Logbook
The Digi­tal Logbook from Logbook Suite

*** Our quick guide: Logbook Suite Quick­start “Logbook with Auto-NMEA” ***
*** New ver­sion for Logbook 6.6 ***
*** Nuevo: Logbook con interfaz de usuario en español ***

*** Available now: Logbook Pro Limi­ted 30 — low-cost license for 30 calen­dar days ***

Logbook

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The digital logbook from Logbook Suite

For iPad as well as for the Mac Logbook is the only digi­tal logbook on the market which meets the offi­cial requi­re­ments of a logbook. But Logbook is very popu­lar with Win­dows users too.

Logbook is just per­fect for skip­pers who have used prin­ted log­books so far, but want to make use of the advan­ta­ges of a digi­tal logbook. This is, apart from the optio­nal auto­ma­tic recor­ding of navi­ga­tion data, the auto­ma­tic ana­ly­sis of the nau­ti­cal data, for exam­ple. Using the trips and the over­view Logbook auto­ma­ti­cally cal­cu­la­tes totals for rele­vant data as well as average values—both for each day, for a whole trip and for all ent­ries in the logbook. Of course your Logbook can be prin­ted. This is a nice gift for every crew member to keep the trip in good memory.

During the jour­ney you can enter the nau­ti­cal data into Logbook just like in the tra­di­tio­nal logbook on paper. It is up to you how often and how detailed you type in your infor­ma­tion. Logbook pro­vi­des for each day a page with seve­ral tabs for the nau­ti­cal infor­ma­tion, wea­ther infor­ma­tion, tech­ni­cal notes and for your per­so­nal diary with photos. Bes­i­des, Logbook offers a spe­cial view where you can put in detailed infor­ma­tion on your yacht. This makes it easier to find all important infor­ma­tion when needed.

Logbook can be con­fi­gu­red to suit both sea and inland water­way travel.

The tab Navi­ga­tion shows an over­view with the navi­ga­tion data of the whole day.

To easily enter the navi­ga­tion data even under very bad con­di­ti­ons Logbook pro­vi­des a spe­cial view with large fields for data entry while crusing.

With the Auto-NMEA func­tion (included in the Pro license) you can, if Logbook is con­nec­ted to a GPS or NMEA data source, also let Logbook make the ent­ries quite auto­ma­ti­cally by itself.

In Dark Mode, which is available from Logbook 6.0 (only with Pro license ), Logbook shows dark screens with red text. This dis­play is par­ti­cu­larly sui­ta­ble for the glare-free use of Logbook at night.

Logbook Suite, Logbook Dialog Dataentry
For ente­ring the navi­ga­tion data while tra­vel­ling Logbook pro­vi­des a clear input dialog with large fields. The number of ent­ries in not limited. 
The dialog Data entry in Dark Mode

Using Logbook with NMEA connection

Logbook offers func­tions to cap­ture navi­ga­tion data from GPS/NMEA data sources and enter them in your logbook—either by pres­sing a button or fully automatically.

When­ever you want to make an entry in your logbook, you can cap­ture the cur­rent GPS/NMEA data and have it ente­red in the logbook. All infor­ma­tion that is not pro­vi­ded by your GPS/NMEA data source can to be ente­red manually.

Or you acti­vate the Auto-NMEA func­tion and let Logbook make your ent­ries auto­ma­ti­cally. Pos­si­ble are hourly ent­ries (at the full hour) or every half hour, ent­ries at a course change larger than the set angle or at under- or over­run of preset speeds.

 

Set­tings for NMEA con­nec­tion and for auto­ma­tic entries

On the PC Logbook sup­ports NMEA0183 data sources con­nec­ted via USB, Bluetooth or WiFi. Pure NMEA2000 data sources are not yet sup­ported, but most mul­ti­ple­xers pro­vide NMEA0183 data anyway.

