# Boating Journals/Logs



## Gremlin (Jun 24, 2010)

I use River Brain Home - River Brain. Create an account. Float. Sign the river log. Click "make it private" and it creates a jounal entry. I enter cfs, who joined me, weather, other highlights of the trip. By making it private, you can then click on "statistics" and it will tell you total number of miles, unique miles, vertical feet decended, etc. searchable by date range. I started mine 09-16-12 (179 miles so far and 25 entries). I think it will be very helpful when the flows drop and I'm deciding the best options compared to previous experiences. 

If you take a run and it isn't in the database, take the time to create it for your personal river log and everyone's benefit.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

I keep a journal on my computer. Date, flow/cfs, trip members, weather, comments and highlights. At least once a season someone will ask me......."hey, do you remember what the level was two years ago when we went with so & so? Wasn't that the trip that it was hot/cold/rainy?" It's a good reference.
I don't keep an elaborate journal while on the river. I take lots of photos and video. After the trip I take my stuff, plus other trip members photos and video and make a trip video on iMovie. I send a copy to everyone. It's a great way to preserve the memories.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

I just started mine last year....my 14th season. :lol:

I wish I had started it sooner, but better late than never. I bought one of the little Rite-in-the-rain notepads for $3 or 4. I probably put 2-3 runs per page unless something really exciting happened.



cataraftgirl said:


> At least once a season someone will ask me......."hey, do you remember what the level was two years ago when we went with so & so? Wasn't that the trip that it was hot/cold/rainy?" It's a good reference.


Exactly.

I log date, run, flow, raft/kayak, and who I boated with. I note if it was particularly big and interesting or flooded and washed out, or if it was low and bony, or low and runnable. I note if any interesting play features were in.


Actually, just got a call last night from a buddy..."Will the NF Flathead likely have as much flow in September this year as last year?" My first response was "Yeah, it should be average."...

...then reflected in my log that the rivers were big early in the season and were mostly gone by late season, so I was able to tell him that this year would probably be average--which would be _better_ than last year.




tommycolorado said:


> now that I look back at it, seemed like a lot of writing for... nothing. Haven't written about a single trip this season.


Some people are journal writers and readers and some are not. I really am not, but now wish I had written something over my first 14 years of boating. It would be cool to reflect back on what impressed me back then...or have something to have the nice young nurses read to me when I'm sitting in my rocker at the Old Paddlers Home.

You don't have to be Michener, but some recorded history is nice.


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## amv48 (Mar 27, 2011)

When I started guiding, I was told to keep a journal of all my trips not only because it is required for utah's guide license, but also to recall details in the event of an injury or lawsuit. I typically list guides, tl, and group. I also add section of river, Cfs, weather, campsites. On private trips I write down meals or gear that I might want to remember, or what not to bring/forget on the next trip.


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

I have an excel spreadsheet for my paddle log. Have it since day 1. I do my log by river day... ie every day I paddle I make a log entry. My log has cumulative days on the river (ie started on day 1 the first day... now I am in the 600's), day on the river that year (start over at 1 every calendar year to easily figure how many days per year I get), date, river run name, difficulty class, swim count, and a comments section for flow, who I paddled with and anything noteworthy.

A good paddle log really helps you keep track of personal minimums, when good surf waves are prime, or what flows rapids change lines etc. I'm a data geek, so take it with a grain of salt.

Having the data in excel can be really handy if you want to geek out on your data. I've done data analysis of how many times I have done a run, what percentage of my runs in a year are new or the same run etc. Fun stuff to play around with in november when you wish you were paddling.

I used to keep track of whether I did a playpark, river run or overnight, but I have stopped that as I didn't use it much. I also keep track of playboat or creekboat so I can keep track of how many days I have on a creekboat before I crack it, although I have gotten lax on that stat as well.


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## NWO Whiewater (Apr 27, 2011)

I stared a log very early on, and couldn't be happier that I did. I'm constantly reffering back to it to see who was on trips, what the date/flow was, and what the conditions are like.

Also, it makes some nice reading in the Doldrums of winter when the rivers are locked up


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## spider (Jun 20, 2011)

My log is scribbled in the back of my gazetteer. It's nice to know flows for future referance. Pics and video are nice too. Cat girl I am working up to where your at with iMovie. With my 8th grade education I'm a bit slow on computers (not that we had personal computers then and we just got an apple). I'm hoping my 19 mo child will dial me in soon. 

I hope the buzz adds a log feature in the profile section.


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## KSC (Oct 22, 2003)

I have as well for the last several years. Basically the same data and for same reasons as all the people above have mentioned. I just started by using a blogger page as it seemed like a convenient way to enter/store/access it. I add photos or video if I took any and they are memorable.

I look back fairly frequently during the paddling season to check things like the highest level I ran some rapid, or if I took a playboat or creekboat down something at some level, what line I ran at such and such a level, how long did that hike in take, and sometimes who I boated with. I was looking back recently to correlate my observed experiences of flows on OBJ in 2009 with the Slate River gauge readings. Also when everybody decides the runoff must be over it's useful to look back and see the progression of flows through May and June. 

