Some work comes around again and again: an oil change every year or 200 engine hours, zincs every spring, an impeller every other season. A repeating to-do keeps track of when it’s next due. Each time you complete it, Ballast logs the work and works out the next due date and engine hours for you.
A to-do can repeat after a number of days, a number of engine hours, or both. With both, it comes due at whichever arrives first.
If you set both, the to-do comes due at whichever is reached first. The line under Next Due says when that is.
As soon as you enter a repeat, Ballast works out when the to-do is due.
A date Ballast worked out is shown in grey. That’s your cue that it will move by itself when you complete the to-do.
You can pick the due date yourself instead, by tapping it. A date you choose is shown in normal text, and Ballast never moves it. Changing the repeat doesn’t move it either, until you complete the to-do.
For example, suppose the next haul-out is booked for 15 April and the bottom should be painted every year. Set the due date to 15 April and repeat every 365 days. The to-do is due on 15 April, and after that a year from whenever you actually did the work.
To go back to a worked-out date, clear the date you chose. A to-do that still repeats gets a worked-out date again straight away.
Ballast doesn’t read your hour meter. It knows an engine’s hours only from what you tell it, in two ways:
A to-do that repeats by hours comes due only when you update the hours. Enter a fresh reading every so often, at the end of a trip or once a month, so Ballast can tell you when an hours-based job is coming up.
The hours a to-do is due at stay put while the engine runs. That’s what lets the meter catch up with them. Only completing the to-do sets a new target.
If the engine has no hours reading yet, Ballast has nothing to count from and can’t schedule by hours. Enter the current reading on the engine first.
| Badge | By date | By engine hours |
|---|---|---|
| Due soon (orange) | The due date is within the next 30 days. | The engine is within 10 hours of the due hours. |
| Overdue (red) | The due date has passed. A to-do due today isn’t overdue until tomorrow. | The engine’s hours have passed the due hours. |
A to-do that repeats by both shows whichever badge applies first. For example, one that’s due in two months but only 5 engine hours away shows Due soon.
Every time you complete a to-do, Ballast records the work in your service log. That entry is what the next occurrence is counted from.
The to-do stays in your list with its next occurrence scheduled:
Suppose an oil change repeats every 365 days or 200 engine hours, and you log it on 3 May 2025 at 1,204 hours. It’s next due on 3 May 2026 or at 1,404 hours, whichever comes first.
After you complete it once, the due date is always worked out, even if you’d chosen the first one yourself. The date you picked was for that occasion, and it has passed.
If you cancel the entry instead of saving it, nothing changes: the to-do isn’t completed and its schedule stays as it was, even if you’d already changed the date or hours on the entry.
A to-do that doesn’t repeat is marked complete and moves to the Completed list, keeping its due date.
Completed it by accident? Delete the entry it created. In the Log tab, swipe left on the entry, tap Delete, then tap Delete again to confirm. The to-do goes back to the due date and engine hours it had before, including a due date you’d chosen yourself. If you’ve changed the to-do’s due date or repeat since, Ballast works the schedule out from your log and the repeat as it is now instead.
Logged the wrong date or hours? Correct the entry in the service log. A worked-out schedule follows the correction. A due date you chose yourself stays where you put it.
Deleting an older entry? If it isn’t the most recent entry for the to-do, the schedule is worked out again from the entries that remain.
Why is the due date grey? Ballast worked it out from the repeat, and it will move when you complete the to-do. A date you chose yourself is shown in normal text.
My hours-based to-do never comes due. The engine’s hours are only as current as the last reading you entered. Update the hours on the engine, or log an entry with a reading. See Engine hours. If the engine is marked Retired on the to-do, it’s no longer aboard and its hours won’t change, so choose the engine that replaced it.
Can I schedule by hours without an engine? No. Hours only mean something for a particular engine’s meter, so choose an engine first.
Does a repeating to-do ever finish? Not by itself. When the work no longer needs doing, remove the repeat and complete the to-do, or delete it. Deleting a to-do leaves its service log entries in place.
Still stuck? Hail us and tell us what you expected to happen.