The term log-book originally referred to a book for recording readings from the chip log, a piece of wood that floated upright in the water and enabled them to estimate a ship's speed through the water. The line attached to the chip log had knots on it, and periodically the log was dropped off the ship and the number of knots counted as they passed (hence also why we register nautical speed in knots...)
Readings taken from the chip log were transferred to a log-board or log-slate, and finally recorded in a log-book. Eventually the book was simply abbreviated to log.
The ship's log is a record of important events in the management, operation, and navigation of a ship, used through the centuries for ships of all sorts. The ship's log is essential to traditional navigation, and must be filled in at least daily.
A modern day ship's log has grown to contain many other types of information, such as weather conditions, times of routine events and significant incidents, crew complement or what ports were docked at and when.
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