What is Blue Tiefpunkt SeaLog™?
SeaLog is a digital sea service logger designed to help mariners accurately record, import, organize, and present their sea time for license applications.
The current version was built specifically for individuals pursuing a US Coast Guard OUPV (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel) “6-Pack” license, but it can be used in its current configuration for any type of sea service record keeping. Future updates will expand into other licensing areas with different goals.
SeaLog replaces traditional handwritten logs and spreadsheets with a structured system that:
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tracks live trips in real time
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allows the import of existing service records
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calculates qualified service days automatically
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organizes vessel, route, and role information
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generates a formatted sea service report package
The goal of SeaLog is to reduce the complexity and uncertainty of documenting sea time, while producing records that are clear, consistent, and easy for credentialing reviewers to evaluate.
How SeaLog Tracks Time
SeaLog calculates sea service using the US Coast Guard definition of a qualified service day.
A qualified day is credited when at least 4 hours underway are accumulated within a single calendar day.
How SeaLog Determines a Qualified Day
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If the combined time of one or more trips reaches 4 hours or more, the day is counted as one qualified service day.
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If the total is less than 4 hours, the time is still recorded, but the day is not qualified.
Only one qualified day can be credited per calendar day.
Multiple Trips in One Day
SeaLog combines trips within the same calendar day automatically.
Trips That Cross Midnight
If a trip crosses midnight, the time before midnight applies to the day the trip started (day one) and time after midnight applies to the day the trip ended (day two).
If time before midnight cannot qualify day one, by itself or in combination with another earlier trip, it is applied to day two if that same overnight trip is continuous and exceeds 4 hours. SeaLog does not penalize overnight trips that straddle midnight as long as only one calendar day is qualified.
Editing and Manual Entry
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Trips and all accompanying data can be recorded live with a GPS record
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Trips can be entered or imported without a GPS record
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Any trip can be edited at any time, but the GPS record can never be edited
SeaLog recalculates automatically after edits are applied.
Getting Started with SeaLog
Step 1 — Add a Vessel
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Enter vessel details. This content is editable at any time and automatically updated into trip records when changes are made.
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Set the vessel you will be aboard for most of your sea time as the default vessel if you are recording time on several.
After the first time you enter attester information it will automatically populate those fields each time you serve on that vessel, but edits are easy if you need to record additional attesters.
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Add more vessels from the Home screen at any time.
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Alternatively, you can restore a backup created previously.
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Step 2 — Start a Trip or Import Trips
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Tap Start Trip and capture sea state, tidal and weather conditions at any time during a trip. Only one set of conditions are recorded for each trip, but they can be edited during the trip.
SeaLog will:
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record your sea time and display your daily status
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track the total duration of all sea time for any given day
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begin GPS recordings (if permitted)
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Swipe SeaLog to the background and use other apps. The app will seamlessly record your time and positions as long as a trip is in progress before the app is backgrounded or the device is locked.
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Use the trip import feature to merge trip data recorded elsewhere within SeaLog. The import dialogue provides a CSV template. Fill in the template with your existing records and use them to populate the final reports generated by SeaLog. Importing trip data will not overwrite your in-app trip logs, but imports will fail if required fields are missing or if the resulting record doesn't make sense.
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Proper formatting of the CSV used to import trips is important. Download a formatting key to guide you. If trips fail to import, SeaLog will provide error messages to help you sort it out.
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Step 3 — End the Trip
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Tap End Trip and review the recent trips list on the Home screen.
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Ending a trip will stop the use of location services until the next trip is activated.
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Select a trip with the "missing info" status and enter the required and optional information:
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vessel
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waters
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role
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route/water bodies
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notes
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attesting person
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attesting person role
The trip will not count toward a qualified day until the required information is entered.
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Step 4 — Review Your Logs
Use the Trips screen to:
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view trips organized by year, month, and day
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check qualification status of each trip
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edit entries as needed to upgrade the trip status
Reviewing data right after a trip has ended helps prevent report generation issues later on.
Step 5 — Edit and Complete Records
You can enter and edit almost all trip data at anytime. Note that imported trips have limited editing capabilities. GPS pings can never be edited.
Step 6 — Export Your Data
$PDF Report
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pre-formatted for submission very similarly to the CG-719S form
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export a report as many times as needed to see how it is handling your entries
$KMZ file
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use this export in Google Earth or other mapping apps
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visualize your sea service record
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compile average distance offshore calculations from this dataset
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use the KMZ exports to validate your offshore calculations
$GPX file
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use this export to display a track log within compatible mapping apps
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visualize your sea service record on a per trip basis
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export a trip to your chartplotter using an app like Active Captain or a micro-SD card
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extract water bodies and geographic locales visited from a trip record
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CSV — All Trips
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full dataset of your entire record; this is good for spreadsheets
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use the CSV export to find problems highlighted in the PDF report
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use the CSV for validation of your record if more information is requested
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sort the CSV per attester to help them see each trip they must sign-off on
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CSV — Single Trip
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includes all GPS pings
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useful for validation and mapping
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SeaLog recalculates automatically after editing changes are made.
