Marine Glossary

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automated logbooks

With an onboard computer, important navigation and weather data from instruments can be captured and stored. This data can then be displayed in various formats or shown as graphs for convenient analysis. The data is available in modern instruments through the various NMEA outputs. The procedure requires special database or related software to accumulate, store and display the results. For sailors, it is especially convenient to be able to view a graph of the history of the wind speed and direction.

Naturally, all this information can be had without computers using traditional methods of writing it in a log book and then plotting it by hand!

Several companies have commercial systems available that will record and plot wind speed and direction, boat speed etc. To adapt a laptop for this application requires an interface between the NMEA outputs of the instruments and the RS232 inputs of the computers. Since most laptops have only 1 or 2 serial inputs and there are likely to be many outputs of interest, a key element of the package will be the adapter that takes will combine the output signals into one computer input. Some electronics units have this capability built in, others must be adapted. Most electronic charting systems include such an interface for inputting the GPS data into the computer. Popular software programs such as MS Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 are well suited for storing and displaying the data.

For navigation in strong ocean currents, the sea temperature can also be recorded and plotted as this is often a key indicator of the current present. The output from digital barometers are another logical input for such automated logbooks.

Automated logbook software is available, for example, from NauTech Ltd in Bangor ME.

Note that this type of "automated" data logging is needless to say also very valuable to engine and electrical monitoring.

See WXT AM-1404 for a discussion of conventional logbook entries.