I would be interested to know if others keep logbooks when they are sailing and if so, what they record. I have always kept one, just for my own pleasure. I only sail in bays and inlets, never out of sight of land. I used to note all the things you are supposed to, such as heading, air pressure, wind speed etc. and then I thought, who do I think I am kidding? All I am interested in is where I go, how long it takes and how far it is. So I have printed my own A4 pages with columns for:
Date:
From:(starting point)
Time:(from starting point)
Log:(distance at starting point)
To:(where I got to}
Time:(when I got there)
Log:(distance to there)
Notes: Anything else, this is the widest column
If I just want to note a waypoint, I record it as To and then the next Waypoint as the next To. If I anchor somewhere for a while, I note arrival time as To and departure times as a new From. I have put a scan below to clarify that (maybe) Next year I am going to use a landscape format to have a bit more room for notes. I keep the pages in a very thin 4 ring binder which I can reach from the cockpit. At the end of the season I transfer the pages to a bigger binder, which I get out from time to time. I've used every type of published logbook, but none of them suit me. I've got logs going back over 20 years to my first proper boat, a Drascombe Dabber, on the west coast of Ireland.
What do you do?
