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Wind Song is a strikingly beautiful
gentleman's sailing yacht steeped in Chesapeake
Eastern Shore tradition. She was the brainchild of
Bill Kay, a Pennsylvania resident and Eastern Shore
sailor. Her design is based on the Chesapeake Bay
"bugeye" oyster dredging vessel with lines and
construction plans drawn by Robb Ladd, then of
Kaufmann & Ladd Yacht Design in Annapolis,
MD. Wind Song was the first Robb Ladd
design to be built. Bill arranged for her
construction with Don Loweree at Crockett Boatyard
in Oxford MD, with assistance from John and Woody
Labat. She was launched in 1979 and sailed the
Chesapeake with Bill for fifteen years, during
which time she was faithfully maintained by Tommy
Campbell. Wind Song then followed Bill when he
moved west to Dana Point, California. She was the
apple of his eye for the last 25 years of his
life. When diagnosed with terminal cancer,
Bill offered Wind Song for sale. She was acquired
by the Darnton family with the promise that they
would "take her for an adventure and then take her
home". After being trucked to St. Petersburg,
Florida, she sailed the Darnton's around to the
Bahamas for a wonderful seven months of cruising
the Islands . Then, in accord with their promise to
Bill, the Darntons sailed her back into Town Creek,
Oxford, Maryland on June 11, 2005, where she was
welcomed by, among others, the Labat brothers and
Tom Campbell, who now owns Campbell Boatyards of
Oxford. Having gone full circle, Wind Song is now
in Annapolis, near her birthplace, in search of a
new owner with an appreciation of working sail and
a love for the beauty of traditional sailing
yachts.
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