Logbook and maintenance log for pleasure craft

The Nautic Way Maritime Library offers a wide selection of logbooks for all your sailing trips.

These logbooks comply with the regulations regarding mandatory documents to be carried on board a boat.

The logbook is mandatory and appears on the list of equipment and safety equipment required for mid-shore navigation, meaning sailing more than 6 miles from the coast. It must follow a framework and is required by law. The text of Division 240 regulating recreational boating is clear: "Article 240-2.07 of Division 240 describes the logbook as "a logbook containing relevant information for monitoring navigation and ensuring the safety of the vessel."

The History of the Logbook

For many years, its main purpose was to assist in maintaining dead reckoning, but that was before the advent of GPS! The route was maintained by coastal and astronomical bearings, and in the absence of these landmarks, dead reckoning was used. It was therefore necessary to regularly plot a point on the chart and record all events in the logbook.

With GPS, knowing one's position is easy and immediate; the logbook is no longer an essential navigation tool, but becomes a record of the navigation carried out by the crew and their boat.

Why keep a logbook?

It is a legal requirement because it is An important administrative document. It documents the events on board and the measures taken during navigation. It is the vessel's record of events.

In the event of damage, this document takes on its full importance because, according to the law, it is authoritative until proven otherwise.

A former detailed regulation

Today, Article 240-2.07 of Division 240 describes the logbook as "a logbook containing the relevant elements for monitoring the navigation and safety of the vessel" without providing further information. The old version (decree of March 11, 2008) was more informative.

How to write your logbook?

What should be written? All the important elements... knowing that the spirit of the law requires common sense:

• Concepts related to time: day and time
• Aerial environment: barometer, sky conditions, wind strength
• Nautical environment: sea state, tide, heading, speed, geographic coordinates
• Naval environment: point of sail, Sails, engine speed, fuel capacity, engine hours, and any damage.
• Departure place and time, destination, and stopovers.
• Crew details, including crew members and the skipper, who is responsible for the logbook and crew and boat responsibilities.