Tisbury’s new harbor master is Islander Michael Gately, who is expected to start his job next week following a unanimous select board vote on Monday afternoon.

A licensed ship captain and a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve, Mr. Gately replaces Gary Kovack, who held the Tisbury post for less than a year before he was chosen by the Edgartown select board in March to succeed retiring harbor master Charlie Blair.  

Mr. Gately also served as Edgartown’s assistant assistant harbor master for several seasons, he told the select board during a public interview at Katharine Cornell Theatre.

“I’m used to the day-to-day chaos of the summer season on the harbor,” Mr. Gately said. 

“I was fortunate to learn quite a bit from Charlie Blair during my time there,” he added.

Mr. Gately’s Navy commitment requires just two weeks of training a year, which never takes place during the summer season, he said. 

“It’s a very flexible unit I’m with,” he said.

In addition to piloting tankers as a merchant mariner, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate also is trained in both helicopter evacuation and marine evacuation, Mr. Gately said.

“My careers as a sea captain and as a Navy officer have been an adventure, but I would be proud to call Tisbury my home port,” he told the select board.

Last week, the select board discussed promoting Tisbury assistant harbor master Morgan Reitzas to the harbor master position, before agreeing to interview Mr. Gately, who was recommended by town administrator Joseph LaCivita.

Mr. Gately and Mr. Kovack were two of the three finalists for both the Edgartown job and the Tisbury harbor master position last summer.

Also Monday, at the request of finance and advisory committee chair Nancy Gilfoy, the select board voted to recommend no action on a warrant article for tonight’s annual and special town meetings.

The article asks to establish revolving funds for certain town departments that collect fees, instead of depositing the fees in the general fund.

If approved, it would allow the departments to spend their revenue throughout the year without seeking voter assent at a town meeting.

Ms. Gilfoy said the article was added to the warrant at the last minute without review by the finance and advisory committee.

“We haven’t had time to go through it [and] we really haven’t had a full conversation about revolving accounts,” she said.

The article is number nine on the first warrant for tonight’s special and annual meetings, which begin at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium at Tisbury School. Deborah Medders will preside as moderator.