Do you keep a log book?

[Lady Muck]

My partner inherited his first nb from his grandfather, who encouraged him to keep a proper logbook. It was quite an experimental boat, it was electric and was forever breaking down, therefore a logbook was essential, for it was forever being fixed by different people. It was also a cruise diary and some of the entries are hilarious. We still have the old logbooks and they are a good read for a larff and a reminisce.

 

Anyway, we keep a logbook now, we put in engine running times, any maintenance, when we refuel, any costs we spend, any repairs and also any points of interest when we cruise, so we can revisit. Also we are having a nightmare with consistently low water levels in this pound, we think due to really leaky lock gates, so I make a note of that too, we got water yesterday, had difficulty getting off the mooring to do so and now we are aground again. I'm hoping I can use this diary to be taken a bit more seriously when I complain (again).

 

So, do you keep a logbook? Is it functional or more of a diary?

[Bullfrog]

Yes we keep a log. In rough on the day and then written up more tidily later.

 

We note who was on board, weather conditions, where we went, miles, locks, and engine hours. We also enter details of any servicing carried out as well as re-fuelling, pump-outs, etc. More depressingly we also keep a truly frightening running total of expediture!

 

Sightings of birds and other wild-life get written up as well as any other noteworthy details, difficult lock gear, low pounds, who we shared locks with etc.

 

It is really a glorified diary, but its nice to read and remind us why we do go boating, especially when we are away from the cut in the depths of winter.

 

regards

 

David

 

PS like your boat name!

[NB Alnwick]

We keep a log book but only add anything to it when we run the engine or if anything happens of significance.

 

We record cruising routes, mooring locations, engine start & stop times, engine hours, cruise miles, locks, maintenance tasks such as engine servicing, oil changes, topping up water tanks, LPG, coal and diesel purchase etc. We also keep a running cumulative total of miles travelled, locks negotiated and engine hours.

 

We also copy most of these details onto a Lotus spreadsheet so that we can monitor maintenance, coal, gas and diesel fuel consumption levels and costs.

 

In addition to the routine reports, we also note such incidents as having visitors aboard, people falling overboard, injuries, unusual weather conditions, passing unusual or interesting boats/people etc. . . .

[Chris J W]

Spooky! Just this morning I was looking at some fancy-pants well bound plain-paper book and thinking to myself "Ooo - that could make a nice logbook!"

 

(Or I may use an Access database! )

 

Seriously, though, does anyone have a handy template?

[honey ryder]

ive got two logs,

 

one is an engine and travel log in which i write where we start from and stop at, the engine hours at the start and the engine hours at the end.. plus the time in the day we leave and the time we arrive.

Engine maintenance is also noted, oil changes etc. this is the kind of thing that would go with the boat when we eventually sell it.

 

 

the other log is boat specific expenditure by month and who spent what. (and is private so we would keep it with us, not with the boat)

so gas bottles, hull blacking, craneage, shore power, diesel, paint, spares and repairs all get logged down in that and the initials next to it for who spent what.

this way we can keep tabs on our spending individually as well as jointly. doing it monthly rather than in the main log book makes it much easier to read.

[Tony Brooks]

Our boat keeps two logs.

 

I do one, in a simple A5 notebook listing the date and engine hours at which I do any significant additions, servicing or other work, plus simple work details.

 

My other half buys fancy books and does lots of writing about weather, times started and stopped, where we have been and stick postcard in - then uses them to fill up the book shelves.

 

 

Tony Brooks

[Supermalc]

No - but I did log my milage last year. Fairly accurate as I added up the miles, NOT engine hours times 4 or 6 etc. I ended up doing a staggering 1300 miles..........not planned and nothing like that this year..........although I have already done 118 or so.

 

And should be boating again tomorrow.

[Chris J W]

ive got two logs,

 

one is an engine and travel log in which i write where we start from and stop at, the engine hours at the start and the engine hours at the end.. plus the time in the day we leave and the time we arrive.

Engine maintenance is also noted, oil changes etc. this is the kind of thing that would go with the boat when we eventually sell it.

the other log is boat specific expenditure by month and who spent what. (and is private so we would keep it with us, not with the boat)

so gas bottles, hull blacking, craneage, shore power, diesel, paint, spares and repairs all get logged down in that and the initials next to it for who spent what.

this way we can keep tabs on our spending individually as well as jointly. doing it monthly rather than in the main log book makes it much easier to read.