On the iPad, Logbook sup­ports both NMEA0183 and NMEA2000 data sources con­nec­ted to the iPad via WiFi, Bluetooth or cable adap­ters. The con­nec­tion bet­ween Logbook and the data source is estab­lished via our iPad app LogbookNMEA con­nect, which can be down­loa­ded free of charge from the Apple App Store. On our Sup­port site we pro­vide a list of the hard­ware for which there are ready-made set­ting sets (get there by cli­cking on the bottom button in the right column or on Smart­phone at the bottom of this page). Please cont­act our sup­port if you want to use hard­ware that is not listed here.

Depen­ding on the type of data source, the fol­lo­wing data can be ente­red auto­ma­ti­cally into your logbook from data source (NMEA0183 or NMEA2000):

  • board time and time in UTC
  • posi­tion
  • course over ground (COG )
  • speed over ground ( SOG)
  • wind direc­tion and wind speed
  • LOG or TRIP
  • engine speed (for 1 or 2 engines)
  • air pres­sure, tem­pe­ra­ture and humidity
  • on the tab Wea­ther: water temperature

If your iPad is con­nec­ted to a NMEA2000 net­work it can also read the engine ope­ra­ting hours (if available in the net­work). Please note that GPS mice or the inter­nal GPS of the iPad does not pro­vide wind data.

On the iPad, the NMEA func­tion can also read data from the inte­gra­ted GPS and from the inte­gra­ted baro­me­ter. LogbookNMEA con­nect then cal­cu­la­tes course and speed over ground from the iPad GPS data.

In demo mode (if there are less than 5 days in the logbook) you can also test the NMEA func­tion and the auto­ma­tic data entry in you logbook. As soon as more than 5 days have been crea­ted, the NMEA func­tion is only available if a serial number for the appro­priate NMEA license (PC or iPad) has been entered.

Screenshots and Printouts

The screen­shots and examp­les for prin­touts will give you a taste of Logbook—but con­vince yours­elf and load your free trial version!

Logbook Suite, Logbook Titlepage
The decorative cover sheet
In the view Ship's data you can enter all information about your ship
In the view Ship's data you can enter all information about your ship
Logbook Suite, Logbook Engine
On the tab Engine you can record for up to 2 engines the operating times and distances traveled.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Technical Batteries
The sheet Batteries is useful for monitoring your batteries.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Journal
The tab Journal is for your personal diary and up to 4 photos per day.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Image show
The slide show provides a lager displaying of your photos stored in Logbook.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Tracking
Creation of a Google track from the positions recorded using the Auto-NMEA function
Logbook Suite, Logbook Trips, Daily analyses
The view Trips shows a summary for each day.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Trips Graph Distances
Graphic showing the total distances as well as the distances under sail or engine during a trip.
Logbook Suite, Logbook Printout Trips
Printed page showing one trip
Logbook Suite, Logbook Printout Navigation
Printed page with the navigation data of one day

The Logbook as evidence

We hope that this case will never happen, but unfort­u­na­tely there might be a situa­tion where you have to use your logbook as evi­dence.
In some forums you can read about this topic: “Throw your logbook over­board if you are invol­ved in an acci­dent. Then no one can prove any­thing against you.” But that is the worst thing you can do. Because that dis­qua­li­fies you as a skip­per and puts you on a worse foo­ting from the start.

A well-kept logbook is con­side­red proof of good sea­man­ship – and this is one of the basic requi­re­ments for a skip­per. The more you have noted in your logbook during the voyage, the better.

In the Inter­na­tio­nal Regu­la­ti­ons for Pre­ven­ting Col­li­si­ons at Sea there are only vague state­ments about how exactly a logbook for recrea­tio­nal boating has to look like and what has to be recor­ded in it. There is still no men­tion of digi­tal log­books, alt­hough these are declared as allo­wed in other places.

The key requi­re­ments are that it must be a bound book­let or book. Loose sheets are not per­mis­si­ble. Pages may not be torn out. Fur­ther­more, it must be reco­gnizable if ent­ries have been chan­ged sub­se­quently. The logbook must not be writ­ten with erasable pens.

