For fishing charter operators with two to eight boats
The charter boat maintenance log that runs on engine hours, not guesswork
Charter Hours Log is a trip log and engine-hours maintenance tracker for fishing charter operators that turns each captain's dock-side trip entry into a service schedule for every engine in the fleet, so oil changes, impellers and 100-hour services come due when they should.
No card to start. Plans from $19 a month once the 14 days are up.
Four questions an owner asks from the truck
Answered by a notebook in the console, a group text and a spreadsheet. Or by the log.
How many hours are on boat 3's port engine?
Today: Text the captain. Wait. Get a number from memory, or from a photo of the gauge taken last week.
With the log: The meter reads what the last trip's return reading set it to, with the date and the captain who entered it.
Is the oil change on Miss Molly due?
Today: Open the spreadsheet. Find the tab. Notice it was due by date, while Cummins sets the interval at 250 hours.
With the log: Overdue in red on the fleet board, 12 hours past, until the mechanic logs the service.
Who ran Reel Deal in July, and how many trips?
Today: Call two captains and count text messages.
With the log: Reports: trips per boat and per captain by month, with the hours run and the catch.
What did the shop do to the starboard engine last spring?
Today: Ask whoever was the captain then. He left in August.
With the log: Service history under the boat: date, hours at service, parts, cost and who did it.
Boat engine hours maintenance tracker
The fleet board on a Monday morning
Every engine by its meter and what comes due on it next. Trip readings roll into the meter; each service has its own interval in hours or days; the board shows OK, due soon or overdue per engine, per boat.
| Boat | Engine | Meter | Service | Due | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reel Deal | Port · Yamaha F300 | 1,212 h | Oil and filter | due at 1,200 h | Overdue · 12 h overdue |
| Reel Deal | Stbd · Yamaha F300 | 1,208 h | Oil and filter | due at 1,200 h | Overdue · 8 h overdue |
| Miss Molly | Main · Cummins QSB | 3,948 h | Impeller | due at 3,950 h | Due soon · 2 h left |
| Miss Molly | Main · Cummins QSB | 3,948 h | Fuel filters | due at 4,000 h | OK · 52 h left |
| Bay Runner | Single · Suzuki DF250 | 604 h | Lower unit | due Nov 1 | OK · 18 days left |
| Bay Runner | Single · Suzuki DF250 | 604 h | 100-hour | due at 700 h | OK · 96 h left |
Reel Deal's oil change went past 1,200 hours on Saturday's full day. It stays on the board, in red, until someone logs the service, which resets the interval and keeps the entry with the hours it was done at and who did it.
Fishing charter trip log app
One form at the dock, done before the fish box is hosed down
Boat, captain, mate, party size, the meter at departure and return per engine, what came over the rail, and anything that rattled. The return reading moves the engine's hours; the issue lands on the mechanic's list; the catch summary lands in the month's report. The captain never opens a spreadsheet.
A trip stays a draft until the captain submits it, so the mate can add the catch from the cleaning table and the captain can fix a reading before it's final. Submitted trips are the owner's record.
- Boat
- Reel Deal
- Date
- Today
- Trip
- Full day
- Captain
- D. Alvarez
- Mate
- J. Reyes
- Party
- 6
- Port engine
- 1,204 → 1,212 h
- Starboard engine
- 1,200 → 1,208 h
- Fuel added
- 95 gal
- Catch
- 4 mahi, 2 blackfin, 1 sail released
- Issues
- Stbd trim gauge reading low on the way in
Port engine now 1,212 h. Oil and filter overdue by 12 h. Stbd trim gauge added to the mechanic's list.
Four logins, four views
Hand the shop a login without handing it your catch numbers
Owner
Everything: boats, engines, crew, every trip, the service list, the history, logins and the plan.
Captain
The boats assigned to them. Logs trips with the meter readings, the catch and anything that rattled; logs the oil changes they do themselves.
Mate
The trips they crewed. Fills in the catch summary and issues while the trip is a draft. No engine hours, no maintenance, no other boats.