 

Yep. Think this appeals to me. One log of simple stats (start time, engine hours, oil change, refil etc) and another more expressive log about details DONE to the boat (breakdowns, fixes etc) with details, signatures etc etc

 

As for more, erm, esoteric things like sights seen, wildlife, weather - they're more for the diary as I see a log as more formal than that.

[NB Willawaw]

I have a log mentality (used to ships logs, radio logbook, etc on large ships).

The Willawaw log has engine start/stop times, hours run, mileage run (from GPS) and details of locks passed

through with times and of course, where moored etc.

I tend to scribble this in a daybook as I go along (just a normal tatty, rain stained spiral noteook) and then write it up neatly in a formal logbook in the evening.

 

Each day, I normally enter a few details about the weather like max temp, whether rainy, sunny, foggy etc

as it is often useful to look back at the same date each year and see how the weather compares.

 

Its very useful to find out how long it took to get from point A to B when the boat goes back that way - really helps with

route planning.

 

I also put in the comments, details about engine servicing, boat maintenance etc.

 

The only thing I dont include is details of cost.

 

I quickly stopped using the printed logbooks that you get in chandlers. I got through them too quickly and didn't like the layout.

I produced my own on A4 sheets which are kept in a loose leaf ring binder and extension sheets can be printed off the PC on demand.

Edited April 21, 2007 by NB Willawaw

[Carrie]

No. As a result, I talk about 'that pretty place, you know, the one by that funny bridge, ooh, must be about 3 weeks ago'.

[Bernie]

We have usually kept a log, but tend to use Canal Planner and Canal Logger, both purchased from http://www.canalplanner.com/ but sadly since the death of the original author they haven't been kept totally up to date.

[Graham and Jo]

We keep a log for maintenance purposes, its kept on the computer. We also keep a Blog on this site of anything about our boating adventures. Cheers Graham

[Chris J W]

For those that want only the Finest Log Book known to man. Just ensure you are sat down when you read the price ...

[howardang]

For those that want only the Finest Log Book known to man. Just ensure you are sat down when you read the price ...

For a slightly more affordable log book aimed at the pleasure boat market there's this one from Browns:

http://www.skipper.co.uk/books/bn7231.htm

 

Howard Anguish

Edited April 22, 2007 by howardang

[anhar]

The manufactured logs featured are unlikely to be suitable for inland waterways because of the superfluous columns like signal flags and latitude and longitude which are for seagoing craft and no relevance to us. At the same time they probably wouldn't have enough space to record matters which are meaningful to individual boaters here, and furthermore that itself may differ between us in some respects.

 

Seems to me by far the best approach is to design a log which suits your own purposes. This could either be on some computer spreadsheet or word processor kept on the go which can later be printed, or by hand. Or as some have mentioned, kept in rough by hand and later written up on a computer. Creating it on computer enables digital photos to be added for those that take them on trips, which would improve the log a lot in my view when printed out.

 

I'm not sure if I'll bother with a log or not when I set out later this year, but if I do, I can't see myself using the manufactured ones featured here.

 

regards

Steve

Edited April 22, 2007 by anhar

[NB Willawaw]

There are very many flavours of the same thing but this is what I use:

 

 

 

 

This is a sample page at the beginning, which was created to maintain a standardised method of entry for my memory, but it illustrates the concept. You could always add and delete to provide additional or less information.

Edited April 22, 2007 by NB Willawaw

[NB Alnwick]

For a slightly more affordable log book aimed at the pleasure boat market there's this one from Browns:

http://www.skipper.co.uk/books/bn7231.htm

 

We use a blank A4 bound book with lined pages - purchased from Maplins for £3.99 but have seen dedicated inland waterways log books on sale at Tooleys and other inland chandlers for under £10.

[Pie Eater]

I've kept a log from day one but have changed the format over the years, I started off with 1 sheet of A4 per day and at present this has been streamlined to 6 days sailing per A4 sheet (using both sides).

