John M. (Jay) Wilbur 3rd will retire as Tisbury harbor master after 24 years on the job.

Mr. Wilbur notified the town this week that his last day will be June 30.

Speaking to the Gazette Friday morning, Mr. Wilbur, who is 64, said he had been thinking about retirement for a couple of years. He recently built a house in Costa Rica, he said, and was offered a job to skipper the sport fishing boat Sleeko, which he first skippered 40 years ago.

Mr. Wilbur said he first saw the Vineyard Haven harbor when he was 12 years old and knew he wanted to work there. He got his first job on the water at 14. He was appointed harbor master in June 1992, taking over for longtime harbor master Donald King who had retired.

“It’s been something I treasure even though it’s a 24-hour-a-day job and can be difficult, through it all I just plain wanted to be part of this harbor,” he said, adding: “I loved this job, but I’m a boat captain at heart,” he said. “It’s been just a little frustrating having these people coming from far flung places and then leaving for somewhere new and I was stuck in the harbor.”

He grew up in Beverly and had summered on the Vineyard all his life before moving to the Island. He also has spent most of his life on the water, whether sailing or working. “I was in a boat in a bassinet,” he told the Gazette in an interview shortly after he took the harbor master job.

Town leaders, who were notified by Mr. Wilbur of his plans on Monday, have not decided yet on the next step.

“There’s an awful lot of speculation of what will happen next,” said selectman Melinda Loberg. “No official determinations have been made yet.”

Though the timing of the retirement will be a challenge for the town with the busy summer season around the corner, Mrs. Loberg said it also provides a chance to examine the job description and see how it can fit into the changing vision of the town.

“We’ve talked about expanding the role to that of a natural resources officer,” she said. “I think the role in the future will be a lot more managerial.”

Town administrator John (Jay) Grande said the news came as little surprise.

“This is not a new conversation, we’ve known this is coming in, but it’s hard when it actually happens,” he said.

Mr. Wilbur said he will remember his years on the harbor fondly.

“All the other harbor masters have been jealous of me because of this harbor — it has so much going for it,” he said. “The wooden boat fleet, the working flavor of it, the beaches, it’s been a privilege to be sort of in charge of it, and that’s as eloquent as I can be.”