● Captain Logbook · Live Beta
How-To Guide

Captain Logbook

The Pirates of Perdition Captain Logbook is designed to make voyage records easier to create without turning the captain's job into more screen time. The system captures what it can automatically, preserves what happens during the voyage, and leaves judgment-based observations to the captain.

Open Live Logbook Read the Guide Manual Log Entry
Development status: This logbook is in active beta and is being developed with professional small-vessel recordkeeping in mind. It is not presently represented as Transport Canada approved, certified, or as a substitute for records an operator is legally required to maintain.
Quick Start

The whole voyage in five steps.

Once your captain profile and vessel are set up, the normal workflow is simple.

01
Start Journey Confirm route, passengers, load and readiness.
02
Automatic Capture Time, GPS and nearby environmental context are recorded.
03
Record Underway Add notes, conditions, incidents or changes as needed.
04
End Journey Arrival time and GPS are captured.
05
Finalize Complete observations and create the permanent record.
Before First Use

Set up your Ship's Papers.

The logbook is tied to an authenticated captain account and vessel record. This allows the system to populate information that should not have to be typed again every time you leave the dock.

00
Account & Vessel

Create your captain profile and vessel record.

Sign in through Ship's Papers and make sure your captain information and vessel information are current before relying on the live logbook.

Captain Identity Display name, username, role, verification state and other account information are carried into the journey snapshot.
Vessel Identity Vessel name or registration, make/model, vessel type, length, capacity, engine and other registry details are preserved.
Operator Relationship You must be recorded as an active operator of the vessel before starting a live journey.
Snapshot Principle The system saves a snapshot of captain and vessel information at journey start so later profile edits do not rewrite history.
Open Ship's Papers
01
Start Journey

Begin the voyage before departure.

From the Captain Logbook dashboard, select Start Journey. Enter the basic voyage information and complete the required pre-departure readiness checks.

Route Enter the departure location and destination in plain language.
Passengers & Load Record passenger count, voyage type and vessel load level.
Pre-Departure Checks Confirm weather review, vessel readiness, required safety equipment, fuel/range and passenger or crew briefing.
Optional Checks Communications and navigation readiness can also be recorded.

The journey will not start until the required readiness checks are completed.

02
Automatic Departure Capture

Let the system record what it can.

When you press Begin Journey, the logbook captures the official server timestamp and attempts a fresh GPS position. If GPS is available, the system also looks for a useful nearby Environment Canada observation station.

Departure Time Captured by the server rather than typed manually.
Departure GPS Latitude, longitude, GPS accuracy and capture time are stored when available.
Environmental Source The selector ranks nearby current stations using distance, freshness and marine relevance.
Graceful Failure GPS or environmental lookup failure does not prevent the voyage from starting.

Environmental station readings are contextual observations from the named station. They are not treated as measurements taken at the vessel.

03
Journey Underway

Keep the screen simple while operating.

The live journey page shows the route, elapsed time, departure readiness, departure GPS and selected environmental source. You only need to interact with it when something is worth preserving.

Persistent Journey Refreshing the page or navigating back to the dashboard does not erase the active journey.
Event GPS Each underway record attempts a fresh GPS fix when it is saved.
Chronological Timeline Events remain in time order and are carried into the permanent record.
Use Only When Useful The captain does not need to constantly interact with the app while handling the vessel.
Important Distinction

Automatic data vs. captain observations.

These are deliberately kept separate. The system records objective context where possible; the captain records what was actually experienced.

Automatic / System-Captured

The logbook can record these for you.

  • Authenticated captain and vessel snapshot
  • Departure and arrival server timestamps
  • Voyage duration
  • Departure and arrival GPS when available
  • GPS attached to underway events when available
  • GPS accuracy and capture timestamps
  • Nearby Environment Canada station selection
  • Station distance, observation time and freshness
  • Available wind, gust, temperature, pressure and visibility data
  • Journey IDs, daily supplemental log IDs and integrity information
Captain-Entered

These require human observation or judgment.

  • Actual sea state experienced by the vessel
  • Estimated wave height
  • Visibility as experienced underway
  • Whether conditions improved, held or worsened
  • Ride quality and passenger comfort
  • Captain workload
  • Effect of conditions on vessel speed
  • Roughest and calmest areas
  • Incidents, near misses and operational changes
  • Captain's notes and confidence in the observation
Underway Records

Four quick event types.

