Meet the mechanic keeping the Port afloat | Working Waterfront

As the lead mechanic for the Port of Port Townsend, Shawn Wiles, is in charge of keeping the Port's 300 metric ton marine travel lift in working order
As the lead mechanic for the Port of Port Townsend, Shawn Wiles, is in charge of keeping the Port's 300 metric ton marine travel lift in working order
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If you’ve visited the Port of Port Townsend’s Boat Haven Marina and Yard in the last 21 years, you’ve probably come across the work of Shawn Wiles, although you may not have noticed it.

And that’s kinda the idea.

As the Port’s lead mechanic, Wiles is responsible for all the Port’s rolling stock, from lawnmowers to heavy equipment as well as anything electrical, water pump systems and much more of the necessary infrastructure to keep things running smoothly.

“It keeps you pretty busy,” Wiles said.

The mechanic paused for a just a moment before adding, “It’s a lot.”

Stormwater systems, sewers, water, dock power, yard power, heating systems and boilers are just a handful of things the mechanic must keep an eye on.

“All that stuff, you got to keep tabs on it,” he said. “Every day you just don’t know; don’t make any plans.”   

Wiles said his previous work as a Navy radar technician and an electronics technician for Thermionics Northwest building scientific vacuum chamber equipment primed him for electrical work at the Port.

“That was more cerebral and this is more Neanderthal,” Wiles said, comparing his time at Thermionics to the Port of Port Townsend. “It helps having that background for the electrical work we do. Not only do you know how to fix it, but you also know why and how it works.”

Arguably, Wiles’ most widely noticed impact at the Port of Port Townsend is right in the yard at Boat Haven: ensuring that the Port’s 45-foot-tall travel lift keeps running on its tight schedule of haul-outs for the vessels that come from near and far to undergo routine maintenance, repairs and retrofitting in the yard.

Touting a maximum lifting capacity of 300 metric tons (661,387 pounds) the largest of the Port’s lifts must undergo a constant schedule of maintenance in order to keep up with the demands of the Port’s patronage. 

“It’s a lot of work, but everything is done on an hourly or monthly basis,” he explained. “There’s gear box oil changes at certain intervals, fuel filters, air filters, every other month we grease the machine, check all the shivs, the cables, electrical connections.”

When asked if he has ever struggled with a fear of heights while servicing the nearly five-story tall lift, Wiles didn’t hesitate.

“No, I enjoy heights actually,” he said. “The logic behind it is I could fall from
50 feet and crush my head, or I could fall from 10 feet and still crush my head, so really, it’s irrelevant.”

If the heavy use of the Port’s equipment and infrastructure weren’t enough, the mechanic likened the very nature of the waterfront to a constant salt spray corrosion test — another element of his ongoing upkeep checklist.     

In the days ahead, Wiles also said he plans to jack up the lift so he and crew could replace four of the lift’s massive, 1,500-pound tires. With a price tag of about $12,000 apiece, and a constant demand for boats coming in to use the lift, Wiles said even changing a tire isn’t as simple as well ... changing a tire.

“Everything on the 300-ton is really time sensitive,” he said. “There’s people that have fishing boats that have to go up to Alaska and you’ve always got to take that into consideration. Believe me, it’s very stressful.”

Despite the high demands of the job, Wiles and his crew of seven maintenance staff still manage to keep things moving down at the port. Wiles says, he is in the process of training an apprentice who will replace him when the time comes for him to move on. The lead mechanic is careful to note that he won’t be retiring, just “moving on to something else.”

Summing up his work with the Port of Port Townsend, Wiles acknowledged that there’s always room for improvements to be made, but regarded his years spent at the Port of Port Townsend — fixing things that break and maintaining others in the hope that they won’t break too soon — as time well spent and with a good employer.

“There’s a lot that goes on behind the curtain down here,” Wiles said. “The Port of Port Townsend is a good place to work, it provides a good service to the community.”