[don1reed]

I realize that all of this is not "Bill or Rights" or of constitutional proportions, or TMO/GWX quality yet; however, let me say that my first excursion using this method has proven to me to be the best yet.

The Wx I experienced from Manila to Formosa has been:
Clear skies; no rain or fog; Wind: 5 kn/360; Sea: Beaufort 2 the entire journey, so far.

In my estimation, the thing to do while serving as Navigator:

1) Be on the bridge in the sim and select the heavenly bodies to be used for navigation purposes.
2) Save game, then resume--and while sim is running so as to keep the clock running,
3) Enter Python with UTC date/time, enter Stellarium
4) Only use the bodies previously selected, gather the necessary data. Exit Stellarium and return to the sim.
5) With sim running all along, reduce your sights and plot them accordingly.

The fact that the clock has been kept running adds another real life adventure. As all know, RL doesn't have a pause button.

(Some single-handed Captains I've known on certain voyages didn't get a chance to plot their positions until a day later due to conditions--interesting--old data is sometimes better than nothing)
edit: sometimes the overcast is so thick all that is visible of the sun is a fuzzy cotton ball without clear definition of outline...so, center of mass is used. It's not as accurate, but it works.

More to follow, I'm hoping...

Don