Ships Log

[dekker]

I want to start to keep a cruising record of our trips. Any advice regarding downloads or hard copy books please.

 

What and where do you keep your records? (If at all)

[PiRSqwared]

Excel is your friend (other spreadsheets are available)

[Grace and Favour]

We use Excel - - - and over the years have created a spreadsheet that we use for everything, monitoring fuel consumption, gas, coal, our solar power (etc etc etc)

 

The good thing with Excel is that it's so easy to extend/reduce it to incorporate whatever one wishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

(edited for spolling errir)

Edited March 31, 2013 by Grace & Favour

[churchward]

I want to start to keep a cruising record of our trips. Any advice regarding downloads or hard copy books please.

 

What and where do you keep your records? (If at all)

We use a hardcopy formatted book for the purpose we got it from Braunston marina. It has a hard cover folder which takes packs of refills for the text pages. I can't remember the name of it sorry. I have seen them for sale in other chandlers.

[DaveC]

We use a "page per day" A4 diary, from memory about a fiver per year. Plenty of spare pages for details of fuel purchases, engine servicing etc.

 

 

Dave

[wiccan]

I want to start to keep a cruising record of our trips. Any advice regarding downloads or hard copy books please.

 

What and where do you keep your records? (If at all)

 

I use Navvigator on Www.Waterexplorer.co.uk. The software is free. You don't need a GPS device. You can input your your route after you've finished your days cruising.

 

The software stores your journeys and displays your totals for the month, year and grand totals.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I use small pocket books (unlined) and then enter as much or as little as i please, writing and sketching.

I note the weather with symbols and generally scribble anything of interest.

I also write all over my maps with dates and ticks.

I think it's important to keep notes on the engine; parts replaced, strange sounds, noises or smoke. and record the daily engine hours.

 

After a month or so I get the maps out and do a calculation of miles and locks.

 

Oh, I try to keep a record of costs, beer drank, and friendly landlords.

It's a real jumble of stuff.

I hate form filling and box ticking.

 

I'm sure people with much more experience will have good and better suggestions.

 

I rarely take photos, which is a shame. Frightened I'll drop a camera in the water.

 

You could log how long another boater has over stayed on visitors moorings , or if they don't have a license. Not my thing, but others do it, allegedly.

 

 

Glenn

 

 

Half a dozen other answers by time I wrote this. I see Excel is dominant.

Edited March 31, 2013 by Goliath

[Keeping Up]

We use hard-cover A4 single-cash books, as bought from W H Smith. One page per day, we are now on volume 12.

 

The margin to the left of the page is useful for noting times (useful when you plan to repeat the journey) and we use the columns on the right to record hours, miles, and locks which we total at the foot of each page. Whenever we have guests they are strongly encouraged to write the day's records, and it's a lot of fun looking back at the old ones.

[ditchcrawler]

I keep a blog

[Alf27]

Small pocket diary, just for overnight location, engine hours, fuel/coal/pump-out bought etc.

[Joshua]

I use small pocket books (unlined) and then enter as much or as little as i please, writing and sketching................................. I rarely take photos, which is a shame. Frightened I'll drop a camera in the water.

 

Goliath, I have the perfect notebook for you. But first, don't fret about the camera, I have a high end camera and lenses and am constantly embarrassed by the equally high quality of dirt cheap digital pocket camera's, just buy one, snap away and bugger the cost, if you lose it just stay out of the pub for a week and that should easily cover the replacement cost.

 

As to notebooks, I don't keep a log but I do keep an engine room maintenance log. I found it while browsing in Waterstones, small, soft black cover, plain unlined pages and (drum roll) its waterproof!

 

I thought it was a joke when I first saw it and no one in the shop was sure. First thing I did when I got it home was write a page of text, rip out the page and put it under the tap, absolutely water proof, I even immersed it in a bowl of water for 5 minutes, no effect, its great. Comes with a graphite type pencil that writes just like any other pencil. See - http://www.luckies.c...derwater-notes/

Edited March 31, 2013 by Joshua

[steelaway]

This is the one I make up for us every year

Feel free to use it if it helps.

 

Print both sides to make an A5 booklet

 

My link

 

My link 2

 

 

 

 

Alex

Edited March 31, 2013 by steelaway

[boots]

Up to now have just used a notebook. Did use Excel and agree this is the most flexible and feature rich - problem for me was that don't always have a PC to hand when on the boat so ended up writing things down anyway.

