Boat Log - Document your travels by NB

[David Floyd]

We've been quietly building something new on CanalMaps.co.uk — a Boat Log feature that lets you record and share your canal trips on an interactive map.

 

Whether you want to document a trip you're on, relive a past adventure, or even plan your next voyage — you can log overnight stops, add notes about moorings, record visits to pubs, locks, marinas and more, and share your route as a live interactive map with friends and family. You can even embed it in your blog! 🗺️

 

It's still in beta, so it's not perfect yet — but it's working and we'd love a few adventurous souls to give it a try and tell us what they think.

 

If you fancy being one of our early testers, head over to 👇
🔗 https://canalmaps.co.uk/boat-logs/

 

Register for a free account and start logging. We'd really appreciate any feedback — what works, what doesn't, and what you'd like to see added.

 

Drop us a comment below or use the Support link on the site. All feedback welcome! 😊

 

#CanalMaps #CanalBoating #NarrowboatLife #UKCanals #BoatLife #CanalHolidays #CanalPlanning

[David Floyd]

this was a test I created for a trip we did in 2021 
see https://canalmaps.co.uk/boat-log/trip/5a389cf644add2bdf900578e/

 

D

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Interesting work. Must admit I'll still probably carry on using a paper based log book. 

It is important to distinguish a boat log from a log boat!

license

[David Floyd]

I was wondering where I left that 

[Alan de Enfield]

And of course the original boat-log (use for measuring boat speed, and, where the term 'knot' comes from) was a simple affair ....................

 

 

[IanM]

14 hours ago, David Floyd said:

Register for a free account and start logging.

 

Why does everything require an account?

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, IanM said:

 

Why does everything require an account?

That stops me dead.

[David Floyd]

The reason you need an account is so you can keep your maps and data private, how else can you make your own map on our system without it knowing who you are. We do only ask the basic/minimum information to do this.

One you have a map created you can decide who see it or if it is public.

 

D

[mrsmelly]

6 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Interesting work. Must admit I'll still probably carry on using a paper based log book. 

It is important to distinguish a boat log from a log boat!

license

I am with you, its all ok I spose but my missus kept a day to page diary for our over 30 years aboard we can pick any year out and its all available instantly without a " device" or charging or accounts. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I am with you, its all ok I spose but my missus kept a day to page diary for our over 30 years aboard we can pick any year out and its all available instantly without a " device" or charging or accounts. 

 

1 hour ago, David Floyd said:

The reason you need an account is so you can keep your maps and data private, how else can you make your own map on our system without it knowing who you are. We do only ask the basic/minimum information to do this.

One you have a map created you can decide who see it or if it is public.

 

D

My paper based log book is also super secure even without a user name and password, as my handwriting is so bad, only I can read it! 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

 

My paper based log book is also super secure even without a user name and password, as my handwriting is so bad, only I can read it! 

 

My writing is so bad that even I can't decipher it after a while. 

 

When I  was at work one of my team could read my writing better than I could! Nowadays a put everything in notes on my phone. At least that way I can read it after the passage of time.

[mrsmelly]

2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

 

My paper based log book is also super secure even without a user name and password, as my handwriting is so bad, only I can read it! 

This made me smile. I was once giving evidence in a murder trial at Leeds Crown and when questioned I had to ask to refer to my notes but my writing was/is so bad I could not understand it so the prosecuting council had to take me through my statement 🙄

Edited March 19 by mrsmelly

[Cheese]

Anyone enthusiastic enough to maintain a boat log probably wants to use a medium that will last for at least a few years. And websites are not guaranteed to last beyond their domain registration expiry date (which looks to be October 2027 for canalmaps.co.uk). How long do you plan to maintain it for? Any guarantees / succession plans?

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

My writing is so bad that even I can't decipher it after a while. 

 

When I  was at work one of my team could read my writing better than I could! Nowadays a put everything in notes on my phone. At least that way I can read it after the passage of time.

I am the same, Computers for written mesages saved my life, well some of the hair I have left anyway.

[David Floyd]

I like my paper swell, this is not for everyone, it just what I wanted for myself as as I can I offered it out to others, the big feature I wanted was the ability to add maps to blogs, Social Media, etc.

 

D

[mrsmelly]

3 hours ago, Cheese said:

Anyone enthusiastic enough to maintain a boat log probably wants to use a medium that will last for at least a few years. And websites are not guaranteed to last beyond their domain registration expiry date (which looks to be October 2027 for canalmaps.co.uk). How long do you plan to maintain it for? Any guarantees / succession plans?