Understanding Qualified Days
The US Coast Guard outlines specific requirements in Title 46 CFR Chapter 1.
A day of sea service is defined as 8 hours (46 CFR 10.107) in an appropriate role, and 30 days define a month. A total of 12 months of sea service are required for OUPV certification, and that equates to 360 days. For smaller vessels the Coast Guard may accept shorter operating days, but not less than 4 hours underway.
The total number of sea service days needed for OUPV certification is therefore 360. No less than 90 of those days must be served in the immediate 3 years prior to submission of the record for review, regardless of any endorsements sought.
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If a near coastal endorsement is sought, the record must show 90 of the 360 days of service in near coastal or ocean waters (seaward of the boundary line).
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If a Great Lakes endorsement is sought, the record must show 90 of the 360 days of service in the Great Lakes waters.
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SeaLog helps you track your progress in each of these categories, but remember:
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there can be only one qualified day per calendar day
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4 hours underway is the standard SeaLog uses to distinguish a qualified day
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multiple trips per day can be combined to qualify a single day
When SeaLog Totals Don’t Match Expectations
Check and manage your record:
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did you accumulate enough time per day to exceed the 4-hour threshold?
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are your trips missing required fields?
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did you edit trips and create overlapping vessel times, or overlapping vessels?
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did you edit a trip and record the incorrect times? AM or PM?
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did your imports work seamlessly and without errors?
Use CSV + report exports to diagnose issues in your record, and edit them frequently to produce a clean report as you go.
Logging Trips
Required Fields
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start time
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end time
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vessel
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waters
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route / water bodies
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role
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attester name
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attester role
If any of these fields are missing content the day will not be qualified even if the time threshold was met.
These fields can be edited at any time, and SeaLog will re-calculate your totals.
Optional Fields
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notes about how far offshore a trip was, or any other memorable issue, can aid when your record needs backup
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conditions such as sea state, tides, and weather are recorded as a matter of good practice and seamanship
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GPS pings are not part of the CG-719S submission, but can be an important element of record validation as well as other calculations
Route Category vs Water Bodies
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Route Category = standardized water body classifications "inland, near coastal, oceans and Great Lakes," which are then subdivided into "shoreward, seaward, and Great Lakes" categories within the PDF report
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Water Bodies = required geographic detail; can include locales
Attester Information
Each trip must include an attester and their role on the vessel (typically Master, Operator or Owner). When the report is compiled the attester will enter their own information into a signature block assigned to them for a given vessel, but you must be aware of their role as a part of your record.
Consistency is critical. If you spell an attesters name 3 different ways, there will very likely be 3 signature blocks for them to sign in the report. Check the report and make adjustments regularly.
GPS Tracking
When permitted, GPS pings will be obtained and stored for live trips:
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records positions
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runs in background if a trip is active and the app is not closed
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supports validation
Consistency Matters
Keep the content for these fields consistent to reduce compiled redundancy in the PDF report:
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vessel names
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water bodies
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roles
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attester spelling
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SeaLog attempts to sort out text that is very similar so that the compiled report can limit repeated entries, but ultimately a concise record is up to each user (you!). Be aware that the report field for water bodies does have size limitations and the record will be clipped when the maximum size is reached.
Editing Trips
Almost everything is editable. Calculations will update automatically.
