Former Chatham Harbormaster Smith Named Interim Harbormaster In Wellfleet

It was a short retirement for former Chatham Harbormaster Stuart Smith. After stepping down in April after more than 35 years working for the town, a quarter century as harbormaster, last week he began working as harbormaster in Wellfleet.

“There goes my first summer off in 36 years,” Smith quipped.

The job is only temporary; Smith will serve as interim harbormaster until the Outer Cape town can find a replacement for Harbormaster Will Sullivan, who took the harbormaster job in Provincetown in mid July. Interim Harbormaster Brittany Tilton and seasonal assistant David Perry both resigned on July 12, according to a report in the Provincetown Independent, leaving the operations of the town’s pier and marina in the hands of the deputy director of the department of public works, with help from the Coast Guard and police and fire personnel.

According to a press release from the town, after some short-term disruption, personnel from other departments pitched in to get everything back up and running within a couple of days.

Smith said he got a call from interim Town Administrator Thomas Guerino asking if he would be willing to fill in at least over the summer months. After visiting the pier on Cape Cod Bay and discussing the offer with several people, Smith agreed to take on the job.

His role will be basically to “keep the lights on,” he said. He’ll be training some of the summer workers on new department vessels and will have some part-time help from returning staff members.

“It’s mostly the same” as the job in Chatham, he said. Wellfleet even uses the same mooring management software system. There are some differences; in Wellfleet, the town runs the fuel dispensing system, while in Chatham that’s done by a private contractor. There’s also a state boat ramp in Wellfleet, and the town collects fees for its use.

“It’s certainly quieter,” Smith said of Wellfleet. “It’s not the intensity of Chatham.” In Wellfleet the harbormaster oversees the pier and marina, and most of the moorings are concentrated there and in a few other coves, while in Chatham he oversaw several harbors — on both the Chatham Harbor and Nantucket Sound sides of town — the fish pier, multiple mooring fields and many more moorings than in Wellfleet.

Wellfleet has other advantages, however, including none of the parking challenges of Chatham. It’s also a longer commute for him; instead of three miles, “it’s a long way.”

But, he added, “It’s a beautiful spot.”

Smith said he’ll be working part-time for the first couple of weeks and will then ramp up to full-time. He anticipates serving for a couple of months, long enough to get the town through the busy summer months and into the fall.

Guerino did not return calls seeking comment.