Good Morning all and thank you for the many suggestions !
I sat out there last night with my printed list of suggestions, a red light set up to read them by - star charts - laptop - notepad - filters - eyepieces - barlow and filters -
Level Tripod - Sandbag on the shelf to keep it steady - OTA the right way up - OTA level - OTA pointed North - Base pointing North - Time entered in American format from atomic clock on laptop - GPS for exact location -
Did I forget Anything ????
Oh yes !! I need some stars
Damm I knew I forgot something - Where are all the stars
Eagerly I waited for the clouds to clear. And waited And waited
Occasionally I could actually see 2 or 3 stars but before I could complete the Alignment procedure the cloud would cover them over.
So in the wee small hours of the morning I packed up my gear and gave up.
I will be out there again tonight if it looks like there may be the odd hole in the clouds. With all of these helpful suggestions I am sure I will be ok.
Thank you all once again for your help and support.