Sept. 1 – Camden, ME

Lyman Morse Marine Mooring

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” —Les Brown

Camden has been called the windjammer capital of the world and every Labor Day weekend, they host the Windjammer Festival to celebrate its maritime heritage. From the great age of sail when coasting schooners were launched in the harbor, through the birth of the windjammer business in the 1930s, to today’s windjammer fleet and elegant yachts, sailing ships have always defined the vibrant community of Camden. Throughout the day on Friday, Schooners from around Maine will sail in and dock in the harbor. According to the festival website 25 boats are scheduled to arrive…it should be a spectacular site.

Besides the awe-inspiring arrival of the windjammers, the weekend activities include an auction for dinners aboard one of the fleet, a talent show by schooner crews, fireworks over the harbor, a lobster crate race, a Build-A-Boat contest, fish relay race, maritime heritage fair, contra dance, pancake breakfast, displays of maritime activities and history, Chowder Challenge, free concerts and tours of the windjammers. It should be a great weekend and we can see a lot of it right from our boat in the harbor.

A windjammer is a type of large sailing ship built to carry cargo in the 19th to 20th century. They were the grandest of merchant sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them their characteristic profile. They were designed for long voyages and usually carried bulk cargo, such as lumber, granite, grain or ore. Many of the ships that will be at the festival this weekend were built in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s as merchant ships, but were refitted to carry passengers on pleasure cruises in the 1930’s when cheaper means of shipping put them out of business.

We've already been enjoying the activities in the harbor. There are seven sailing vessels in this picture...Surprise, Lazy Jack II, Mercantile, Grace Bailey, Appledore II, Olad and hidden behind Grace Bailey is Mistress.

This is the event map for the Windjammer Festival...you can see how close we will be to all the activities.

We took the dinghy out to Curtis Island to get a better look at the Curtis Island Lighthouse. As you can tell it's about low tide. 

Stan at the top of the lighthouse overlooking the entrance to Camden Harbor

They had this huge swing on the path to the lighthouse...you can just see the lighthouse in the distance.

We went to The View for happy hour with our mooring mates from Moon Shadow. What a wonderful view of the harbor.