Use these when something happens during the voyage that is worth preserving.

Add Note

General operational observation, reminder, passenger-related note or anything else worth keeping in the voyage timeline.

Conditions

Record area, sea state, wave height, wind, visibility, trend and an optional note at a particular point during the trip.

Incident

Record severity, category, what happened and any action taken for a safety, operational or unusual event.

Change / Delay

Record passenger-count changes, load changes, route changes, delays, stops or operating-mode changes.

04
End Journey

End the voyage when you arrive.

Press End Journey when the voyage is complete. The system captures the arrival server timestamp, attempts a fresh arrival GPS position, and captures another nearby environmental station snapshot.

Arrival Time Captured by the server at End Journey.
Arrival GPS A fresh location fix is attempted and stored with accuracy.
Arrival Environment A fresh contextual station lookup is performed for the arrival position.
No Lost Timeline All underway events remain attached to the completed journey.
05
Complete Journey

Add the observations only the captain can provide.

After End Journey, the completion page asks for the operational observations that cannot be safely inferred from GPS or a weather station.

Sea & Visibility Sea state, wave height, visibility, trend, wind direction and estimated wind speed.
Vessel & Ride Ride quality, passenger comfort, workload, speed impact, optional average speed and fuel use.
Route Observations Roughest area, calmest area and captain's notes.
Safety & Confidence Incident status, observation confidence and the reason for that confidence.

If you recorded a Conditions event underway, the latest condition snapshot can pre-populate matching completion fields to reduce duplicate entry.

06
Finalize

Create the permanent Captain's Log.

Press Finalize Captain's Log only after reviewing the completed voyage information. Finalization creates the permanent audited record.

System Log ID A permanent technical identifier is generated for the finalized record.
Supplemental Log ID A human-readable daily sequence such as 2026-08-21-01 makes multiple logs on the same day easy to identify.
Integrity Hash Record integrity information is generated and stored with the finalized log.
Permanent Snapshot Captain, vessel, voyage, GPS, environmental data, observations and underway events are preserved together.
Archive & Records

Find, print and review past voyages.

Finalized logs are stored in your private Captain's Log archive. Open a record to review the complete voyage, including the audit information and underway timeline.

Open Log Archive
Example Identifiers

Two IDs, two jobs.

Supplemental Log ID
2026-08-21-03

The Supplemental Log ID is the easy human reference: date plus voyage number for that vessel on that day.

System Log ID
LOG-1787251963752-y6s1u

The System Log ID is the permanent technical identifier retained for the underlying record.

Corrections

Amend — don't silently rewrite.

Once a Captain's Log is finalized, corrections should go through the amendment workflow instead of quietly changing the historical record.

Original Record Preserved The finalized record remains part of the audit history.
Reason Required The amendment records why a correction was made.
Before & After Previous and amended values can be preserved in the amendment trail.
Printable History Amendment information can be included when reviewing the archived record.
Manual Logging

Live journey mode is not the only option.

The original manual Captain's Log remains available. Use it when entering an older paper record, digitizing historical logs, or when you simply prefer to complete a voyage record manually.

Open Manual Log Entry
Practical Tips

Keep it useful at the helm.

Allow location access. On first use, your browser may ask for GPS permission. Once allowed, most browsers remember that permission for the site and do not ask on every event.
Don't chase perfect GPS. The system stores the reported GPS accuracy. A less precise position is still more honest than pretending the fix was exact.
Station data is context. A nearby station may not represent the exact sea state at the vessel. Use it as supporting evidence, not as a replacement for captain observation.
Record meaningful events. The logbook is not meant to make you tap the screen constantly. Use the underway buttons when something is actually worth preserving.
End before finalizing. End Journey captures arrival information. Finalize only after completing and reviewing the post-voyage observations.
Print when useful. Archived logs can be printed or saved as PDF for your own records, audits, binders or other documentation needs.
Ready to Log a Voyage?

Open the Captain Logbook.

Sign in, choose your vessel, complete the pre-departure checks and start the journey.

Open Live Logbook Ship's Papers Log Archive