Tracking Your Trips – The Clever Boater

We keep a custom Vessel Logbook for our boat. When we finish cruising for the day, we enter our stats for the day into a handwritten 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.

Ksf Ships Log — Sample Ships Log (Click to enlarge)

Collecting Data

The majority of the data comes from our Garmin chartplotter. On the chartplotter there is a “trip calculator” feature that tracks most of the data we need. I’ve driven boats with a Raymarine chartplotter, and it has a similar function. It shows miles traveled, time moving, and time standing still. That and the HOBBS meter on the engines and generator give us the data we need. Everything else is collected manually, like fuel purchases, weather, and marina fees.

If your chartplotter doesn’t have a trip feature, you can use data from NEBO, as it tracks the same data (start time, stop time, miles traveled, and average speed). Check out our article on NEBO for more details.

Trip Meter - Garmin Chartplotter — The Trip Function on Garmin Chartplotter

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)
^{(You can also get miles and average speed from NEBO if you use it)}
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 calculates:

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 8+ 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 for your logs.

Below is a link to the Google Sheets version of our spreadsheet that you can copy and make your own! Please note that there is no support available on the spread sheet. I have however included some extensive instructions. Also, you will need a PC, Mac, or Tablet with a keyboard. It is not very phone friendly.