Just had a quick squint at a page from 1989 on the Coventry and we had filled up at 50 pence a gallon of red lol or 11 pence a litre if you like. 

[David Floyd]

3 hours ago, Cheese said:

Anyone enthusiastic enough to maintain a boat log probably wants to use a medium that will last for at least a few years. And websites are not guaranteed to last beyond their domain registration expiry date (which looks to be October 2027 for canalmaps.co.uk). How long do you plan to maintain it for? Any guarantees / succession plans?

It been running for a few years, before this it linked directly to the floydtilla.co.uk map page, this is a beta, but I hope to make an useable export that will allow people to keep the data in a useable form

 

But you an never tell.. 

 

D

[matty40s]

10 hours ago, David Floyd said:

The reason you need an account is so you can keep your maps and data private, how else can you make your own map on our system without it knowing who you are. We do only ask the basic/minimum information to do this.

One you have a map created you can decide who see it or if it is public.

 

D

You can keep everything private if you don't stick it online.

You can keep nothing at all private if you do stick it online.

Everything is hackable nowadays.

When the internet dies, paper trails will be the only history.

Whatever happened to and on planet Earth between 2001 and 2027?

[mrsmelly]

9 hours ago, matty40s said:

You can keep everything private if you don't stick it online.

You can keep nothing at all private if you do stick it online.

Everything is hackable nowadays.

When the internet dies, paper trails will be the only history.

Whatever happened to and on planet Earth between 2001 and 2027?

Correct. What always makes me laugh these days is that kids and grandkids do not want any old historical family photographs to keep but they all take a million fotos a week on their mobile device but never print off so they will all disappear lol. 

[matty40s]

Here is a classic example...

 

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, matty40s said:

Here is a classic example...

 

Obviously cycling around the deck, even ties in with the shape of the track 🚴‍♂️

[ditchcrawler]

14 hours ago, matty40s said:

Here is a classic example...

 

French sailor’s fitness app bungle exposes location of aircraft carrier

[StephenA]

On 19/03/2026 at 19:54, David Floyd said:

I like my paper swell, this is not for everyone, it just what I wanted for myself as as I can I offered it out to others, the big feature I wanted was the ability to add maps to blogs, Social Media, etc.

 

D

 

I coded a Wordpress plugin, for selfhosted sites that pulls your route from canalplan and you can then blog about it - creates summary maps, a post for each day with a map and some stats in it, and also allows you to link back to places in Canalplan and canalplan will link back to your blog posts Once the route is imported to the blog you can adjust each day.

https://mintball.tty.org.uk/trips/?routeid=23

 

Just doesn't work with the WP modern editor as I wasn't going to learn a whole new programming language. Moved off wordpress to classic press which solved the problem

Edited March 21 by StephenA

[Wanderer Vagabond]

On 19/03/2026 at 13:41, mrsmelly said:

I am with you, its all ok I spose but my missus kept a day to page diary for our over 30 years aboard we can pick any year out and its all available instantly without a " device" or charging or accounts. 

I've done much the same but on a Word Document that is instantly searchable (copied onto more than one computer). Give me a date between 27th July 2013 and today and I can bore you with exactly where I was moored🥱. It does throw up some interesting nuggets though, such as I can tell you I have negotiated Gosty Tunnel 53 times!😱 so that is 17 hours and 40 minutes of my life I shan't see again.

[David Floyd]

testing a link

https://canalmaps.co.uk/boat-log/trip/5a389cf644add2bdf900578e

If you follow this you should see a custom maps created for a trip we did 2021, I also embedded it on our blog post for that page

https://floydtilla.co.uk/2021/08/10/the-avon-ring-travelogue-part-3-back-to-droitwich-spa-marina/

 

Ta

 

D

4 hours ago, StephenA said:

 

I coded a Wordpress plugin, for selfhosted sites that pulls your route from canalplan and you can then blog about it - creates summary maps, a post for each day with a map and some stats in it, and also allows you to link back to places in Canalplan and canalplan will link back to your blog posts Once the route is imported to the blog you can adjust each day.

https://mintball.tty.org.uk/trips/?routeid=23

 

Just doesn't work with the WP modern editor as I wasn't going to learn a whole new programming language. Moved off wordpress to classic press which solved the problem

Very good stuff, I started from a different place but the aim in very similar 

 

D

Edited March 21 by David Floyd
adding examples