57th Windjammer Days a success
The 57th annual Windjammer Days were a draw for nearly 10,000 people, according to Friends of Windjammer Days.
“Like the last six that we've run, I felt we did a good job with the organization,” said Friends secretary and head of sponsorship Mark Gimbel.
The week kicked off on Sunday, June 23 with the Arthur Webster Memorial Rock Skipping Contest, the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club One Design Race and the Blessing of the Fleet. Day 2 of festivities picked back up with the Second Annual Crab Cake Cookoff, tours at the Boothbay Sea and Science Center and Nathaniel Wilson Sailmakers. Sponsorship teams headed down to the footbridge for the Sixth Annual Tug of War Across the Harbor. Clear Stream Construction set a record with its second straight win.
Many events throughout the rest of the week brought smiles to the thousands of visitors – pirate duels and tours of ship Must Roos, Kids Alley and Windjammers for Wee Mateys were a hit for the kids. The Windjammer fleet arrived under full sail. The Cod Fish Races and the highly anticipated Windjammer Days Street Parade followed.
“Everyone said the street parade was epic. It was an hour and 10 minutes long. Stephanie (Hawke) was sweating for a month ahead of time thinking it wasn't going to come together, but it did.”
After an evening of spectacular fireworks over the harbor, Windjammers began leaving on Thursday morning, though festivities continued through Saturday.
Gimbel said most anticipated summer affair in the Boating Capital of New England had a couple hiccups, as the U.S. Coast Guard cutter had last minute mechanical issues, the Lighted Boat Parade was rained out twice and rescheduled and the schooner Adventure out of Gloucester, Massachusetts was not able to make it.
“Murphy's Law kicked in last minute on a few things,” said Gimbel. “You're required to have two licensed captains aboard and supposedly they could only find one.” Captain Willy Leathers was one of many from the Boothbay area to offer to travel to Gloucester, but Gimbel said it was too late. Leathers used to captain Adventure before moving back home to Southport to work on Bowdoin.
“We did have a successful fundraising sale on the Harvey Gamage Friday evening. The idea was to get 50 people on board spending $75 a head for an evening two-hour sail with beer and wine. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had 65 people on board.”
The fundraiser helps fulfill scholarships for students to learn seafaring in the summer.
Gimbel said besides all the work for the 57th Windjammer Days, he and other Friends members have been working diligently on next year’s festivities, even before this year’s began.
“Next year is the bicentennial for the state of Maine. I've been on six conference calls so far this spring … I've been working with Tall Ships America, Tall Ships Maine and the Maine Bicentennial Commission … All the coastal towns in Maine interested in hosting a tall ship next year were on these calls and it came down to four ports: Portland, Rockland, Castine and Boothbay Harbor.”
The Friends group plans to host at least two Class A and one Class B tall ships. Gimbel said the itinerary will likely be bringing in the main fleet Tuesday and Wednesday and leaving Thursday morning. Then on Thursday afternoon, the tall ships will come in and stay until Monday morning. However, the real question is if the plans are set in stone.
“Well, we've been picked as a port, so now it's up to us to make it happen. I just got the contract from Tall Ships America and … at first they asked how many tall ship class A's we could host. I said I'd like to have three, but two at the minimum.”
The Friends group has already met with several people from the Harbor, professional pilots, and several other potential key players. With many pieces in motion now, Gimbel said the ideas are starting to form for events involving the tall ships.
“We would bring barge floats in next to their hulls and bring people to them for their deck tours, a couple parties,” said Gimbel. “Let's say we end up with two class A's – we could have them come in and create a regional host. Bath can't host one, Wiscasset can't host one. Newcastle, Damariscotta, Bristol – none of those places can host a class A. But we can.”
As far as other changes for next year beside the theme “Maine History,” the group cannot be certain. Said Gimbel, “People do pop up with other ideas, but there’s no way to know what else may be added at this point … We’re kind of picking away at this, one little piece at a time because you only turn 200 once. That's what I keep saying.”
Galleries and stories:
2019 Windjammer Days: Days 2 and 3
