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Thanks for all the reactions.

Dan Hogan wrote:
>Walker type logs were intended for ocean passages, not for coastal
cruising.
I don't quite agree with you, Dan; I think logs were carried by many if not
all small yachts crossing the Channel or North Sea in a not too distant
past. Trevor thinks so too.

I regard it as good practice to keep a DR plot and a log is very helpful
for that. I have tried to estimate speed from looking at the wake.
Apparently I am a very bad estimator and I doubt if I will ever be able to
make a satisfactory guess under quite different circumstances of wind, sea,
day or night, etc. Even if I could: would my crew be equally proficient in
the time that he is on watch and me asleep?

Doug Royer's suggestion of showing shapes and lights indicating that I have
something in tow was also ventilated by Jared Sherman. Indeed, as a
variation on Dan's objection to that, the signals will not be recognised
(or even seen) by helmsmen that don't spot the log line hanging from my
stern. (What is DAMHIK, Dan?) An other objection could be that, if I
remember the COLREGS well, signals are prescribed when towing vessels. A
log rotator does not count as a vessel.

If George feels uneasy about his log line troubles, he might like to know
that I once entered a lock, doors closing while I manoeuvred alongside,
totally unaware that the log line was still 'in use'! All sorts of nasty
things could have happened to it: caught in the propellor, or between the
doors, but we were extremely lucky that time...

Jared's suggestion I hold for extremely valuable: to have a few cast before
your last one is gone. Once you have a good mold, the price will almost
surely be less than the cost of a new/second hand complete set. Thanks very
much, Jared.


Steven


-----------------------------------------------------------
Steven Wepster                          wepster@math.uu.nl
                                        tel +31 30 253 1531
Mathematisch Instituut                      +31 61 251 4380
Universiteit Utrecht
PO Box 80.010
3508 TA Utrecht
The Netherlands
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