On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:08:53 GMT, otnmbrd
wrote:

I'm not seeing too much emphasis on compass entries.

Mine ARE compass entries, corrected to true. Variation is either 10 or
11 degrees W on Lake Ontario...it's hard to screw up if you have even
half a clue about reading a chart.

I'd suggest logging
what info you can .... true, mag, var, dev, compass, courses steered,
courses made good, and any azimuths (land or celestial ) which you can
or may be able to take.

I do this when necessary on a scratch pad next to the compass or (when
raining) on a "magic pad" from a dollar store (the grey plastic
covered rewritable things from Way Back...perfect for wet weather!)

I transfer any "summation" to the log, but in Lake Ontario, it's 95%
coastal pilotage and there's only a few places with shoals, rocks and
big chunks of iron under the boat...Deviation and variation are known
and compensated for on the fly. In blue water or unfamilar waters, I
would make further notes.

This makes for good historical data, especially on repeat trips over the
same ground.

True. I have little pieces of tape at 45 degrees fore and aft to where
I stand for the tiller. That and a stopwatch and the knotmeter give me
a way to tell how far offshore I am. If I pass close by a buoy, using
the same method, I can judge my speedo and current, if any. As I don't
tend to sail more than five-10 miles offshore, I use the GPS
primarily to confirm visual pilotage (is that the landmark on the beam
that I think it is?) and to confirm COG readings for set and drift
(not a big deal here, usually) and ETA to destination.

My wife uses the ETA function to remind me when sailing is over and
motoring must begin G.

I log that in "Comments".

R.