Using MS Excel Onboard
Ever since I brought my first notebook computer on board, I have found the MS Excel one of the most useful of the standard software products on the computer.  I've used Excel to maintain lists (food and supplies), forms (logs, crew lists, sight reductions) and perform many other functions.  Eventually I started to use the computational capability in Excel to automate a few navigation functions.  Initially it was to perform the arithmetic required on a celestial navigation sight reduction form, then maintain a DR position from the Ships Log.  As the computations grew more complex they exceeded what could practically be accomplished with the standard Excel functions. 
So I learned Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and created my own set of functions.  The result to date are the following Excel applications.
  1. OffShoreNavigationVBA.  This is an integrated VBA application for many navigation calculations including celestial navigation and maintaining a Ships Log.  It is a replacement for the Off Shore Navigation workbook and Ships Log workbook templates described below. 
  2. Ships Log v7.7  This template creates a workbook to maintain the numerical data from the Ship's Log.  I still use a paper log as it is easier to just write the information in a log than start up Excel every time.  Also it gives me a chance to review and verify the log entry before I transfer it to the electronic copy.  I can modify the log entry if something was entered incorrectly.  In addition to providing a place to record the log information, among other things the workbook will calculate Distance Made Good (DMG) to the destination, projected time and distance to the destination and the distance traveled in the last 24 hours.  At the end of a passage I can import the position data from this spreadsheet into Fugawi as waypoints and get a nice plot of the voyage as a route.  I am in the process of replacing this application with the Ship Log function in OffShoreNavigationVBA, but that development is still underway.
  3. Winlink Log v1.3.  This template creates a log workbook for connections to Winlink.  In addition to providing a place to record these connections the workbook calculates the connect time for each PMBO to provide an indication of any connect time issues.  It also records a connection bandwidth value (very rough) to provide some indication of which PMBOs may provide a better connection for a given position and time.
  4. SailMail Log v2.1.  Similar to the Winlink Log, this workbook provides a place to record SailMail connections and it keeps track of connect time to that system.
  5. Ship Weather Reports v1.4.  This template creates a workbook in which ship weather reports received from SailDocs can be parsed and sorted to identify those ships (if any) that are close to your vessels position.  There are a number of steps required to use this template so I've added a page of instructions on the use of the Ship Weather Report workbook.
  6. BoatRecords.  This is an integrated VBA application that replaces the Boat Inventory, Maintenance Log and InventoryMaint applications described below.
  7. SOB PastTracks.  Software On Board (SOB) is a PC-based chart plotting package that I use in much of my electronic navigation.  SOB generates tracking files that capture most of the ship data (course, speed, depth, wind, etc.) at small increments.  I wanted to use these files for analysis of some passages made on Sarah, but I found Excel could not process the data as created by SOB.  So I wrote another VBA application to convert these files into Excel-friendly data.  I use this program to create Excel workbooks in which I can present the data graphicall, such as on this website page.
  8. BoatProvision.  This application can be used to develop a provisioning list for a passage based on the passage parameters, a menu plan, and a set of recipes. 
  9.  Waypoint Management.  I use a mix of chart plotting system to navigate Sarah.  I've created  a set of Excel workbooks to help me manage a common set of waypoints for each of these disparate systems.
The applications listed above are what I currently use and in many cases am still developing.  The applications listed below are no longer in use or development.  They are earilier versions of the applications above.
  1. Off Shore Navigation v8.53  This template creates a workbook for the reduction of celestial navigation sights.  I am in the process of replacing it with the OffShoreNavigationVBA application.  There are separate worksheets to reduce Sun, Planet and Star sights.  The workbook includes a built-in ephemeris for the Sun, the principal stars, and the planets Venus and Mars.  The Moon and the other planets still require a nautical almanac.  However, no reduction tables are required, and the worksheets will reduce the sight to the ship's DR position rather than an assumed position that fits the lookup tables.
    NOTE: I have a few errors in the code used to calculate ephemeris data for the planets.  I have corrected those errors in OffshoreNavibationVBA, but have not done so to this template.
  2. Boat Inventory. Spurred by an inquiry from another Pearson 424 owner and aided by work already done by two other 424 owners, I developed a set of user forms to build and maintain an inventory of most of the stuff I have onboard Sarah.  This application has been replaced by the BoatRecords application, above.
  3. Maintenance Log v1.3.  This workbook can be used to establish a maintenance schedule for the various onboard systems and to record maintenance activity against that schedule.  This application has been replaced by the BoatRecors application, above.
  4. InventoryMaint 3.02 Integrates the Inventory and Maintenance applications.  This application has been replaced by the BoatRecords application, above.
All of these applications were developed as either Excel templates to be used to generate a blank workbook for the data to be entered or as a separate VBA application workbook or Excel-Add-In.  They can be downloaded by clicking on the program titles above.