I once had to read back an entry to my buddy Kyle NOTMcCutchen (who I never see boating anymore), to prove to him how low the water actually was when he swam on the Big Thompson. He didn't believe I actually had it recorded and wasn't just making it up.

Anyway, if you have a stellar memory or are indifferent to details, maybe it's not necessary, but I've found it repeatedly useful.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

spider said:


> Cat girl I am working up to where your at with iMovie. With my 8th grade education I'm a bit slow on computers (not that we had personal computers then and we just got an apple). I'm hoping my 19 mo child will dial me in soon.
> .


I have the basics of iMovie down......transitions, captions, slow motion, music, etc. Nothing super fancy. My friends enjoy the video, especially the ones who don't get to come on trips very often, and I have fun putting it together. I's nice to have the movies to watch this summer while my busted leg heals.

I'm really happy that I started my river log early on, so that I have all that info now. I also keep meal plans from trips to refer back to for future tip planning.


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## rbrain (Aug 30, 2010)

Gremlin said:


> I use River Brain Home - River Brain. Create an account. Float. Sign the river log. Click "make it private" and it creates a jounal entry. I enter cfs, who joined me, weather, other highlights of the trip. By making it private, you can then click on "statistics" and it will tell you total number of miles, unique miles, vertical feet decended, etc. searchable by date range. I started mine 09-16-12 (179 miles so far and 25 entries). I think it will be very helpful when the flows drop and I'm deciding the best options compared to previous experiences.
> 
> If you take a run and it isn't in the database, take the time to create it for your personal river log and everyone's benefit.


Signing the riverbrain logs (private or not) enters you into the competition categories for prizes too. Last year we gave out several gift cards, some free shuttles, etc. This year we may have more sponsors for gear and prizes.


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## MountainLove270 (Jul 11, 2011)

*River Logs for Zenful Presence*

I was raised in the river community with a tendency to strive for excellence and uphold visions of greatness. I am passionately at ease knowing most places I visit kayaking there are shared interests, mutual connections, and genuine appreciation for our social ties through the generations & sub cultural movements.

I keep a river journal to establish focus and a guide for visualizations conducive to rapid skill development and a firm mind state for clarity while on the river. Similarly, I care to develop a mindful perspective of my river experience with creative and artistic development. Coming from competition, many WW events, & an outdoors community supporting active, healthy, & socially responsible lifestyles, I am working towards well established river perspective with core skills balanced among evolving socio-cultural orientation.

This post is inspiring and one I hold dear to me in bonding with like-souls whom upkeep their organization of river skills and memories. I'm psyched to see the basics are regularly included. Flows, features, & a firm knowledge as well as tracking fluctuations in river sport involvement, getting to know well the characteristics of different features, time expectations & logistics, and meal plans are great ideas and I see the brief note sections as very productive. Very cool that there's a site for all this. I will check out River Brains and intrigued with getting on the river with other boaters whom keep records.

Mainly, I practice river mind frame & focus through writing exact details. In play boating these kinds of things include wave details... Exact descriptions of the tongue, foam pile, surges, height at various points, what exact sensations are noticed in a side surf, left, right, sliding forward, back, pivot pts., pts where you can slide further up the foam pile, exact sense of balance & edging angle to keep a good sense of self control in the feature. In a front surf, I may check out different speeds across the wave, wave height, sensations experienced while carving, problems, and solutions for initiating & sticking tricks with adjustments to technique by feature. Back surfing I look for a good, steady centered state of balance where I am open for a full range of motion getting to know the feature & form skills to satisfy particulars for agility in the specific wave or hole... back ferries to pts. of retention & pivot pts. to stay in feature. I may figure out skills progressions from feature to feature, variations to technique per trick, and new things to focus in on and practice to refine & progress.

Most of my skills focus is to bridge the gap in my abilities between river awareness and my ability to perform by gauging the subtleties of technique and river features.

Visualizations, meditation, and yoga all help me with river awareness. I include brief notes to cross-over skills from my yoga/meditation log (daily affairs) with specific river focus. These include sensations of being in the zone, physical cues & crossover in technique, meditative awareness, and development of zenful precision. From my documented explorations of paddling skills, river features, & other focal cross-over pts., I form deeply transformative visualizations for guidelines to my practice and river trips.

Expressing the magic and enchantment of river experience while transferring skills from the stand still mind-body connection of yoga to an active and dynamic mind-body-river sense of coordination, I am inspired to include a brief poetic depiction of moments attuned to the current. My goal here is to be mindful with a perspective in balance & harmony soul-boating, boater, kayak, talent, & river... forming a greater sensation of purpose within the outdoors and improved relevant environmental awareness.

