Logbook template for boats: spreadsheet format with examples

A good logbook template for a boat is a set of linked sheets with one row per event: a boat register, trips and legs, fuel, maintenance and a document index, joined by reference numbers such as TR-014, F-021 and M-006. Copy the columns below into any spreadsheet and you have a working format. Everything here is for boats, and the same format works as a travel logbook template for one cruise or as a template logbook that runs for years.

Why one row per event

The classic mistake is one long sheet with 30 columns, where fuel and repairs are squeezed into the same row as a passage. That works for a month. After that, a day with three legs and one refuelling has no sensible row, and consumption cannot be calculated. Separate sheets with linked references solve both problems, and each sheet stays narrow enough to fill in on a phone.

Instruction block for the first sheet

Put these rules at the top so that the person keeping the log next year does not have to guess.

Units: distance in nautical miles, volume in litres.
Time: all times UTC. Local time is UTC+1 in British Summer Time.
Date format: YYYY-MM-DD.
Engine meter: the reading on the hour meter, cumulative, one decimal.
Engine hours: meter end minus meter start for that leg. Never clock time.
Elapsed: departure to arrival by the clock, whether or not the engine ran.
References: TR trips, F fuel, M maintenance, D documents, BT boats. Never reuse a number.
Corrections: add a new row or a note. Do not overwrite a past entry.

The difference between the meter reading and elapsed hours causes more spreadsheet errors than anything else. The meter tells you what the engine has done, and elapsed time tells you how long you were out.

Logbook spreadsheet template: the five sheets

Copy each block into the first row of its sheet. They are comma separated, so paste into a blank sheet and use your spreadsheet's split-to-columns command.

Boat register

Boat ID,Name,Type,LOA m,Registration,Engine make and model,Engine serial,Tank litres,Meter at start of record,Notes
BT-01,Curlew,Sloop,10.6,SSR 000000,Volvo Penta D2-40,000000,130,1442.0,Example only

Trips and legs

Each leg is a row. A trip reference groups the legs of one outing or cruise.

Leg ref,Trip ref,Boat ID,Date,Dep UTC,From,Arr UTC,To,Distance nm,Elapsed h,Meter start,Meter end,Engine h,Night h,Tidal Y/N,Skipper,My role,Fuel ref,Maint ref,Notes
TR-014.1,TR-014,BT-01,2026-06-14,07:40,Yarmouth IoW,11:10,Poole Town Quay,19.0,3.50,1482.6,1484.1,1.5,0,Y,J Smith,Skipper,F-021,,Motored out of the Solent

Fuel

This is the fuel logbook template, with one row per fill. Hours since last full is the difference between two meter readings.

Fuel ref,Boat ID,Date,Time UTC,Place,Meter,Litres added,Filled to full Y/N,Hours since last full,L per hour,Leg ref,Receipt ref,Notes
F-021,BT-01,2026-06-14,11:40,Poole,1484.1,46,Y,14.3,3.2,TR-014.1,D-031,Last full at meter 1469.8

Check: 1484.1 minus 1469.8 is 14.3 hours, and 46 litres divided by 14.3 hours is 3.2 litres per hour. Only rows that fill to full give a valid figure, so note a partial fill and carry on to the next full one.

Maintenance

Maint ref,Boat ID,Date,Meter,System,Job,Parts and numbers,Done by,Cost,Next due date,Next due meter,Leg ref,Document ref,Notes
M-006,BT-01,2026-06-14,1484.9,Cooling,Raw water strainer cleared of weed,None,J Smith,0,,,TR-014.2,,Temp normal after clearing

Document index

Store the paper or PDF wherever you like. This sheet says where it is and when it expires.

Doc ref,Boat ID,Type,Issuer,Number,Issue date,Expiry date,Stored where,Linked ref,Notes
D-031,BT-01,Fuel receipt,Poole fuel berth,12345,2026-06-14,,Drive folder receipts,F-021,Example only

Logbook example: a multi-leg day

Test the template against a realistic day before trusting it. This logbook example, with invented figures, has three legs, a refuelling and a small repair.

The day should reconcile. Distance adds to 35.3 miles, elapsed time to 7 hours 10 minutes, and engine hours to 2.8, which matches the meter moving from 1482.6 to 1485.4. If those two engine figures differ, someone mistyped a reading. Fuel row F-021 sits between legs one and two and links to TR-014.1; maintenance row M-006 happened at anchor and links to TR-014.2.

For the next day, the opening meter must equal 1485.4. A conditional format that turns red when a leg's start meter differs from the previous end meter catches almost every typing error.

Which format to use

If the record has to hold up formally, check what is required first. Sea time claims have their own rules: the RYA asks for documented time and the Yachtmaster syllabus lists the details, while in the US, Coast Guard sea service evidence must show the vessel, tonnage, dates, routes and your role, as set out in 46 CFR 10.232, and the small vessel form CG-719S is the usual route. A template helps you hold those facts, but it does not replace the form.

For the wording of each entry, see what to write in a logbook. The maintenance sheet is explained further in boat maintenance log, and sea miles in proving sea miles.

Trips, fuel and maintenance in Manta

Manta fills most of this without a template. Each recorded trip stores track, times, distance and engine runs, and the automatic logbook writes the routine entries. Fuel is logged with one slider, and consumption comes from two logs and the engine hours between them. The maintenance log (Pro) keeps services, parts notes and photos per boat. It stores this data in the app and exports GPX per trip, a .manta trip file and a whole logbook backup. Manta has no CSV export and no page-by-page logbook PDF, so if you need the data in a spreadsheet, keep this template.