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Logbook just got a big upgrade
February 21, 2025 • 3 min read
Faster and more capable
Logbooks and journals have been incredibly important tools since the dawn of marine navigation. Explorers used logbooks to journal their discoveries and experiences while navigating uncharted waters, shaping trade routes and international commerce. For boaters today, keeping track of where and how you have traveled can be a valuable and fun way to remember your past trips. Orca's Logbook makes it effortless to review and relive your past adventures.
Starting today, you can experience an even better Logbook in Orca, with big upgrades to its functionality and speed.
An improved foundation
Orca’s Logbook records data from your boat network such as speed, fuel consumption, depth, wind, and batteries. The Orca Core is responsible for this, and as long as your Core is turned on, your boat data is logged.
Modern boats often come with many sensors that generate a lot of data. On top of this, Orca boaters often keep their boat network at the harbor or anchorage – allowing them to view sensor data in real-time via Remote Access. For many boaters, Logbook has to handle a great deal of data.
The data size creates two challenges: It takes significant processing power to transform the logged data into meaningful information, and a lot of bandwidth is required to send the data from the Core to your other devices for viewing. Because of this, the Logbook could be slow to update for some boaters.
This update includes three changes to Logbook’s foundation that make it much faster:
Improved compression makes sharing Logbook data from the Core to the Orca App or an Orca Display up to ten times faster.
Logbook data can now be processed on your local device when needed. This means you can view Logbook data without connecting to the Orca Cloud via the Internet.
The Core now shares Logbook data directly with the Orca Cloud when it has internet access, removing the need for synchronization via the Orca App or an Orca Display.
These three improvements make Logbook much faster, particularly for those with many devices on their boat network.
The syncing time required is drastically reduced. Prior to this update, syncing could take up to 5 minutes. Now, it completes in seconds. The Logbook screen is now also updated, making it easier to understand the status of your logs.
Better data quality
Occasionally, your boat’s devices misbehave. A recurring problem has been sensors that sometimes broadcast spikes in data, making graphs and average data in the Logbook unrepresentative of what boaters actually experienced. Orca now corrects the logs for many of these issues.
Another recurring problem was caused by jumpy GPS signals, where the Logbook believed you were moving while your boat was at anchor or harbor. To handle this issue, the Orca Core is now smarter about discarding jumpy GPS positions – giving you more accurate travel and stationary times.
Occasionally, a connected device could stop reporting data – either because it was momentarily disconnected, or because it couldn’t show any data. This is quite common for Speed Through Water and Depth sensors on fast sailboats and powerboats when the sensor is lifted out of the water. Logbook now handles these intermittent stops much better, filling in the gaps to make the graphs better at representing the actual trip.
More data
Battery monitoring is important for modern boats. Lithium batteries are expensive, and early detection of issues such as insufficient charging or accidental discharging can save you a lot of money.
Battery data for Charge Percentage, Battery Health, and Charge/Discharge Time Remaining is now available in the Logbook, giving Lithium battery owners insight into their battery performance over time.
GPX export
Many Orca owners have asked for the option to share logbook data with other tools. This is now possible with the GPX export.
Exporting a trip into a GPX file is effortless. Press the three vertical dots from the Logbook and share the GPX with your favorite tool.
Due to GPX limitations, only location information is shared. The complete boat network data is not available for GPX export.
By subscribing to Smart Navigation you’ll have access to 5 years of Logbook data. Data for the last 7 days is available for free to all Logbook users.
Upgrade your navigation experience for 2025
Logbook is powered by Orca Core – the smart navigation hub that turns your phone and tablet into high-end chartplotters. If you want a better way to relive and review your 2025 boating season, look no further.
Orca Core gives you a complete chartplotter experience on all your devices.
The newly upgraded Orca Core 2 is perfect for Logbook, thanks to its professional-grade GNSS accuracy and incredibly low power consumption. Get your Orca Core today with free express shipping and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee—only from the Orca Store.
