The 2025 Windjammer Days will shine a spotlight on the dedicated individuals who have served, are serving, or are preparing to serve in one of the most respected branches of the U.S. military: the Coast Guard. From active-duty members and retired veterans to the bright future leaders currently enrolled at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, we’ll explore their personal stories, their contributions to the community, and the impact they've made on the nation's maritime security. The 63rd annual Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days will take place on Sunday, June 22 through Saturday, June 28. Please visit boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org for the full schedule of events.

My mother was a lifeguard when she was young and she taught me to be a confident swimmer at an early age. As a family we had the opportunity to spend time at lakes and the ocean. I really enjoyed the ocean and I would spend hours in the water searching for mussels, clams, oysters, and crabs. I am pretty sure that is where I learned to love being by the water.

When I was in high school I didn't know what I wanted to do when I graduated, but I did know that I couldn't afford college. I had considered joining the Air Force which seemed like a good place to get an education. While working part time after school at a pharmacy during my senior year of high school, one of the pharmacists I worked with suggested I consider the Coast Guard. He told me that since I enjoyed being by the water that that might be a good option for me. I had visited the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard recruiting offices and I was sold on the Coast Guard. I would be near the water, doing something to help people, and getting an education. I enlisted after I graduated high school in 1979. While waiting for basic training I worked the midnight shift at a college student center as a janitor. That was an education in itself. After almost a year, in 1980, I went to basic training (boot camp) in Cape May, New Jersey for two months. I can remember during my first week I had forgotten my cover (hat) at the galley after lunch when I returned to the barracks. I ran back to get it as fast as I could without remembering that if you were outside and didn't have your cover on you were supposed to have your hand on top of your head. Also, I found out that you don't run past a company that is doing marching drills. Needless to say the company commander stopped me and asked where I was going? I told him that I was going to retrieve my cover at the galley. Well, he told me to put my hand on top of my head and asked me if I thought I was Fred Astaire dancing (running) past his company. I said no, but he then told me to dance for them. So what seemed like forever, I had to jump around with my hand on top of my head in front of a company of 60 recruits. I am sure they enjoyed it. I must say I was a little embarrassed. To this day I make sure I have my hat when I go outside and I don't very much like to dance (ask my wife).

After boot camp I was sent to Detroit, Michigan assigned to the 140-foot Coast Guard Cutter Bristol Bay. Built in 1978 I was lucky to be part of the crew of a new ship. As a Seaman there was still plenty of "Busy Work" to do. Even though it was a new ship and if it looked fine you scrape it and repaint it. During my time on board we had done a number of search and rescue missions on Lake Huron and Lake Erie. We were typically out in bad weather looking for overdue boats. I didn't realize how big those lakes were and how much it was like being in the ocean when the weather was bad.

I had requested electronics school and eventually was sent to Governor's Island, New York which was a short ferry ride from lower Manhattan. There were two paths of training, Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) or Communication/Navigation. I chose Com/Nav. After five months of training I became an Electronics Technician (ET) 3rd Class. My first assignment out of Electronics school was Group Sandy Hook, New Jersey. I was the junior technician out of a group of nine ET's. I didn't think that I was learning as much as I could and this would have been my last duty assignment of my four years. I happened to be looking at a Coast Guard periodical called the "Commandants Bulletin" that had a section in the back where someone in the Coast Guard could advertise that they wanted to change duty stations. I was looking for a change and found an ET in Boothbay Harbor that was looking to be closer to New York for family reasons. In order to swap duty stations we would have to be the same rate and rank, get approval from our Commanding Officers, and pay to move ourselves. After some communicating and approvals the swap happened and I was now the sole ET at Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor. I had no idea where I was going or the responsibilities I would have, but I was ready to move on. While at the Station I was responsible for maintenance and repair of Radars, Depth sounders, and AM/FM radios and studied to become an Electronics Technician 2nd Class. Working in the Electronics shop most of the time, I could usually find some electronics equipment that needed adjustment during Windjammer Days so I could be out on one of the boats where all of the excitement was.

When I finished my four years in the Coast Guard, I went to a two-year Computer Engineering Technology school in Tampa, Florida. After graduating with an associate's degree and having the Coast Guard electronics background, I didn't have any trouble finding a job. I was hired as a temporary technician doing upgrades on 9600 bits per second modems (if you remember what those are) that were the size of a toaster oven at banks all over the state of Florida. While working for the company I saw an opening posted for a full time field service technician to cover the state of Maine. My wife and I were both anxious to go back to Maine. I took the installation and service of Multi- Media communications equipment job, and after five different purchases and spin-offs I was able to retire with 32 years of service. One month later I was lucky enough to be hired at Boothbay Craft Brewery to work my dream retirement job and work with a great crew for the past seven years.

I think the discipline that I learned in the Coast Guard helped me in my career with the long and odd hours I worked during that time. It also helped me in retirement. My wife and I wanted to travel and after having run a few marathons over a few years, I found out about a club called the "50 States Marathon Club." That sounded like an interesting way to visit all 50 states. So far I have finished a marathon (26.2 miles) in 31 states and hope my knee holds out until I can finish the last 19. It's turning out to be a great experience.

I am continuing to enjoy being by the water. I am growing oysters with a few good friends and I also have a recreational lobster license. I also have two beehives and I tap about 33 maple trees in February on our property for maple syrup. The Coast Guard taught me "Busy Work." There is always something to do to keep busy.

So it turns out swapping positions with an electronics technician to an unfamiliar location was the best decision of my life. Not only did I get to work with a great Coast Guard crew lead by a great role model (Senior Chief Neal Verge), but I also met my Southport native wife (Janice Orchard) in 1982, married in 1983, and still at it. We raised two wonderful daughters here and there are so many great friends and acquaintances I have met in the area over the years. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if the Coast Guard wasn't part of it.