On Monday, May 7th during our breakfast we were interrupted by a rap on the hull.  "Are you ready?" asked a voice from below.  The travel lift had arrived to carry Windspell from her perch in the dockyard to the chilly waters of Chesapeake Bay!

Windspell being lifted in slings. A final touch of anti-fouling paint is being added to areas where support stands had held her upright on land

Travel lift carrying Windspell to Chesapeake Bay for launching

Ugh..that water is cold!

Windspell afloat dockside

We spent our first night afloat.  It was rather restless getting used to the rocking motion and new sounds of waves lapping against the hull and rigging singing  (Donna calls it "slapping").  We are no longer manoeuvring up and down a ladder, but have to judge our leaps aboard with the changing tide.  

As we await parts for the mechanic to begin the 1000-hour engine maintenance, we are practising with all of the electronics on-board, particularly the GPS chartplotter.  

Today we broke away from chores to go for a bike ride around the quaint town of Rock Hall using  clunker bikes provided by the marina.  The flowers, such as rhododendrons, azaleas, irises, peonies, and roses are in full bloom and their fragrances wafted through the air as we cycled by.