Mechanic
Every engine's hours and what is due, the issues captains flagged, and the services they log. No catch data, no crew details beyond names.
Service history survives captain turnover: every oil change, lower-unit service and impeller swap is logged with the hours it happened at and who did it, under the boat, not in anyone's console.
Small fleet boat maintenance software, set up in an afternoon
Five things to do once, then the captains do the rest at the dock
- 01
Add your boats and engines
with today's meter reading. A twin gets two engines; each keeps its own hours.
- 02
Set the service list per engine
oil and filter at 100 hours, impeller at 300, lower unit by season. Hours, days, or both; the worse one wins.
- 03
Add captains and mates
assign them to boats, and invite their logins. A captain only sees the boats they run.
- 04
Captains log each trip at the dock
boat, crew, party, catch, and the meter at departure and return per engine. The hours roll into the engine on their own.
- 05
Check the fleet board each morning
overdue in red, due soon in amber, before anything leaves the slip.
What it costs
Three plans, sized by how many boats you run
Start with 14 days of everything, no card. If you let the trial lapse, the log stays readable and nothing is billed; pick a plan when you want to keep logging. Pay by the year and get two months free.
Skipper
Getting started
One or two boats, you and your captains.
Up to 2 boats and 4 logins. Trip log, fleet board, service history, and trips per boat on the Reports page.
$19 / moor $190 a year
Try it freeFleet
Most fleets
A handful of boats with mates on the deck.
Up to 6 boats and 15 logins, mate logins, the full report set by boat, captain and engine, and CSV export for the accountant or the insurer.
$39 / moor $390 a year
Try it freeFleet + Shop
With a mechanic
The whole operation, with the outboard shop logging its own work.
Unlimited boats and logins, plus a mechanic login that sees every engine's hours and what is due, and logs the service with hours, parts and cost.
$69 / moor $690 a year
Try it free
Straight answers
What it is, what it isn't, and what happens when someone forgets
Updated October 14, 2026
How does a boat maintenance log by engine hours work?
Each service on each engine gets an interval in hours (and days, if you want): oil and filter every 100 hours, impeller every 300, lower unit every 180 days. Every trip's return reading moves the engine's meter, and the fleet board compares the meter to the next due reading. A task shows due soon 10 hours out (or whatever warning you set) and overdue the hour it goes past.
Is this a captain's log book or a maintenance tracker?
Both, on purpose. The captain's log app side is one short form per trip: boat, captain, mate, party size, catch summary, issues, and the meter at departure and return per engine. The maintenance side runs off those readings, so there is no separate hours spreadsheet to update.
Does it replace eTRIPS, VESL or our state's catch reporting?
No. Regulatory catch and effort reports still go in through the government app your fishery requires. Charter Hours Log keeps the business's own record: who ran what, what came over the rail, and what the engines read, next to the maintenance it drives.
We have twins. Does each engine get its own hours?
Yes. Engines are tracked per boat, each with its own meter, serial and service list. A trip takes a reading per engine, so a port engine that was swapped last season runs on its own schedule.
Can the outboard shop log the work themselves?
On the Fleet + Shop plan, yes. A mechanic login sees every engine's hours, what is due or overdue and the issues captains flagged on trips, and logs the service with hours, parts and cost. It does not see the catch or your crew's contact details.
What if a captain forgets the reading?
The trip stays a draft with no reading, and the trip list says so. The next reading on that engine moves the meter forward; a missed trip can be entered later and never winds the hours back. The owner or the mechanic can correct an engine's meter directly.
Is there a free trial?
Every new business gets 14 days on the Fleet + Shop plan with no card. When it ends your records stay readable; pick a plan to keep logging.
Tonight's trip, tomorrow's board
Enter the boats and today's meter readings. Invite the captains. That's the setup.
Start a free 14-day trial- What you'll have by the first weekend
- Every engine's meter, read from the last trip rather than from memory
- Each service on each engine with its due hours and its standing
- A trip log with the captain, the mate, the party and the catch
- A list of what captains flagged, for the mechanic