Socio-cultural attunement while keeping well-established & solidified kayak skills I seek to uphold the honor, prestige, esteem, camaraderie, sheer joy, bonds of friendship and respect that form the integrity of our community-based subculture revolving with individual roles. For this my kayak journal may include photogenic moments to be on point with well-formed blogs & river stories. I jot notes of quintessential bonding that depict values of the river people, hospitality driven qualities, and the essence of camaraderie and bonding. Evolving this magic I may include how, why, and what about these reference points were enchanting as well as gain direction in what the characteristics these beautiful moments will accomplish conducive to evolved friendship, secure connections, and important dynamics for success. Some attention is given to shaping up from less refined rough moments as well.

All in all, each river log, to me, solidifies & refines skills from technique, river knowledge, ppl/partner/cultural knowledge and relevance, forms guidelines & focus, problem solves, nourishes, nurtures, and strengthens roles, reciprocity, my own perspective & all I can offer through skill development, refinement, and participation.


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## MountainLove270 (Jul 11, 2011)

tommycolorado said:


> Wondering if anyone keeps journals/logs of their boat trips. I kept one last season (1st season w/a new boat) and now that I look back at it, seemed like a lot of writing for... nothing.


Regular reviews help to retain knowledge & evolve river skill developing your role in the river community.


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## yetigonecrazy (May 23, 2005)

I have a 4x5 Moleskine that I log all my trips in. I log the following:

Date
River
Stretch
Flow
Paddlers
Notes
Time
Length
River Miles
Total Miles (each summer)
Camera Y/N
Video Y/N
4:20 Y/N

Started doing it in 2007, haven't regretted it yet. Just bought journal number 3 last week!


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## 2kanzam (Aug 1, 2012)

I scribble some basic notes (flow and features/descrip of the river at that level) in my guidebook as an easy reference. I also keep a GIS dataset/Map as a log of sorts.


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## yakr (Apr 30, 2010)

deepsouthpaddler said:


> I have an excel spreadsheet for my paddle log. Have it since day 1. I do my log by river day... ie every day I paddle I make a log entry. My log has cumulative days on the river (ie started on day 1 the first day... now I am in the 600's), day on the river that year (start over at 1 every calendar year to easily figure how many days per year I get), date, river run name, difficulty class, swim count, and a comments section for flow, who I paddled with and anything noteworthy.


It's easy to spot the engineers in the room. I do something very similar in excel, but I also graph it to have a more visual way to see how the year is going compared to past years. It's kinda fun to watch the points add up over the season.

Here is what mine looks like.


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## mjpowhound (May 5, 2006)

Mine is very basic but it goes back to day 1. Days are numbered each year. I wish I would have done it in Excel. Looks like this:

16. 6/2: Lawson through upper @ 300


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## Rojo (May 31, 2012)

*Trip notes.*

Guess I'm lazy.
I just print the associated USGS flow chart for the period covered and write notes on the bottom, or back.
Then it goes into a three-ring binder, sorted by river.
Sadly, I can still keep track of river days for the current year at least, in my head.
Up to 10 so far, but heading up to the Gunny after work today.

Lately, I've been doing more trip reports on MB that I can refer people to, with pictures even.
Gotta love the MB.


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## WyoPadlr1 (May 5, 2005)

*Consistent, but not super detailed*

I started out just keeping notes in the guidebooks I bought: dates I did the run, flow, basic impressions, and any major mishaps/events. Then, I started running stuff that wasn't in guidebooks, and had to start notebooks of my own. I still do a little of both. The notes have always been helpful in one year or another (especially as the years have piled up). Have been able to look at notes from an entire watershed/area for people heading that way, and even if I'm not going on the trip, been able to pass on good beta as to whether or not certain runs will or won't have decent water. Haven't transferred anything to computer/spreadsheets yet, as it's one of the ways I still truly enjoy handwriting.


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## scottcsu (Mar 2, 2012)

I started one on my google drive, originally so I could track when buying and outfitting my raft paid off vs. renting driftboats...since then, it's transformed a bit to include mostly the basics:

Riverday
Date
River
Put-in
Take-out
Flow
Frame Setup (casting decks, sleeping decks, etc...)
Water Clarity
Crew/Passengers
Notes section for fishing conditions, hatches and "ah-ha" moments.

Another thing that I appreciate with doing a raft log - or any log for that matter - is that it allows me to provide the next owner with a detailed account of the care/use that this boat has seen. 

I do this with my vehicles too...mostly because I'm a geek, but a dealership upped my trade-in value becuase I had a log of every tank of gas, oil change, major service, rotation, etc to provide to them...


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## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

Cold busted, yakr. Engineers love spreadsheets. Looks like you have been getting after it this year! Nice.

I did chart my days one year when I set a goal for 100 days that year, but I haven't lately. 

On the engineer geek side... I have made a bunch of pie charts breaking down paddling. One was % of paddling days on each run, or breakdown of class V, IV, III etc. Fun stuff.


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## SKeen (Feb 23, 2009)

I started a general outdoors log in 2006, the winter before I began kayaking. I generally record river, flow, trip members and any highlights. It is most useful when someone asks about min max or ideal flow on a river. Every website and guidebook has a different point of view so I prefer to use my own notes whenever possible. 

Plus its fun to check back to see how many days I've paddled and how many miles I've mtn biked each year.


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