National Harbormaster Appreciation Day | Thank your harbormaster!

Celebrate Your Harbormaster on 10/8/2024.
IDEAS FOR HOW TO CELEBRATE

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Coastal communities around the country celebrate their Harbormasters on Thursday, Oct. 8th!

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Harbormasters are the stewards of our harbors – the center of our coastal communities. They manage the overall ecosystem, including moorings and docks, harbor uses and harbor users, and interactions between local, state and federal government. Of all of our public stewards (police, EMT, fire etc.) these men and women receive the least recognition.

Harbormaster Appreciation Day* -- a day to honor our U.S. Harbormasters and the great work they do -- occurs annually on October 8th.

* National Harbormaster Appreciation Day is registered with the National Day Archive.

WHAT DO HARBORMASTERS DO?

MEET OUR HARBORMASTERS

Bion Pike - Harbormaster in Manchester by the Sea, MA

Bion Pike – Manchester by the Sea, MA

I am the harbormaster for the town of Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts. My duties include, but are not limited to, managing the boater database for moorings, slips and waitlist totaling […]

Eric Donch -- Harbormaster, Stonington, CT

Eric Donch – Stonington, CT

See Weather Forecasts, Marine Weather, Radar, and Harbor Information for Stonington, CT Submitted by Melanie Degler

Jeffrey Cleary – Waterford, NY

I manage the Port of Waterford, New York for the Town of Waterford, New York. We are located 42-47′-14″ N/ 73-40′-45″ W. We stand in front of Lock E2, the […]

Bridgeport, CT Harbormaster Boat. Submitted by R. Conrad.

Ryan Conrad – Bridgeport, CT

I started out as the Assistant Harbormaster in 2010 and was appointed Harbormaster in 2015. The city has 5 ports, 11 marinas and 150 municipal moorings. There are 3 ferries […]

Dana B. Rice Sr. – Gouldsboro, ME

I’ve been Gouldsboro’s Harbormaster for more than 40 years. Gouldsboro has six harbors and several anchorage areas. We have approximately 175 moorings for mostly commercial boats, but also pleasure boats. […]

Tom Bell – Darien, CT

I am the volunteer Harbormaster for the 7 harbors in our town. I’ve been the Harbormaster for 9 years. One of the best parts of my job is helping people […]

Don Procko – Mystic, CT

I retired after 35 years as a public school “shop”teacher, a job I loved. After serving on the Harbor Management Commission, I became Harbor Master of Mystic (Stonington and Groton) […]

Rick Brass – Washington, NC

I’ve been a sailor since my Grandfather and I built my first boat 56 years ago. After a career in engineering and marketing, I retired early to go cruising. I […]

Charlie Farlow – Cape Charles, VA

I retired from Virginia Beach Fire Dept. 4 years age and became Harbor Master of Cape Charles VA. I have been on or around the water all my life with […]

Kristin Forster -- Harbormaster in Port Austin, MI

Kristin Forster – Port Austin, MI

I have worked as the Harbormaster at Port Austin State harbor since June 2020. Before taking over as harbor master I worked as a summer worker at local state park. […]

Steve Hope, harbormaster in New Harbor, ME

Steve Hope – New Harbor, ME

“Steve Hope has been serving our community for years, and I personally think his experience and knowledge of the area and being on the water, combined with the history and […]

Katherine Pickering, Harbormaster in Belfast, ME

Katherine Pickering – Belfast, ME

I’ve always felt fortunate to work on Belfast Harbor. I started in 1989 at a local boatyard before being appointed as Harbor Master for the City of Belfast in 1993 […]