National Siblings Day: Duo Keeps Sea Tow On Course, Legacy Alive

SOUTHOLD, NY — Friday marks National Siblings Day, and in Southold, a devoted brother and sister team is carrying on their father's legacy and navigating its steady course through the challenges of the new coronavirus.

Capt. Joseph Frohnhoefer, III and Kristen Frohnhoefer joined forces to helm Sea Tow Services International, Inc. after their father, Capt. Joseph “Joe” Frohnhoefer, Jr., the business's founder and CEO, died at his Southold home after a battle with cancer in 2015.

For the last 20 years, the brother and sister duo have been an integral part of the Sea Tow family business, which provides on-water assistance including towing, fuel deliveries, jump starts and more for boaters across the United States.

Nationwide, the company has 110 areas of operation and employees more than 650.

Kristen, president of Sea Tow, said she and her brother know what it’s like to not only be close as siblings, but how to successfully run a company together through proverbial stormy seas.

“The strength of our relationship as brother and sister is one of the things that helps us and our company get through tough times,” she said. “We’ve seen industry disruptions, some local and some national like major hurricanes, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the economic downturn in 2008 and the current pandemic. Through it all, we have always respected each other’s strengths and weaknesses — and it’s what has contributed to our success.”

Sea Tow has a network of franchises "that are supported by a strong system, and that’s what helps us successfully get through times like these,” said Joseph, CEO of Sea Tow. “Whether it’s COVID or any other issue, it’s the strength of the Sea Tow system that helps us push through these times. Our franchisees have more say in our system than most franchise-operated companies. Their captains and their staff are in the know, so it shortens that communications gap in why and how to respond in certain situations.”

Shortly after their father died, Joseph and Kristen changed their titles to what they are today. Joseph always focused on the external operations and legal aspects of the company, while Kristen focused on the internal operations of the business, such as the company’s call center, marketing, technology, membership and programs, they said.

“It’s really a great thing, when you think about it, because some family businesses just don’t make it to the next generation,” Joseph said. “We have such different skill sets, knowledge and experience that we complement each other. We’re a team that works very well together."

When their father opened Sea Tow in 1983, Joseph was 8 years old and Kristen was 12; when they became teenagers, they both became more involved in the family business. Kristen worked closely with her mother Georgia Frohnhoefer on the back-office side of the business. Her brother essentially became Capt. Joe’s "first mate" and went out on calls with his dad to help boaters in and around eastern Long Island, the pair said.

After high school, Joseph received his Bachelor of Engineering in naval architecture from SUNY Maritime College in New York and his United States Coast Guard third mates' license. After graduating and spending another summer on the water with Sea Tow he joined his first merchant cargo ship as third mate. Joseph spent the next four and a half years on cargo ships such as Car Carriers, Tankers and Container ships running cargo overseas, coastwise in the U.S. and through the Panama Canal and down the west coast of South America.

After so much time away, and earning his 1600-ton master/chief mate, all oceans, and all seas license, Joseph headed home — just as Sea Town was converting to a network of franchises.

Kristen earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish along with her teaching certification from Dickinson College, followed by her master’s in education from Johns Hopkins University while teaching middle school and high school Spanish and French for 10 years in Maryland.

“During the summers, I would come home and work for Mom and Dad, answering phones and taking calls on the radio,” Kristen said. “The 90s were the years of significant growth for Sea Tow and every summer I could tell that the company was changing. Both Joseph and I were doing our own things, but we kept connected to Sea Tow and what was happening.”

In the early 2000s, as her brother began focusing more solely on Sea Town, he knew he was going to need help.

“I still remember that phone call,” Kristen said. “It was November of 2002, and I got a phone call from Joseph saying, ‘You need to come home now.’ While I hadn’t thought about leaving my teaching job in the middle of the school year, I started having serious conversations and ended up resigning in January 2003.”

In January, Joseph and one of Kristen’s friends drove to Maryland, where they helped pack Kristen’s belongings and move her back home.

“You’re my best hire ever,” Capt. Joseph said he tells his sister.

Kristen said she and her brother have always respected one other’s talents and skills, but their bond grew stronger as they worked side by side to keep their father's legacy flourishing.

“We each have certain things that we took on in the business,” Joseph said. “When we returned to Sea Tow full time in the early 2000s our father ensured that we ‘started at the bottom’. We learned the business inside and out, and that’s why we’re successful today.”