Logbook has inte­gra­ted num­e­rous func­tions that trans­fer these requi­re­ments to the digi­tal world, ensu­ring that your logbook is evi­den­tial: Dele­tion of days, trips and navi­ga­tion ent­ries is not pos­si­ble, seve­ral inde­pen­dent time stamps show where ent­ries have been chan­ged sub­se­quently. Auto­ma­ti­cally crea­ted navi­ga­tion ent­ries are marked with a color. The time stamp then shows whe­ther the ent­ries were added directly by the person respon­si­ble (e.g. the sail posi­tion) or whe­ther they were edited later. With his signa­ture, the skip­per con­firms the cor­rect­ness of the entries.

Our license system for Logbook

Depen­ding on which fea­tures of Logbook you want to use and on which devices you use Logbook, we offer dif­fe­rent licenses.

The full versions

As a new Logbook cus­to­mer you start with a full ver­sion. First you decide with which range of func­tions you want to use Logbook:

  • Basic: unli­mi­ted use of Logbook,
    only manual data entry
  • NMEA: unli­mi­ted use of Logbook,
    trans­fer of NMEA data from a GPS/NMEA device or from the inte­gra­ted GPS
  • Pro: unli­mi­ted use of Logbook,
    all func­tions of the NMEA license plus Auto-NMEA func­tion of auto­ma­tic recor­ding of NMEA data as well as auto­ma­tic logbook ent­ries,
    Dark­Mode for dis­play at night

Then you choose on which device type Logbook should be used. You can choose bet­ween: iPad, Mac or Win­dows, iPad and Mac or iPad and Win­dows.

New from ver­sion 6.4.0: Logbook Pro Limi­ted 30

If you only want to use Logbook on a single trip or want to test it in prac­tice for longer than 5 days, Logbook Pro Limi­ted 30 is the right offer for you: a license for Logbook limi­ted to 30 calen­dar days.
Logbook Pro Limi­ted 30 offers the same range of func­tions as Logbook Pro. Only our syn­chro­niza­tion ser­vice SYNC is not sup­ported by Logbook Pro Limi­ted 30.
And if you decide to purchase a full ver­sion after the 30 calen­dar days have expi­red, you will receive a dis­count of 50% of the price of the Limi­ted license (more on this in the store).

 

The upgrades

If you alre­ady own a license for Logbook, you can upgrade it at any time — both the range of func­tions and the sup­ported device types. For this we offer:

  • Upgrade to NMEA: Select the device type for which you want to upgrade an exis­ting Basic license to NMEA support
  • Upgrade to Pro: Select the device type for which you want to upgrade an exis­ting Basic or NMEA license to the func­tions of Logbook Pro. If you alre­ady have an Auto-NMEA license, you can upgrade at a redu­ced price.
  • Upgrade for second device: With this upgrade you can extend your Logbook license for use on an addi­tio­nal device type. As with the full ver­si­ons, you can choose bet­ween Basic and NMEA func­tion­a­lity for your second device.

By the way, the total price is always the same, no matter if you directly purcha­sed a full ver­sion for your desi­red fea­ture set and devices, or if you start small and then increase your license through upgrades.

Get your
Logbook license 
Topics on this page 

Logbook Suite for PC

Load your free Demo Version for Mac or Windows

Logbook Suite for iPad

Load your free Demo Version from the Apple App Store

Logbook Suite PhoneTool
for iPhone

Load your free Demo Version from the Apple App Store

Logbook Lite
for iPhone

Load your free Demo Version from the Apple App Store

LogbookNMEA connect

Load our app for the NMEA connection of Logbook and Logbook Lite from the Apple App Store (free of charge)

User Manuals

Download our detailed manuals to Logbook Suite, Logbook, Logbook Lite and the Add-ons

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LogbookNMEA connect

List of devices supported by
NMEA function for iPad

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