Most of us these days tend to use our GPS systems for speed and distance which works so much better than impeller logs, but in the event of having your GPS go down you may be left without a means of knowing speed and distance covered... Both really important bits of info for navigation.
On our previous boats we always had a trailing log and found using them, when needful, no bad thing... Problem is, these days no one makes trailing logs that I know of, and used ones have been reborn as "antiques" and are just too expensive to consider.
So, if you happen to see one of these Wasp or Walker logs at the local marina flea market, you might consider picking one up...
The lack of such a needful item on the market has got me thinking that a DIY plan or some enterprising cruiser setting up to build them and sell as they cruise would be no bad thing. While I'd think the mechanical clockwork sort makes the most sense in my mind, it would probably be a lot easier to base such a beast on hacking a bicycle computer for the task as all of the heavy lifting is already done for you... Damn, yet another project on my to do list!
Regarding your recent post about trailing logs. Have you looked at the Knotstick?Certainly worth checking out!
I have one and it works great. It's simple, inexpensive, and easy to use. I'm even considering getting rid of my under-hull paddlewheel log rather than continue to mess about with the constant cleaning/maintenance.
Listening to Merlin
So it goes...
