Walker Log $350 SF Craigslist

[Thorne]

http://images.craigslist.org/3k23o73lfZZZZZZZZZ952c919dd6baa8c1e7f.jpg

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/boa/1151034604.html

[PeterSibley]

Mine cost me $100 .

[Bob Cleek]

Dunno about what used ones are going for these days, but they are great toys. GPS has pretty much replaced them, though. The guy's right. If you need a backup, you can't do much better than a KDO for a small boat.

There ARE some limitations. Some predatory fish like to eat the "spinners." These are expensive and somewhat hard to come by. Note that the "kit" comes with two, since they expect you'll end up losing one. Also, people have a habit of stealing/selling/losing the log meter and spinners and leaving the round mounting plates (port and starboard) on the boat. Without the mounting plate, you have problems using the instrument at all, unless you have one with a yoke mount you can hang from a boomgallows or the like. Finally, they are really only useful for long voyages off soundings. It isn't like you'd want to rig one to find out how far you went on a Saturday afternoon, and as you can imagine, any yahoo that cut across your stern in a crowded area quite likely would snag the trailing line in their prop... so... while it may be nice to have... $350 would be more than I'd pay for one unless I was planning a trip to Hawaii or the like.

[PeterSibley]

Bob , I reckon it wouldn't be too hard to cast a few spares in epoxy in a casting silicon mould .Maybe , load the epoxy with a bit of lead shot .

[Bob Cleek]

I suppose, but I'd bet you'd have to calibrate the log to compensate for the different weight distribution of the plastic "fish."

[PeterSibley]

I use silicon casting material in patternmaking Bob , it's extremely good and I dare say I could (and will) make spinners of exactly the same density and shape as the originals .Not too hard .To get the same weight distribution I might use a metal dust , maybe aluminium ,mixed into the epoxy .

[downthecreek]

It isn't like you'd want to rig one to find out how far you went on a Saturday afternoon .

I don't know..... I have a Walker log that is probably around 40 years old, in nice condition and remarkably accurate. I rather enjoy the arcane little rituals of streaming and handing the log. A pleasant reminder of old times when we didn't even have a VHF radio on board and the steering compass, trailing log and sextant were our best tools. We did have RDF and the Consol air navigation beacons (Bushmills, Stavanger and Ploneis - amazing how the names stick in the mind) but they were only secondary to the real business. I don't really need the log, but I won't be selling it anytime soon. :)

[CarlZog]

We still use Walkers regularly on the SEA (http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/www.sea.edu) boats, though much larger models than the KDO. They probably each rack up more than 15,000 miles a year, and are a central part of the students' navigation curriculum.

It's getting tougher to find spares when fish go missing, particularly as prices for complete units are now rising closer to antique valuation rather than working tool valuation.

[TimH]

It would be cool to have as a novelty item. In reality GPS has proven pretty reliable hasnt it? For that much money you could just buy a backup GPS (or 2)

[paladin]

Fish are easy to make....out of necessity.....somewhere in one of my log books is the number of shot that go into one. We made the mold from a semi flexible plastic rubber, in two pieces, then mix the lead shot with the epoxy and pour it in...when the epoxy sets we then epoxy the two halves together. I may still have the mold haves in the warehouse...

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I use the Excelsior IV model that I inherited from my father; I bought it a spare fish (Excelsiors use bigger, brass, ones) on Ebay but have not needed to use it yet. Good point about the deck shoes. The "official" way of handing the log is to unhook it and pay out the hook end as you haul in the fish then haul in the hook - this keeps the turns out of the line.