 

Part of the log is a simple tick sheet for daily checks like engine oil and water, another section records journey hours, no of locks, tunnels, liftbridges, swing bridges & tunnels etc.

 

Another part records routine maintenance, i.e date and engine hours of oil & filter changed C/W a reminder of when the next one is due.

 

The final part covers waterways, start & finish mooring, day & date, crew & passengers, weather & water conditions and general cruise notes.

 

Steve

[Keeping Up]

I use an A4 cash book. There is a left-hand column about an inch wide, in which I write the essential times (start time, time of passing junctions, stopping time, etc) and on the right are 3 narrow columns in which I note the number of hours, miles, and locks. The rest of the space is written up, at 1 page per day, with anything at all no matter how sensible or silly (but always recording where we stop for the night).

 

The totals of hours miles and locks are useful for estimating future jouneys, and also remind me when to change the oil and so on.

 

During the day we just note the timings, then every night (or sometimes after 2 nights) we fill in the rest of the log while the events are still fresh in our minds. When we get back home I put together my web pages based on what I wrote in the log.

 

Here's a typical page (the left-hand column didn't scan in properly, the times there are clock times ie 1040, 1140, 1240, and 1410)

 

Our first logbook was in 1974. Since then we've kept every one in that fashion (we're now onto our 12th volume of A4 books)

 

Allan

[DHutch]

We have a hardback A4-lined plan book, which is used to log goings on.

- A big year has its own book, with less eventfull years sharing with negboughing years.

 

The format, as ive mentioned before on otherthreads, is a double spread per day.

- Left hand side details the crew present, and note full events, such as which gas bottle where on, leaking pipework, and the like.

- With the right hand side being left for a croalogical list of the day trip, time the boiler was lit, departure time, times on and our of flights of locks, junctions, etc.

 

Then at the bottom of each page, a total of the numbers of locks/miles/hours travelled that day.

 

All basicaly written up as it happens, as we would never go back and rewrite it or anything..

 

 

 

We then also have the "Boat Book"

- Which is a simular hardback lined book, which is full of a ALLSORTS about the boats design, building, alterations.

- We've got tables of canal sizes, charts of propellors, drawings of the hull, engineroom layout, alterations to the engines pumps, alterantor details, funnel infomation, contact details for people the worked on it. You name it, its there.

 

Infact, where actaully just starting to write a second "boat book" transcribing current infomation, and adding to it it, sorting it, etc.

 

 

 

 

Daniel

[anhar]

...(but always recording where we stop for the night)...

 

Allan

Hello Allan

 

How do you actually know and describe where you are in the log when moored up for the night in a rural location?

 

regards

Steve

[Chris J W]

Hello Allan

 

How do you actually know and describe where you are in the log when moored up for the night in a rural location?

 

regards

Steve

 

Look out the window? Map? GPS?

[Bullfrog]

"How do you actually know and describe where you are in the log when moored up for the night in a rural location?"

 

 

Just below/above lock/bridge/pub/or other local landmark. If miles from any, then it must be a hell of a long pound, then the distance up or down that pound.

Edited April 24, 2007 by Bullfrog

[Keeping Up]

Hello Allan

 

How do you actually know and describe where you are in the log when moored up for the night in a rural location?

 

regards

Steve

Usually we note the nearest bridge number such as "about a mile south of bridge 99". In most cases that's near enough. If we particularly want to remember an exact spot, we'll just write down whatever we can see out of the window "at the wide bit by the red bed" or whatever.

 

Incidentally we also keep a visitor's book. Anyone who spends more than a cursory visit is invited to leave their comments in the book, and then we stick a copy of a photo of their visit as a reminder. After a few years it's great looking back through the pictures!

 

Allan

[anhar]

Look out the window? Map? GPS?

Looking out of the window Chris, in the rural locations I had in mind is likely to reveal nothing more than grass, fields, hills, trees and the like. They tend in general not to have locationally identifying features in my admittedly very limited canal touring experience. I guess you could ask a tree or a cow but they do tend to be more than a little taciturn.

 

Yes, maps are excellent inventions. But they do suffer from the limitation that when you are in the middle of nowhere with no landmarks to see that correspond with any map point, you don't actually necessarily know exactly where you are.

 

GPS may be the answer if you have one.

 

regards

Steve