Tisbury official vying for Edgartown harbormaster spot

Edgartown has finalized a list of candidates to become the next harbormaster, and one is current Tisbury harbormaster Gary Kovack. 

The Edgartown select board interviewed three finalists — Kovack, Kurt Peterson, and Michael Gately — on Wednesday afternoon at town hall and are expected to select a candidate on Monday.

“We’ve got some great candidates,” select board chair Michael Donaroma said to his fellow board members in between interviews. 

The board is looking for a candidate to succeed Charlie Blair, who recently announced his retirement in January after serving as the Edgartown harbormaster for nearly 30 years. Blair will leave his post on March 27. 

Each candidate brought his own set of maritime experiences to the table, but all three of them highlighted their familiarity with the Edgartown community. 

Gately, who grew up on the Vineyard and graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, emphasized to the board his experience in the maritime industry, which started with a job at Edgartown Harbor. He said that he’s been the captain of several ships around the world. Gately was also a finalist for the Tisbury harbormaster position last year.

Peterson is a licensed captain educated through the Northeast Maritime Institute in Fairhaven and has operated Catboat Charters, with his recognizable Star-Spangled Banner sail, in Edgartown for 10 years — a business he said has had no incident, injury, or complaint against it. He was recently certified as a life guard. 

Originally from Detroit, Kovack served 16 years in the Coast Guard, 10 years active and six years in reserve duty; he is a senior enlisted reserve advisor for the guard’s Woods Hole reserve unit. Prior to being hired as the Tisbury harbormaster in June, Kovack was employed as an Edgartown police officer. 

During his interview, Kovack said he felt he did “good work” in leading Tisbury’s harbor department in his nine months and that he gained a lot of experience there. 

Before Tisbury hired Kovack in June last year, there was frustration that the town hadn’t hired someone sooner; it took about four months from when the former harbormaster announced his retirement to the post being filled. 

While Gately and Peterson said they could start the position immediately, Kovack couldn’t give an immediate answer because he said he would need to first discuss details with Tisbury.