As mentioned, its traditional, though not common, for a boat owner to
keep a daily log. I've kept one for the last 15 years, with at least
a simple entry for every time I've left the dock on my current and
previous boat. Always included are the names of any crew, and at
least the basic times and destinations. This means I can always tell
where we were day to day, and with whom. Also, I have every fuel fill
(with engine hours) and basic maintenance, such as oil and filter changes.

However, I quickly tired of entering how much water was in the tank,
or the weather, or the exact course, or how I felt about life. Most
of my entries are like "Noon- Powered out ... raised sail at R22 ...
arrived Scituate 3PM ... on Easy Rider mooring 3:20 ... into town
for ice cream."

On the other hand, if something of note happened, or even if I want to
jot down a phone number or the name of the harbor master, I have the
place, and I'll be able to find it 5 years later. Actually this is
significant: the log is the only place such info gets entered. I know
that if something broke and I ordered a part during a cruise, the info
will be in the log. Frankly, I often wish I kept such a log in the
house, but I never quite got around to in.

One thing that made it easy is that I always used the same book - the
"On Deck Log" which is of course no longer available spiral bound.
So now I have 6 or 7 spiral books, and one hardcover.

Keeping a log as a crew would be a useful exercise, but mainly to find
out what type of information you like to include. You might prefer
completely free form, or it might help you to be very structured. I
know someone who does it as a spreadsheet. Although I don't use most
of the slots in my log, the consistency helps me to continue using it.

One more thing: I've also kept on my Palm, and now on my Blackberry,
task lists for spring and fall chores, plus items that might be
attended to some day. I also have a "memo" that lists every part
number, serial number, and dimension that I could find. Thus, if I
spot something on a clearance table I don't have to guess what model
radio I have, or the size of my rigging, or which fuel filter I use, etc.

Jinx wrote:
I'm very new to sailing have currently only been sailing dinghy's at my
local sailing club for approx 1 year but i still have a keen interest in
sailing larger boats in the future.

I have recently been offered a place to crew on a J109 for the Aug bank
holiday weekend.

My question is i believe its good practice to keep a log book of all sailing
trips/experience, but i'm un-sure what data i should be keeping within the
log book entries?

i.e. boat type, wind speed, weather, distance, location?

Can you buy proper log books? if so where from
Is there any computer software versions available?
I quiet happy to create my own but would like any info/suggestions as to
what headings i should include.



Many thanks from a keen new sailer

Mark