traveled, locks done, gas purchased, diesel purchased, coal purchased, whether I was working, whether we were plugged in to shore power and if we filled with water.  I also record any work done such as engine service, blacking, new batteries, solar install.

[magnetman]

I keep a record of beer intake. 

 

Its all in my head. 

[Tony Brooks]

All I did was keep a record of what maintenance/repairs/improvements and when, while my wife tended to write a diary of where we had been that day.

[roland elsdon]

We have a ships log . Where how many hours run, what we did , oil changes repairs and bits and bobs. Dockings part numbers etc.

who we crashed into who we passed and boated through locks with.

These logs cover 3 boats  and go back to 1983.!

 

Every so often on a long evening we go back and read bits

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

I keep a record of beer intake. 

 

Its all in my head. 

Better in your stomach, shirley?  

 

We sort of keep a diary, a hangover from shareboat days, just says where we travelled to and from and any points of note. Fuel and water we have guages that are pretty accurate. Gas we have one in use and a full spare, replace when one runs out. Although currently we have a magic gas bottle that was part full when we bought the boat in Nov ‘21 and is still going

[davem399]

On our shared owners boat, we keep a daily diary, which is useful for other owners to read and spread the word.  We include the journey for the day, where we found suitable moorings, shops. pubs etc, as other owners are likely to be cruising the same areas.

 

We also have on board a copy of the ‘end of holiday’ report where we record engine hours (to determine when the next service is due) and any faults and breakdowns, and the subsequent fix.

[DaveP]

I have a wall calandar that has a record of water fills, gas bottle changes and purchases, diesel purchases, destinations and hours travelled (and battery charging hours), grocery costs and seller.  Summaries are transcribed monthly onto a spreadsheet, along with mobile data and cost totals. There's a little orange book for servicing and repair notes, and the environmental, location and electrical states are copied to a cloud server every minute.

 

It's all revisited and is useful (some more so than others).  Next item is to automate the engine run time recording...

 

[Do I have a problem?]

[robtheplod]

Not as such, but i do pop updates/changes etc onto YouTube, so if/when we sell someone can see for themselves..

[Hudds Lad]

9 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

Not as such, but i do pop updates/changes etc onto YouTube, so if/when we sell someone can see for themselves..

Plus those fat stacks of advertising cash must come in handy  

[ditchcrawler]

11 hours ago, clunk said:

Does anyone else keep a diary, spreadsheet of fueling, water filling, emptying cassette toilet, cleaning, etc? Or is it just me, drives my other half mad.

Fuel/engine hours and toilet tank/date, that way I have a good idea when it needs doing again. Miles. hours and locks plus overnight mooring location.

[Ray T]

4 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

We have a ships log . Where how many hours run, what we did , oil changes repairs and bits and bobs. Dockings part numbers etc.

who we crashed into who we passed and boated through locks with.

These logs cover 3 boats and go back to 1983.!

 

Every so often on a long evening we go back and read bits

 

Similar to above. When I sailed offshore it was / is a legal requirement to keep a ships log. Obviously, I don't mark the boats' position on a chart or bother with position fixes!

 

I still keep a "ships log" in which I record engine hours, places, start stop times and any information I think relevant.

 

6 hours ago, magnetman said:

I keep a record of beer intake. 

 

It's all in my head. 

 

I'd have thought the beer would be in the holding tank beneath your ribs? 😁

 

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Ray T

[robtheplod]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

Plus those fat stacks of advertising cash must come in handy  

Maybe for some, but I'm nowhere near being monetised on it...... i notice they put ads on though which is a bit cheeky!

[SandyD]

I also keep a ships Log, it gives a good idea of fuel and water levels, when next service is due. And acts as an record of where we've been and moorings we've enjoyed.

[David Schweizer]

I used to keep a daily record of the hours we spent travelling on the boat, which included miles travelled, number of lock/swingbridges, working water points, places we moored etc. It also included, details of fuelling and servicing. It was quite useful in estimating future trips on the same canals.  I still have it in my bookcase.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by David Schweizer

[Ken X]

9 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

I used to keep a daily record of all time travelling on the boat,

 

 

NB Tardis 😄

[clunk]

13 hours ago, RichM said:

 

 

No I didn't, but maybe I should have kept more detailed record of my expenses in relation to boating. I just had a general budget which included the maintenance/running costs of the boat and kept within that. 

 

Do you do anything with the data you have collated? If not then perhaps maybe question whether or not it's worthy of your time. I can see why you may want to keep record of your fuel usage but everything else you mentioned seems somewhat OTT on the face of it. Each to their own though.

I've not done anything with the data as of yet but am hoping after the1st year to be able to work out all of the basics, water used, diesel for heating, amount of waste produced, miles travelled and other bits and bobs.

[Psychalist]

Until you know what's normal on a boat, it's useful to have an idea of consumption rates, jobs done etc. Then, anything abnormal can be recognised and purchases planned. Especially true if one has a poor memory. We have both log book and diary, paper based. Electronic analysis offered by a spreadsheet might be useful but I would have difficulty organising that judging by the random notes in my log.