You are required to keep a Ship’s Log at sea, but there are lots of ideas about what exactly is required or useful in a log book. Finding a flexible, affordable, weather resistant solution is also not easy. We’ve found some solutions that you might find helpful.
The first boat we bought had a huge leather-bound log that they had religiously kept from the day she was launched forty years earlier. It had a screw-post binder which allowed it to grow over time by adding more pages. The one trouble with that log book was that experiential anecdotes were mixed in with maintenance notes and voyaging notes – it was very difficult to find specific references. The leather also had gotten damp over the years and looked a bit worse – more charismatic – for wear.
So for Phoenix we created two screw post log books, one for maintenance and experiential anecdotes with an index on each page, and a second Ship’s log for voyaging notes. Both are screw post books and both are filled with pages that can be printed on any printer.
Ship’s Log Book
The Ship’s Log is what we use underway. We keep track of wind speed and direction, our heading and speed, and the barometric pressure. We try to add an entry each hour, but at least at the beginning of each person’s shift and when things change. Note that the full page has a page number so that it is clear no pages were torn out. I print them by sets of ten, adjusting the starting page number for each print set. I also keep a table of contents page that lists the page number of the beginning of each major leg of the voyage. Ship’s Log – Sheets | Ship’s Log – TOC
Journal / Daily Log Book
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The Daily Log is a sort of Journal where we write our thoughts, memories and keep notes on what we fixed. Our passengers are also welcome to write their impressions. In order to make it easier to find notes on what we fixed or broke, there is an index along the bottom of each page with the major systems (see above) such as Instruments, Plumbing, etc. By circling the system that is discussed on that page the log is much easier to visually search later. I also leave a large outside margin for adding dates, notes etc. Daily Log – Sheets
Maintenance Log Book
Starting each day recording the status of each system is a great habit for offshore sailors. We keep ours in the same book as our journal.
The format and included fields will be different for each boat depending on its systems. And example of ours can be seen below. You can also download it and customize it for yourself. You will also need to update it when you add or replace a system. Checklist
Resources to Make Your Own Log Book
Log Book Pages
Download, customize, and print these templates to make your own log books (all in Word, doc format):
Ship’s Log – Sheets | Ship’s Log – TOC | Daily Log – Sheets | Maintenance Checklist
Notebooks
Finding the right material for the cover of a screw post portfolio cover was a little challenging. First I tried a conventional hardback cardboard binding, but this warped in just a season or two. So I have two suggestions – the rigid Acrylic Screwpost Portfolio Cover (Vista) which is less expensive and the Aluminum Screwpost Portfolio Cover (Machina) which is very classy, indestructible, but more expensive and may scratch wood surfaces.
Get Logging
Whether you decide to use some of the resources here, or buy a log book from a chandlery, the important thing is to actually use these logs. The Ship’s Log is a bare minimum requirement for responsible seamanship. The Daily Log is wonderful to look back on and is a great memory jog for writing those facebook or blog posts when you return to the world of internet.
I NEED A FORM FOR ANCHOR LOG BOOK
I’ve never heard of an anchoring log book – what purpose is it for? What data do you want to record?
Hi Marie, I just came across your website. It is very nice and lost of great info. I did not ask the original question regarding an anchor log however, I have heard from others that it is a good practice to record some basic info about it like depth of water, method of anchoring (e.g., 1 or 2, Mediterranean Mooring, etc.). I think the idea is then this info can be used for things like planning future trips, maintenance, etc. I hope this helps.
Thanks for the useful logbook pages. It took me a little while to figure out that “init” meant the initials of the person filling in the entry. I still haven’t figured out the meaning of the “Crs” column. What’s it for?
CRS is the course! Sorry – I should have deciphered those!
That makes perfect sense – course. I’m tweaking this by adding a temperature column under conditions. I’m also changing the speed / miles to a dual data set. GPS Speed and GPS Mile and Course Speed and Course Miles. My thought is that tacking back and forth you are building up miles but might not be making many miles along your course. If the GPS / plotting software is running you are likely getting two sets of numbers that might be of interest to record. If you aren’t really going anywhere you might just want to log the distance traveled… Read more »
Great Info! One question…with your logs the pages appear to be 8.5×11 inch sheets, but the binders you point to are 11×17. What do you actually use? It appears the exact binders you linked to are discontinued…
I use 8.5×11, they may have changed their links. I’ll see if I can find the same product and fix the links. Thanks!
Ahoy! Magnificent site you have here. I am reading The Log of the Cutty Sark, and dont understand this: After giving the fix position lat/long – the course always follows, given by three elements f.i. «S. 42˚ W.» I assume S.