Boat Safety Equipment Check
Keep an inventory of the safety gear aboard with the date each item expires, so the out-of-date ones are found at the dock rather than at sea.
TM-07 2 pages
Outdoor pursuits · OP-07
Sailing Passage Log
A free printable sailing log book page — time, position, log reading, course, wind and sea as observed, barometer, watch and remarks, an entry at a time.
Download Free · no sign-up
One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Keep a written position you can fall back on if the instruments or the power go, and leave a record of the passage that stands up afterwards.
Who it is for
Skippers and crew on yachts and motor cruisers, sailing schools, and anyone building sea time they may need to evidence.
How to use it
- Fill in the vessel, skipper, passage and crew before slipping.
- Make an entry each time you fix a position, and at every change of watch.
- Write what you observed — wind, sea, visibility, barometer — not what was forecast.
- Note sail changes, engine use and anything sighted in the remarks column.
- Record engine hours at departure and arrival so the difference is there for the maintenance log.
What is on the sheet
One page, top to bottom:
Printed under the title: The classic passage log — an entry each time you fix a position, with course, log reading, wind and sea as you observed them, and who had the watch.
Written as it happens. This is a record of what was observed, kept as you go. It is not a navigation plan and carries no courses, tidal figures or limits of its own: your passage plan, charts and almanac are where those come from. Keeping it up while the electronics are working is what gives you a position to work from when they stop.
Write-on lines: Vessel · Skipper · Date · Passage — from · to · Crew aboard · Engine hours at departure · Engine hours at arrival
Log entries — position, log and conditions as observed
Table, 11 rows: Time · Position — lat / long or bearing · Log · Course · Wind · Sea and vis. · Baro. · On watch · Remarks — sail changes, sightings, engine
Questions
Why no courses, tidal figures or passage details printed on it?
Because those come from your own passage plan, your charts and your almanac for that day and that tide. A log book records what happened; it is the wrong place to carry numbers that would be out of date before the sheet was printed.
How often should an entry be made?
That is the skipper's call, and it varies with the waters and the boat. Set a pattern before you sail — a fix at agreed intervals plus an entry at every watch change and anything worth remembering — and hold to it.
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