Steve Marson said painting the night sky has been his profession for over 27 years.

Marson and his team of pyrotechnics fired off 3,500 shells from a floating barge in Boothbay Harbor to the honks of hundreds of boats surrounding the explosive epicenter on July 4.  

Since the fireworks for Windjammer Days were canceled a week earlier, Marson said there was double dose in store for Boothbay Harbor, a town he has performed in for 20 years.

This year's show came with a price tag of $20,000; higher than most towns spends on Fourth of July celebrations; however, Mason guaranteed Boothbay Harbor's show was one of the best shows in the state.  

“It's not about getting the most profit,” Marson said. “It's all about fitting the most fireworks that you can into the most spectacular display.”

With more than 90 fireworks shows booked solid for four days, Marson needs 200 employees working for his company, Central Maine Pyrotechnics, which operates in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont for 11 months of the year.   

The day before each performance, Marson carefully lays out the show inside his warehouse. He combines six-inch shells that soar as high as 1,000 feet, with smaller three-inch shells to choreograph what he called the “perfect canvas of chemicals and color.”

At 9 a.m. Marson's licensed pyrotechnic, Austin Hills, arrived at the barge in Boothbay Harbor to prepare for the night's performance. In recent years, the barge has been forced further out of the harbor due to complaints of embers and ash falling on nearby boats and houses.

For the next 12 hours, Hills and his three-man crew organized the inventory and made sure all the safety precautions were in place. But Central Maine Pyrotechnics were not the only crew pulling a full day shift.

Harbor Master Nick Upham and a flotilla of Coast Guard vessels made sure the 420-foot radius surrounding the barge remained clear as they patrolled the inner-harbor.

“Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., we had about 8 to 12 boats coming and going at all times,” Upham said.  

Upham estimated the holiday festivities drew about 300 new boats into the harbor.  

No arrests were made, but there were some speeding violations. Earlier in the day a man on a jet ski had zipped through the harbor, ignoring the no-wake zone signs.

Upon seeing Upham's flashing lights, the jet skier attempted to evade the Harbor Master, and sped off in the opposite direction. From eye witness accounts, a giant wave caught the jet skier off guard and threw him from the craft head-over-heels, allowing Upham to catch up to him at the edge of the harbor.  

“The guys that ride (jet skis) don't really pay attention to the rules, so we had to sit there and educate them on what's going on,” Upham said. “But there very actually very few violations, people have been really good about it this year.”

As the daylight dimmed, it was almost showtime on the barge, and this year, Marson had a few new tricks up his sleeve. On a business trip to China last winter, Marson picked up a new special effect designed for the water called three-break watercakes.

The show started with a single shot of watercakes into the ocean. The sparks settled on the ocean's surface and then spontaneously erupted into three brilliant beams of fire.

“People think they're duds, and all of a sudden the water comes alive,” Marson said.

The audience was dazzled by the fireworks that exceeded previous year’s presentations, but the pyrotechnics had no time to enjoy their own performance.

“You've got to be very wary of your surroundings out there,” Mason said. “You've got embers and fire raining down on you. It's definitely an adrenaline rush.”

The grand finale came with thunderous booms of deep purples, glowing greens and fiery reds packed from 550 rounds of explosives. It was one of the biggest finales of the season, Marson said.  

And when the show was finally over,  the most rewarding part is always when smoke clears, Marson said. “All you can hear are the cheers from the crowd. It's amazing.”