Although our watch schedule has been quite loose this
passage, we do keep a log with entries at least every hour. The log is a bound
book with numbered pages that can be used in a court of law (ie collision with
another vessel).

It also records our last known position in the event of
loss of navigation instruments (GPS system goes down, power failure, etc.) We
would be transported back to before
1980 and resort to using dead
reckoning, celestial
navigation and paper charts. When Kurt and Harry sailed to Mexico,
Marquesas, Hawaii and back to San Francisco in 1982, GPS was not available to
the public. Positions were determined using a sextant, sight reduction tables
and a chronometer. A noon sight is the easiest but sometimes (as in the first
few days of this trip) the sun is obscured by clouds and its angle to the
horizon cannot be determined. There are methods to get fixes at other times and
using other celestial bodies (moon, stars, planets).

 

Entries include:

CTS      Magnetic Course To
Steer to reach our next
waypoint

COG    Magnetic Course Over Ground (the
direction the vessel is actually traveling accounting for leeway             and current
as read on the GPS)

BSP      Boat Speed (using two
underwater sensors on the hull and keel measuring the Doppler effect)

SOG     Speed Over Ground

TWD     Magnetic actual wind
direction

WSP     Wind Speed (a calculated
value based on BSP and apparent wind speed)

BAR      Barometric
pressure in mb

SEA T.  Sea Temperature (Interlude has a thru hull
thermometer)

LOG     Miles recorded using BSP

AWA     Apparent Wind Angle (useful
for setting sails or steering while sailing)

OIL       Main engine
oil pressure (it is a good idea to look at the gages to check for anomalies at
least                     every hour when the engine is running)

HRS      Main engine hours

Te         
Main engine coolant temperature (to make sure raw
water is flowing and other cooling                             components are working properly)

Tx         
Main engine exhaust temperature (to make sure the engine
is not lugging)

On May 25, 2024, our position at

1200 local

1200 PDT

0700 NZST (May 26)

was:

9d20.1m N, 143d12.7m W

24 hr noon to noon:  218 nm

It is now 95 F in the pilothouse and sea temperature is
85 F. The tropics “makes
her clothes fall off”