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

Charlie Phippen - Harbormaster in Bar Harbor, ME

Charlie Phippen – Bar Harbor, ME

I’m a retired Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer and I have worked for the Town of Bar Harbor for twenty years as Harbormaster. I feel a Harbormaster is like a […]

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 […]

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. […]

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) […]

Dave Crocker, Harbormaster in Waterford, CT. Image by J. Hughes.

David Crocker – Waterford, CT

David Crocker is the Harbormaster for Waterford, CT. He is also Vice President of Crocker’s Marina and Boat Yard, the largest boat yard in the Thames River. Dave’s responsibilities include […]

Capt. Denver Sanner, Harbormaster in Gibson Island, MD

Capt. Denver Sanner – Gibson Island, MD

I have been the harbormaster at Gibson Island Club & Yacht Squadron for over 35 years. We are located on the Chesapeake Bay North of the Bay Bridge. We are […]

Southport, CT Harbormaster Brian LeClerc. Photo by K. Taylor

Bryan LeClerc – Southport, CT

In our small harbor of mostly pleasure boats our Harbor Master, Brian LeClerc, is responsible for a lot of things including: safety drills and safety training; harbor and shoreline inspection; debris […]

Steve Melo - Harbormaster in Dartmouth, MA

Steve Melo – Padanaram, MA

I’ve served as the Padanaram / Dartmouth Harbormaster since 2004, and also as the Town’s Shellfish Officer since 2012. Prior to this calling, I was a seasonal Assistant Harbormaster for […]

Scott Bearhope – River Dunes, NC

“You can rest assured your boat is in good hands at River Dunes. Marina is clean and maintained in pristine condition. Harbormaster Bearhope is attentive to details and responsive to […]

Craig Stanton – Redondo Beach, FL

Craig Stanton, the harbormaster at the Redondo Beach Marina, exemplifies everything a professional harbormaster should be. He is knowledgeable, helpful, courteous and just salty enough to give a reassuring air […]

Jordan Glidden – Seattle, WA

My name is Jordan Glidden and I am the Harbormaster at Elliott Bay Marina here in Seattle, WA. We are the largest private marina on the West Coast with just […]

Kim Czapla – Hartford, CT

Hi! I’m the Harbor Master Program Administrator for the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. We provide regulatory oversight, support and technical training to our Harbor Masters. […]