Imports, Exports & Reports
Import a CSV (Home screen)
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import a spreadsheet of your existing records, formatted to fit into SeaLog
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use the blank CSV template provided to sort your record for import
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download this key to guide you as you build the import CSV
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create vessels before you import so the trips are applied seamlessly to the correct vessel
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adhere to the format of SeaLog and avoid discrepancies later
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$ Export a PDF Report (Trips screen)
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pre-formatted for submission very similarly to the CG-719S form
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export a report periodically to see how it is handling your entries
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introductory summary page presents stats from your entire record
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designed to sort and assemble your record on a per vessel basis
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automatically creates signature blocks for each attester per vessel
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built to be a "packet" of PDF documents that you gather into a .zip file for submission
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flexible for the use of digital signatures or regular wet signatures
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be prepared to provide the average distance offshore per vessel as the current version of the app does not calculate this required information
$ Export a KMZ file (Trips screen)
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use this export in Google Earth or other mapping apps
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visualize your sea service record on a map
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print maps from Google Earth for validation
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only displays trips that were recorded live using SeaLog, and have more than 2-3 GPS pings
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compile average distance offshore calculations from this dataset using the distance measuring tools in your chosen mapping program
$ Export a GPX file (Trip Details screen)
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use this export in compatible mapping apps
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visualize your sea service record on a per trip basis
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export a trip to your chartplotter using an app like Active Captain or a micro-SD card
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use the record of your trip to enter or edit waters and water bodies information into SeaLog
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Export a CSV — All Trips (Trips screen)
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full dataset of your entire record; this is good for spreadsheets
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use the CSV export to sort data and find problem fields shown in the PDF report
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use the CSV for validation of your record if more information is requested after review
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Export a CSV — Single Trip (Trip Details screen)
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includes all GPS pings along with other trip information
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useful for validation and mapping
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Export a CSV — Single Trip GPS ping list only (Trip Details screen)
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includes all GPS pings formatted for easier mapping
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useful for validation and other third party software
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Export a Backup (Trips screen)
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periodically export a backup of your entire record
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restore your record within SeaLog from this backup before recording any new trips
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restoring a backup will wipe any data within the app that is not in the backup
GPS Tracking
SeaLog must be given permission to gain access to your device's location services. GPS pings are not otherwise stored. Battery efficiency is important, so GPS pings are infrequently called from the operating system. A GPS status is provided during a Trip-in-Progress.
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SeaLog uses GPS when available to support trip validation, but users are responsible for enabling location permissions and maintaining device conditions that allow location services to function.
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SeaLog will accurately handle the trip logs even if you do not enable location permissions, as the GPS ping data is not a required part of your record, but does aid in validation thereof.
SeaLog records GPS pings:
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ping spacing is wide to keep your app from burning battery
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pings are recorded even when the device is locked or the app is backgrounded, as long as a trip was started beforehand
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the frequency of background pings can vary by OS, and SeaLog is limited by the permissible use of GPS by each OS
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time + coordinates are included in each ping
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Most useful for:
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validation
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movement review
Note that if a trip is entered manually or imported, the GPS pings will be very limited or non-existent. A true position record of a trip can only be recorded if the trip recording is performed live. SeaLog attempts to keep hand entered trips out of the KMZ export.
Each applicant must provide the average miles offshore statistic on a per vessel basis, so the GPS data exports can help validate your calculations.
Data Safety & Backups
It takes time to build a sea service record. SeaLog provides several ways to secure data along the way.
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SeaLog data is stored locally:
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no account required
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automatic system backups created
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there is an option to purge the entire dataset on the Home screen
Export your entire record to:
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secure all data
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restore the record when needed
Use CSV exports to:
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retain copies
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validate data
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search for inconsistencies
Best Practices
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export regularly to a full system backup and to CSV and store these externally
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preserve your record by backing up your phone
Tips for Using SeaLog
SeaLog needs your help to produce the cleanest report of your record when the work is done. The final report is the most powerful and useful element of SeaLog, but will very accurately reflect the data within the record even if it is messy and confusing.​
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The best way to produce a clean report, is to:
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maintain consistent word choice and naming
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complete all required fields
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avoid overlapping time
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use clear water body names and geographic locales
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ensure attester name consistency
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follow the downloadable import key to secure your existing record within SeaLog
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Use Reports and CSV
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Export the PDF and find odd results
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Use the CSV to find the date of those odd records
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Scroll to the date within the app, and edit the trip there
Stay on top of your trips, even if SeaLog stays home
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trips do not need to be logged live
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just start and end a trip and edit dates and times accordingly
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SeaLog recalculates automatically
SeaLog provides an organized report
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the report has many signature fields that can be used digitally or by wet signature
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use only PDF applications that can handle a digital signature and apply the locking protections
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digitally signed PDF's that are not properly locked will be rejected by the USCG reviewers
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scan printed and wet signature report parts and reassemble the "packet" as a series of PDF documents within a .zip directory
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name each part of the report packet with the file name given by SeaLog to keep them ordered for the reviewers​
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compress the entire packet of PDF's into a .zip file to submit to the USCG
Limitations & Disclaimers
SeaLog is not a US Coast Guard product and is not endorsed by them.
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Approval of SeaLog reports remains at the discretion of the USCG NMC reviewers.
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Reviewers may:
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interpret your record differently than you do
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request more information to substantiate your application
Be prepared to validate your record.
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You, the applicant, are ultimately responsible for:
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the accuracy of every sea service claim
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the completeness of the application materials
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obtaining the proper attestations
SeaLog does not verify data. It simply reports the record stored within it.
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Data is stored locally — external backups are your responsibility.