For these points, I would attribute that to them still not comprehending exactly what is happening in the world. Especially the dinner party. This was before they found out the rest of the country was in bad shape too, and they thought they'd just be making their way down to San Diego for reprieve. I'd expect to see some sloppiness at the decisions on their part because IMO, it's all part of them learning about what's happening, trying to adapt, and come to grips with it. In this week's episode, there was even the conversation between Nick and Alicia about how he doesn't think this is the apocalypse. Some of them are still either in denial or being naive, which is part of the premise of the show being a prequel to TWD. We see their mistakes because we're accustomed to TWD.
As for the log book of the burned boat, I still don't understand why he grabbed that. It's not something I'd be looking for or even considering grabbing if I was looking for a survivor.
I mentioned up-thread that I think the timeline in season one was fast - it ramped up to full on zombie apocalypse in the first few episodes, and I just think more background on the disease or a slower progression if it to see how everything transpired would have been nice. But at this particular point, I do think the story is moving slowly. I'm sick of them being on the boat and was hopeful this new family they encountered would start a new story line, but it seems like they may be done with them now since they're all dead or back on the island.
One thing I've been thinking about is the fact that the girl turned after she accidentally killed herself by overdosing on the pills. I wonder if it's dawned on any of them that she turned after she died from something other than a bite. We know from TWD that the Atlanta crew didn't find out that everyone had the disease until somewhat later in the progression, and that was also why people would turn no matter when or how they died. I don't recall the LA crew on FTWD learning this yet. Could be wrong.
