Windjammer Days

United States Coast Guard

The Coast Guard's service motto is Semper Paratus – Always Ready. We are on duty 365 days a year.

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. 

Each of our schooner sponsors have chosen a Coast Guardsman or Coast Guardswoman to honor during Windjammer Days. Below are their stories.

If you would like to meet some of the Coast Guardsmen and Coast Guardswomen, mark this date on your calendar, for an informal Meet & Greet on Monday, June 23rd, 3:30-5:00 (location to be determined). 

Chief Snyder was inspired to join the U.S. Coast Guard by his father who was also a member Coast Guard. As he moved throughout his childhood with new assignments for his dad, he met numerous “Coasties” who told adventurous stories of their travels and responsibilities. He particularly remembers a pivotal incident in Maryland in 1993. At that time, he was home with his father who was the ocer in charge at Coast Guard Station St. Ingos. His father received a call about a sinking shing boat called the El Toro II and took young Doug along with him to investigate. goosebumps!

 Click here to see the rest of the article.

Growing up in Boothbay Harbor, surrounded by boats, I felt a deep desire to help save people in trouble. Also, my uncle Bill Parmenter USCG (ret) took me to his units when I was a kid. This passion led me to a 22-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard, during which I was transferred to various units and stations. I was stationed in Boothbay Harbor for about five years and even served as Officer in Charge on a few occasions while waiting for a Chief to assume the role. When I first arrived, the Coast Guard Station was located across the street from where the station is now.  Click here to see the rest of the article.

How I got started: It was the third or fourth weekend in August 1957 when our family wandered down route 27, turned left on route 96 (Eastern Ave.), and found the Ocean Point Inn. We spent the weekend there, liked it so much that a reservation was made for the next summer. I haven’t missed a summer here since. My parents dream house was built here, and they enjoyed the home for nearly 30 years. Now, it’s the next generation’s turn. Click here to see the rest of the article.

Born and raised in Acton, Maine, Smith decided to join the Coast Guard after spending his time skiing and then losing his job. He was originally planning to join the Marines, but his friend told him about the Coast Guard. At that time he didn’t know the Coast Guard existed and his friend told him that all he would be doing was driving boats. Since he grew up on a lake, he thought that was a good fit. Ryan found out that simple description was “a little wrong”. After enlisting in 2005, Smith’s first assignment was aboard the 210-foot offshore patrol boat, the CGC Vigilance, where he quickly learned that the job was far more challenging than he anticipated. He learned to navigate by the stars, plot his position using radar and land objects and become a Pursuit Coxswain. It was a huge challenge for him, especially being away from home for the first time, but the leadership and guidance he received gave him motivation and helped him to adjust. Click here to see the rest of the article.

The U.S. Coast Guard has been an integral part of my life from the very beginning. I was born and raised in Boothbay, a community deeply rooted in maritime tradition. My father, Brian Blethen, served as an MK1 in the Coast Guard reserves for over 20 years, while my mother dedicated more than 30 years to federal service, first as an Army drill sergeant and later as a Postmaster. Service is in my blood. Click here to see the rest of the article.

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. Click here to see the rest of the article.

Rusty was a summer kid on Monhegan from the age of 2. The Coast Guard was an important part of life on Mohegan due in part to the Coast Guard station on nearby Manana Island. As kids they would go over to the lighthouse on Manana because it was the only place that had electricity and he and his friends could watch cartoons. Also the 40 ft Coast Guard cutter from Burnt Island over by Port Clyde often tied up at Monhegan. It was a search and rescue boat and was of great interest to young Rusty. Due to the fact that he was surrounded by the Coast Guard in the summers, that was his choice when he decided to go into the service after high school. Click here to see the rest of the article.

So, here’s the thing, my Coast Guard story isn’t “all” rainbows and butterflies. I was 19-years-old, and my mother and father didn’t see a future for me. I was a bit of a rebel in those days and made sure anyone in “authority” knew it. They suggested the Coast Guard and presented the idea to my best friend Steve and I. He was on board (so to speak), so I said sure. He and I went to the recruiting office in Portland, Oregon. We both did well on our ASVAB, so were signed up and sworn in PDQ. We had the summer of our senior year off then went to Alameda California for bootcamp. It was extreme and I could fill quite a few pages telling those stories. Let’s just say it was an awakening. Click here to see the rest of the article.

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.

Click here to see the rest of the article.

