This week traditionally marks the busiest of the summer here in the Boothbay region, with thousands of visitors arriving in town to enjoy Windjammer Days.

As this week’s print issue hits the newsstand on Wednesday, we’re probably at the height of the celebration, which goes all out to offer events of interest to all age levels, with music, antique boats, arts and crafts displays, Coast Guard station tours, a golf tournament, boat races, food booths, pirates, activities at the marine aquarium, fireworks, a street parade and much more.

Almost everyone enjoys a parade. Folks line the route from the high school to the waterfront to view the marching units, various floats and other entries. While some folks grumble that the town is too crowded, sorry, but we can’t sympathize with them; if you don’t want to get out and enjoy the festivities, you always have the option of staying home or away from the center of activities.

Of course, the stars of the show every year are the windjammers themselves. This year’s Windjammer Days guide called them breathtaking, spectacular and majestic, a fitting description.

Each visiting windjammer is unique in size and design, some relatively new and others dating back to the early 1900s. The oldest, in fact, the Lewis R. French, was built in 1871, and rebuilt in the 1970s. Many of them were built right here in Maine.

When the windjammers arrive in the outer harbor under full sail and then drop anchor in the inner harbor, we can’t help but think back to the days when these stately vessels frequented our harbor on a regular basis. Some of them were involved in the fishing industry and others carried cargo to ports all over the world.

Old photos of large sailing ships in our harbor always make us wish we’d been around in those days. Families waited on the dock to welcome fishermen home after long trips to Georges Bank, and curious townspeople watched excitedly as cargo vessels unloaded treasures from ports all along the eastern seaboard, and from around the world.

It has always sounded like a very special time in our maritime history as scores of shoreside businesses provided services designed to meet the needs of these large sailing craft and their crews. The town was bustling with activity, much as it is this week.

Even East Boothbay where we live, once boasted a wide variety of shops, probably targeted primarily toward the boating traffic as well.

By tomorrow, most of the excitement will be over for another year, but every time we see one of these beautiful windjammers under full sail, either in our own harbor or on the distant horizon, it will always remind us of the role these marvels of the sea played in our past.