 

However, for our last trip have just started to use an iPhone app: 'Boat Manager' and while early days, so far it seem OK. (agree it doesn't do anything that you couldn't do in excel, but for me the 'phone' is more convenient)

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

[quote name=Joshua' timestamp='1364751036' post='1052004'

 

See - http://www.luckies.c...derwater-notes/[/font]

 

 

 

Thanks

Will try one and let you now how I get on.

 

Glenn.

[Alanji]

If you have an iPhone or iPad the Boat Manager app is excellent.

Apart from log, which records your position, notes, odometer and a photo if you want, you get as many lists as you want, expiry dates, scheduled actions, fuel analysis and a very comprehensive financial analysis.

 

If you download the trial ignore the example given and input your own details.

[FadeToScarlet]

Blogspot.com, and now Wordpress.com.

 

That way, the family can check to ensure we haven't sunk yet, and we can easily put up photos, etc., of where we've been.

 

Useful when we start going over routes again, like we're about to set off down the Soar and Leicester line, a trip we last did in 2010, and the photos and notes that we made at the time are helping us route plan.

[blackrose]

I don't bother. I'm busy enough without thinking up more records to keep.

Edited March 31, 2013 by blackrose

[Up-Side-Down]

Excel is your friend (other spreadsheets are available)

With Excel as your friend who needs enemies!

 

Now Numbers ....... well that's a totally different matter .......... running as it does on an iPad or iPhone!

[Bobbybass]

We use Excel - - - and over the years have created a spreadsheet that we use for everything, monitoring fuel consumption, gas, coal, our solar power (etc etc etc)

 

The good thing with Excel is that it's so easy to extend/reduce it to incorporate whatever one wishes

 

 

 

(edited for spolling errir)

 

I gave all that up when i bought a boat !!

[carlt]

Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear

If the logs are kept a year;

Store your beech for Christmastide

With new-cut holly laid beside;

Chestnut's only good, they say,

If for years 'tis stored away;

Birch and fir-wood burn too fast

Blaze too bright and do not last;

Flames from larch will shoot up high,

Dangerously the sparks will fly;

But ash-wood green and ash-wood brown

Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.

 

Oaken logs, if dry and old,

Keep away the winter's cold;

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,

Fills your eyes and makes you choke;

Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,

E'en the very flames are cold;

It is by the Irish said;

Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread,

Apple-wood will scent the room,

Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;

But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry

A King may warm his slippers by.

[Radiomariner]

Goliath, I have the perfect notebook for you. But first, don't fret about the camera, I have a high end camera and lenses and am constantly embarrassed by the equally high quality of dirt cheap digital pocket camera's, just buy one, snap away and bugger the cost, if you lose it just stay out of the pub for a week and that should easily cover the replacement cost.

 

As to notebooks, I don't keep a log but I do keep an engine room maintenance log. I found it while browsing in Waterstones, small, soft black cover, plain unlined pages and (drum roll) its waterproof!

 

I thought it was a joke when I first saw it and no one in the shop was sure. First thing I did when I got it home was write a page of text, rip out the page and put it under the tap, absolutely water proof, I even immersed it in a bowl of water for 5 minutes, no effect, its great. Comes with a graphite type pencil that writes just like any other pencil. See - http://www.luckies.c...derwater-notes/

 

 

The write up says it is handy to write things down that you remember when in the shower. My first thought. "Where do you keep the notebook when you are in the shower?"

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

The write up says it is handy to write things down that you remember when in the shower. My first thought. "Where do you keep the notebook when you are in the shower?"

 

 

do I shower!?!

 

Refer to log.

 

Glenn

[system 4-50]

With Excel as your friend who needs enemies!

 

Now Numbers ....... well that's a totally different matter .......... running as it does on an iPad or iPhone!

Unless you want to cut & paste your bank statement when Excel works perfectly and Numbers does not.

 

 

 

[Grace and Favour]

With Excel as your friend who needs enemies!

 

Now Numbers ....... well that's a totally different matter .......... running as it does on an iPad or iPhone!

 

Oh

 

I am using Excel on my Mac - - - - -

 

Am I doing it wrong?

[ditchcrawler]

Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear

If the logs are kept a year;

Store your beech for Christmastide

With new-cut holly laid beside;

Chestnut's only good, they say,

If for years 'tis stored away;

Birch and fir-wood burn too fast

Blaze too bright and do not last;

Flames from larch will shoot up high,

Dangerously the sparks will fly;

But ash-wood green and ash-wood brown

Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.

 

Oaken logs, if dry and old,

Keep away the winter's cold;

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,

Fills your eyes and makes you choke;

Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,

E'en the very flames are cold;

It is by the Irish said;

Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread,

Apple-wood will scent the room,

Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;

But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry

A King may warm his slippers by.

Thanks for posting that.