Keeping Track Of Our Trips – Our Logbook

We keep a Vessel Logbook for our boat. When we finish cruising for the day, we enter our data into a paper version. We track engine runtime, generator runtime, speed, distance, the price we pay for fuel, dockage, and how many locks and bridges we do. Every few days, I transfer that data into a Google Spreadsheet that calculates a bunch of statistics for us.

Here are the data points we track:

• Date (one entry per day unless we stop somewhere for an extended period
• Where we are traveling to that day
• When we left the dock
• When we arrived at our next stop
• The total engine hours (from our Hobbs meter)
• The time we were “Moving” (from our Trip Odometer)
  _{^{(This does not include the time we are stopped waiting for bridges, locks, or while fueling, etc.)}}
• Nautical Miles traveled (from our Trip Odometer)
• Average Speed (from our Trip Odometer)
• Generator hours (from the Generator Hobbs meter)
• Gallons of Fuel Added
• Total paid for the fuel (Including taxes/discounts)
• Total Slip Fee, including electricity and water for our entire stay
• Number of nights at a Marina (for multi-day stays)
• Number of nights at Anchor or Lock Wall (any place without electricity or services)
• Number of Locks we went through that day
• Number of Bridges we had to have opened to fit under that day
• A Record that we Pumped Out our black water tanks and any fees paid

Based on this data, the spreadsheet calculates:

• Total Trip Time Dock to Dock (End Time – Start Time)
• Engine Hours (Current Hobbs – Previous Hobbs)
• Fuel Used (A calculation based on Average Speed, Distance, and Generator runtime)
• Price per Gallon of Fuel (Total paid/number of gallons)
• Fuel Remaining in our tanks. (Prior Remaining – Fuel Used + Fuel Added)
• % Fuel Remaining (Gallons Remaining / 396 gallons) a cross-check for our gauges
• Generator Hours (Current Gen Hobbs – Prior Gen Hobbs)
• Average Fee Slip Fee per Night (for multi-night stays)
• Slip Fee Per Foot

It also tracks:

• Fuel Usage in Gallons Per Mile (I use a last 500-mile average to track trends)
• Fuel Usage in Gallons Per Hour (I use a last 500-mile average to track trends)
• Hours until next service on:
  ^{(with colored reminders (Green Good, Yellow Soon, Red Past Due)}
  • Engine Oil/Filter
  • Transmission Oil/Filter
  • Generator Oil/Filter
  • Engine Zincs
    

The spreadsheet has evolved over the past six+ years since we purchased our boat, and we find it very helpful when looking back at our trips!

If you would like a copy of our paper log sheet, you can download it below. One has example entries, and the other is blank.

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Thanks for visiting! –Tom & Brenda