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.
Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty
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).
Douglas Snyder, Chief of Police, Boothbay Harbor
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!
Fred Bowers
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.