36' Kirby Spirit of Tradition Yawl (2005) - 40 WINKS

40 Winks is 36′ Custom Yawl designed by Bruce Kirby for a client who wanted to cruise the shallow waters of the Bahamas. She was custom built by Sea Island Boatworks in Isle of Palms, SC and there are great photos of her being built on their website (it’s a gift to be able to see how she was constructed step by step). Her construction is wood/glass composite- her hull strip planked in juniper over laid with mahogany veneer and then fiberglassed over on the exterior. Winks is shoal draft with her board up drawing only 3′-3″ (6’6″ with the board down). Her interior is finished with juniper trim and furniture with painted ceilings and overhead in the main cabin and head. The forepeak V-berth is left with her epoxy coated juniper planking showing. Winks has a bluff bow so she has a short bowsprit to get her forestay moved more forward and her spars are carbon fiber. Her suit of sails includes her main, mizzen and jib along with a spinnaker and fisherman staysail for the miz.

Back in 2015 an old friend, Kevin Cooke, asked me if I would be willing to help him deliver his new sailboat down from Rockport Maine to Cataumet Mass on the south side of Cape Cod. It was mid May and I was itching to get back out on the water so I readily agreed. He told me a bit about 40 Winks but I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful she is and I fell in love with her at first sight (see the photos!). We had an interesting run south. We had planned to stop in Tenants Harbor Maine after a short shakedown cruise but the wind and weather were great so we kept going. Then we were supposed to stop at Cape Ann but the wind decided we would be happier going to Provincetown. All good although the mid May temperatures off shore had us wearing every piece of clothing we had. We got to Ptown and it was so early in the season that there was no launch service to get to town so we stayed on board overnight and went straight to the canal in the morning. All in all my sailing that season started with a 2-12 day long non stop sail. It was a great run to start the season.

As the years went by Kevin and I sailed Winks from time to time including in two different Opera House Cup races off Nantucket (there are two photos included of the sporty weather we had during one of them). Sailing against all those beautiful wood sailboats was an awesome experience. It was especially fun to sail against Wink’s sister ship Phebe whose homeport is Nantucket. After one of the races I needed to get back to the Cape earlier than Kevin and we decided to sail over to Vineyard Haven so that I could grab the ferry from Martha’s Vineyard to Hyannis. The wind was brisk and current in our favor and we pushed Winks up to 11 knots- a true Nantucket sleigh ride.

Kevin called me at the end of this summer (2023) to say he was ready to sell Winks. I had told him years before if he ever wanted to sell Winks I would buy her and although it really wasn’t the best timing for me I knew I would spend the rest of my days regretting it if I let her go. I jumped at the chance to be the newest steward of this wonderful, beautiful boat. She will split her home ports between Parkers Boat Yard in Cataumet, MA and the Hull Yacht Club in Hull, MA which has been my homeport for decades. I am looking forward to exploring Buzzards Bay in the spring and fall and Boston Harbor during the summer. I am excited be be 40 Winks’ skipper for many years to come.