With a bit of time on my hands this afternoon, I got some help servicing my knot meter. This is a mechanical bit that turns as the water goes past the boat. It is an important component because it helps me determine the difference between my speed over ground (obtained by the GPS) and the speed through the water, which ultimately tells the tide speed. I've been having trouble with the knot meter. It sometimes hasn't worked and sometimes it just comes on randomly after a bit of cruising. It is designed to be serviced by pulling the unit out and sticking a sophisticated plug in its place but I was reluctant to do it myself for fear of flooding the boat. With some help, I was able to get the unit out and the plug in. Sure enough, it was heavily blocked with gunk. There was even a complete barnacle growing between one of the blades. I cleaned the whole apparatus with Q-tips so that it works like a top again. The stuff that came off it it smelled very fishy. Supposedly they are bringing some special paint to protect the paddle wheel from further growth. From what I've seen so far, I don't think there's a good way to avoid build up. It is placed in a spot that will catch a lot of water and thus also all the microscopic sea life that lives along the way. Anyway, its still blowing away and raining from time to time, but we're technically ready to travel. Maybe one or two more mechanical fixes before we head out in a day or two. In the meantime, I've been puttering around and watching movies off the of the internet. It's been so long since I watched movies. What a relaxing treat. The dogs have been great, just hanging out with me. Later tonight I'm invited to dinner with the kind and generous German couple.