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.

Now, I would like to say that my Coast Guard hitch of five years was nothing but day after day of exciting heroics. Wow, what a story. Jumping out of helicopters in the dark, driving surfboats through hurricanes, patrolling the North Atlantic for icebergs.

Well, no. That was what my still-adolescent mind envisioned in 1970 when I enlisted, having spent boyhood summers on the New Jersey barrier islands. Local Coast Guardsmen there were regarded as demigods, super heroes. Indeed, my big brother became one of those guys, coxswain of a surfboat out of Atlantic City.

My own experience was different. It is said that no Coast Guard career is the same as any other. It’s true. After doing the pushups and drills at Cape May, it was off to diesel mechanic school at Yorktown, where I was about to graduate at the top of my class, when I was summoned from class and told that I was late in reporting to Officer Candidate School, also at Yorktown. So, said I, maybe I’ll be going to sea after all, with better pay and creature comforts! Cool!

Well, no again. After six months of studying navigation, seamanship, vessel handling, gunnery, and more drilling, I was ordered to a base on the Delaware River. There I was on the staff of the Captain of the Port, primarily a law-enforcement job supervising the stowage of dangerous cargoes on merchant ships. This included ammunition headed for Vietnam. Initially I was disappointed in this assignment, but came to realize, that as seemingly invisible as the task was, it probably saved numerous lives of merchant seamen.

In addition, as Officer-of-the-day, a periodic duty shared with four other junior officers, I controlled search and rescue efforts on the river. For me, the capstone of my brief career was directing a multi-unit effort following the explosion of the tank ship Elias, with multiple fatalities and crewmen overboard at night. There were several medals, well-deserved, awarded to the young Coast Guardsmen who fought that fire and spent many hours searching.

So, I will summarize by saying that my Coast Guard experience was a good one. I’m proud of it. I encourage any young person who wants to engage in service to the country to consider the Coast Guard. There will be long periods of perhaps dull watch-standing, and training, but it’s all part of the “Semper Paratus” (always ready) mission.

I currently live in Alna with my wife, Mary. My local maritime experience includes serving as Captain of a University of Maine research vessel, Captain of a "Boat US" towboat for many summers, and work in the mechanic departments of several local marinas. I briefly had a brush with the corporate banking world here in Boothbay Harbor years ago. For many years now my "day job" has been as a self-employed farrier. I am the owner of the small steel schooner Sycamore, built in my Alna backyard. I feel privileged to be invited again to participate in Windjammer Days.