D.J. Holcomb's path to the U.S. Coast Guard was one that evolved with time, shaped by family influence and personal reflection. Born into a family with a rich Coast Guard legacy, Holcomb had always admired the work his father did in the service. His father served for 22 years, and young DJ often found himself visiting Coast Guard stations and experiencing the excitement of life on the water. But it wasn’t until after high school, when his plans to play football at college fell through, that Holcomb decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He figured the Coast Guard could be a solid stepping stone while he figured out his next move. What started as a temporary decision has turned into a remarkable 20-year career, with no plans of slowing down anytime soon. Click here to see the rest of the article.

I am honored to be asked to talk about my time serving in the United States Coast Guard.  The Windjammers Days have always been a wonderful time for me going back to my childhood; seeing the old Victory Chimes and all the other old schooners was really a wonderful sight for me.  Frankly those days on the water in and around the Boothbay Harbor area were some of the best days of my life.

I joined the Guard right out of high school.  I loved the ocean and really wanted to learn navigation and more seamanship skills. Click here to see the rest of the article.

I grew up as a Coast Guard “brat” moving up and down the east coast from Maine to South Carolina. My father, BMCM (Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate) Ira Machon’s final duty station was an 82-foot Patrol Boat out of Point Pleasant Beach, NJ where he was officer-in-charge. We got to know many of the small 9-man crew, one of which became my recruiter and another that I worked with later in my career. We had several dependent cruises where families could join the crew on a day trip. I had a feeling of fitting in, belonging when I was onboard, but never really considered that this was a job that I would or could do. After graduating from High School in Charleston, South Carolina, I drifted around doing different jobs in several different states including back home in Maine. Click here to see the rest of the article.

My good friend Andrew likes to tease when he asks, ‘Where in the Coast Guard manual does it tell you what to do when you report to your first duty station, and they tell you they have already filled your position and there’s no more room for you on the boat?’ That's what happened to me in June of 1994 when I reported from basic training in Cape May, New Jersey to the Coast Guard Cutter Shackle in South Portland, Maine. I proudly strode down the cement pier in my service dress blue (bravos) uniform towards the black 65-foot tugboat, respectfully called aboard, and identified myself as Seaman Recruit Blethen reporting as ordered. Click here to see the rest of the article.

During the summer of 1969 I received my draft notice. At that time I was working for Eliot Winslow as a deck hand on the Argo. Captain Winslow advised me to take the day off, drive to Portland and sign up for the Coast Guard. On doing so, I took one of two available openings for October. I went through boot camp in Cape May, New Jersey. While there I joined the Boot Camp Honor Guard Drill team and performed at the weekly graduation ceremonies, After basic training I continued on as a member of the permanent party Honor Guard drill team. One highlight was marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade with the Coast Guard Band in Boston. Click here to see the rest of the article.

I always knew that at some point I would go into the military as my father and brothers did before me. The only question was what branch?

In 1964, I joined the Coast Guard. I like the fact that it was the smallest service and because it gives you the chance to take as much responsibility that you want and its important missions.

My first duty station was a Search and Rescue Station in Lubec where I learned what was like in the Coast Guard. It was also where I got certified as a Coxswain. Click here to see the rest of the article.

I enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2016 where I attended Basic Training at Cape May, NJ, CG Station Provincetown MA, CG Station Burlington VT, and now currently at CG Station Boothbay Harbor. My primary responsibilities are operating the units 47 Motor Life Boat and 29’ Response Boat small as a coxswain in which I have certified as a Heavy Weather Coxswain that can operate the 47 in 50kts of wind and 20ft seas. Click here to see the rest of the article.

I was born and raised in Burlington, Wisconsin, the same hometown as pro-football quarterback Tony Romo. Of course, growing up in Wisconsin I am a life-long, die-hard Green Bay Packer fan. In Wisconsin the Packers are akin to a pseudo cult, in a good way.

In 1983 I was trying to find my place in the world and deciding where my life might be headed. One night, I was watching a rerun of the old Hawaii Five-O program. During a break, a commercial with Alex Haley, best known as the author of Roots, came on. Haley, a twenty year veteran, was promoting the U. S. Coast Guard. Well the ad showed Coast Guard personnel jumping out of helicopters and rescuing people. That caught my attention. The next day I went to see a recruiter and three weeks later I was in recruit training at Cape May, New Jersey. Click here to see the rest of the article.