Maritime Festivals

Bellowing out his command loudly in Russian from right behind my ear, the captain sharply snaps me from my momentary lull in the baking Baltic sun.

The wind fills her sails as the two-masted schooner, Stephen Taber, otherwise known as a windjammer, leans into a turn to starboard. The sun is hot, but her passengers take advantage of a strong sea breeze to read a book or have a cold beer as she heads towards the waterfront at Boothbay Harbor, Maine, to head the dramatic parade of sail. For this is Windjammer Days, a celebration of the age of sail, held annually the last week of June.