Captain Joseph Frohnhoefer: A Life of Dedication

Sea Tow Services International, Inc., Founder and CEO, Captain Joseph Frohnhoefer, Jr., known throughout the boating industry as “Captain Joe”, passed away peacefully at age 71 at his home in New York on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, after a brief battle with cancer.

Georgia Frohnhoefer, his wife and partner in all his business endeavors for more than 46 years, was by his side.

In September 1983, shortly after the U.S. Coast Guard ceased providing non-emergency assistance to boaters on the water, Captain Joe founded Sea Tow Services International, Inc., the nation’s leading on-water marine assistance provider. In the process he established a whole new industry: professional non-emergency marine assistance. It was a move that ultimately has led to the employment of thousands of industry professionals over the years, as well as to major improvements in recreational boating safety.

Throughout his career, Captain Joe strived both personally and professionally to save lives and serve others, as well as to make boating safer and more enjoyable for everyone. A visionary entrepreneur and a lifelong first responder, he leaves a lasting impact on the marine industry and on the international maritime industry as a whole.

In addition to running Sea Tow with the help of his wife, Georgia; daughter, Kristen Frohnhoefer, and son, Captain Joseph Frohnhoefer III, Captain Joe served two terms on the U.S. Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC), formed to advise U.S. Secretary of Transportation on matters relating to shallow-draft inland and coastal waterway navigation and towing safety. Captain Joe also co-founded C-PORT (Conference of Professional Operators for Response Towing), the national association for the marine assistance industry, in 1986, and served on the C-PORT Board of Directors until his death.

In 2007, Sea Tow founded the nonprofit Sea Tow Foundation, which promotes boating safety and life jacket use. Since its start, the Foundation has distributed more than 29,000 free loaner life jackets to boaters who need them for a safe day of fun on the water.

In 2013 and 2014, Sea Tow and the Sea Tow Foundation partnered with Clare Rose Inc. and Anheuser-Busch to expand the Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Program on Long Island. Other Anheuser-Busch distributors throughout the U.S. Eastern Seaboard also have made generous donations to the Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Program in their local communities.

Other recent boating safety initiatives spearheaded by Captain Joe and his family via Sea Tow and the Sea Tow Foundation include the Sea Tow Automated Radio Check Service, which provides free VHF radio checks to boaters in association with MariTel, and the Sea Tow App for smartphones, which provides users with weather, navigation and tides information, along with the ability to call for help on the water, all with the swipe of a finger.

In 2015, Captain Joe participated in developing the Sea Tow Foundation’s Designated Skipper Program, which will further promote boating safety by encouraging boaters always to designate a driver who will remain sober and ensure all of the boat’s passengers return safely to shore.

A life of service to others

Captain Joe was born on October 30, 1943 to parents Joe and Theresa in Baldwin, New York.  Starting in childhood, he spent a lot of time on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island where he developed his life-long love of the water.

His spirit of entrepreneurism developed during college at the State University College at Buffalo when he founded Water Thrills Inc. in Southold, NY, which offered water skiing and parasailing, as well as sailboat and powerboat rentals. In the 1960s, he began teaching at Freeport high school and then in the 1970’s began teaching at Mattituck High School while also working as a part-time boat salesman for Port of Egypt Marine in Southold. In the late 70s and early 80s, Captain Joe also served as a Bay Constable for the local police, and he was a volunteer for more than 30 years with the Southold Fire Department.

In 1981, Captain Joe inherited his parents’ business, Frohnhoefer Electric Co., in Southold, New York, and continued to run it until 1988.

After founding Sea Tow, Capt. Joe and Georgia worked to grow the organization to the point where, more than 30 years later, there are more than 100 franchise locations in the U.S. and overseas, providing employment to thousands of industry professionals over the years.  Sea Tow was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in 2007 and again in 2011.

Along the way, Captain Joe battled imitators who sought to capitalize on Sea Tow’s sterling reputation as a professional marine assistance provider. In 2010, Sea Tow trademarked the color yellow for boat hulls in the marine assistance industry. 

Captain Joe’s career was not without its dramatic incidents. In 1990, Sea Tow formed an Environmental Response Division (Sea Spill) for oil spills and other environmental cleanup, which responded to numerous national environmental disasters including the 1993 Tampa Oil Spill, the 2004 Philadelphia Oil Spill, and the Deepwater Horizon/Gulf Oil Spill of 2010, where Sea Tow had over 50 boats participating in the clean up.

In 1996, Captain Joe and fellow Long Island Sea Tow Captains responded to the crash of TWA Flight 800, working in direct coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard. In 2001, Sea Tow Captains in the greater New York metropolitan area aided in the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including transporting first responders and medical personnel to and from the World Trade Center in New York Harbor.

In 2004, Sea Tow Captains aided in the response to Hurricane Ivan in the Gulf of Mexico and in 2005 to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and other affected states by keeping Disaster Response teams in the area for more than three months. 

Awards and Accolades

Here are just a few of the awards presented to Captain Joe by the marine industry and other agencies over the years:

•           In 2002, Captain Joe received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the service division for the New York Metro Region.

•           In 2004, he was awarded “Supplier of the Year” by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA).

•           In 2012, Sea Tow won Optimum Lightpath Innovator of the Year Award for the high-tech communications solutions Captain Joe and his staff implemented at Sea Tow headquarters in Southold.

•           In 2013, C-PORT awarded Captain Joe the Compass Rose Award in honor of his dedication to making the marine assistance industry better through hard work and a desire to make boating an enjoyable experience for everyone he meets.

•           In 2014, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) honored Captain Joe with the prestigious Charles. F. Chapman Award, recognizing his distinguished career spanning more than 40 years in the boating industry.

In Loving Memory

Captain Joe is survived by his wife, the former Georgia McManus, Sea Tow Executive VP; his daughter, Kristen, Sea Tow Chief Administrative Officer and her fiancée John Harold; his son, Capt. Joseph Frohnhoefer III and his wife Erin Frohnhoefer, and his two grandchildren Paige and Sam.

The Sea Tow organization will continue to grow with Georgia, Kristen and Joseph remaining at the helm of Sea Tow Services International, Inc. just as Captain Joe would have wanted them to.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the following organizations:

•           Southold Fire Department, Checks may be mailed to: Southold FD, PO Box 1469, Southold, NY 11971

•           Sea Tow Foundation, Checks may be mailed to: Sea Tow Foundation, PO Box 1325, Southold, NY 11971.