DJ McConachie, who was appointed to the port commission to fill a vacancy in June, is running unopposed in the Oct. 6 municipal election for a two-year term.

“I’m on the water every day, whether it’s at work or at home,” he said of his job as assistant manager at Petro Marine and his home life, which includes a 20-foot Alumaweld with a 225-hp outboard, which he called “your typical Wrangell boat, you know, little boat, big engine.”

He said serving on the port commission has been “just something that really kind of interested me,” adding, “I think that I would have relevant information because I see a lot of people and I get to interact with fishermen and all walks of life.”

McConachie, 38, has been with Petro Marine for nine years. “At this particular station, we do a little bit of … everything,” adding, “if it’s in this town and it moves or heats up or burns fuel, chances are I had something to do with it or the guys that I work with had something to do with it.”

He remembers one special fueling job from a couple of years ago. “I was on call for my anniversary and … these contractors that came through had some old Russian MiG fighter jets, and I got to fuel them up. … They were heading up north to help train with the military.”

He believes his experience dealing with different people with different needs — whether it’s a boater who needs five gallons or a yacht — serves him well on the port commission.

Though he has been on the commission just a few months, he is impressed with the work underway for the port and harbors. “There’s a lot of really good things going on right now. … There’s a lot of goals that I would like to see met.”

Those goals include expanding the downtown waterfront and Marine Service Center, and the borough’s effort to attract private investment in a shipyard at the former 6-Mile Mille property.

The Marine Service Center is maxed out and needs more space, he said. “We have some phenomenal contractors here.” Boat owners will ask, “What’s your wait list? … How long do I have to wait to get in there?”

Dredging the downtown harbor also is high on his list.

“I think it’s definitely a huge priority,” he said of dredging. “If you have a big minus (tide) and you have a decent-sized gillnetter … you’re going have to really watch it if you want to get out of there, if at all.”

He sees the water-depth problem at minus tides firsthand at the fuel dock. “You get a phone call from someone that says, ‘Hey, I want to come in.’ You have to ask the question, ‘How much do you draft?’ Because we’re kind of low on water right now, so you might just have to wait a little bit.”

He is aware that rates are going up for the Marine Service Center, port and harbors, noting that the facilities need to pay their own way, which includes saving for replacement equipment and repairs. “You have to run it like a business.”

McConachie, who was born and raised in Wrangell, didn’t start out working toward a career on the waterfront. After high school, he spent two years at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, where he earned his pipe-welding certificate and a U.S. Coast Guard certificate to weld half-inch thick aluminum.

“My main intention was to try and get up on the North Slope (working in the oil fields), but it didn’t quite work out. … But you know what, it really did in the end because I like where I’m at and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”