Tugs’ Ancestry

In the case of K-Sea, the ancestors were a father and son in a rowboat selling used rope in the harbor about a hundred years ago. For the evolution til the present, including K-Sea’s ownership of the Mary Whalen, check this fantastic link.

 

Taurus has one of the best names for a tug or pushboat. Think strength like a bull. Picture powerful horns to move things in front of it. Isn’t single-minded determination a characteristic of Taurans?

 

Another great name, Davis Sea, honors a body of water surrounding Antarctica. K-Sea has almost 20 “___Sea” tugs. So much for the “seven seas” expression.

 

Falcon, another great name, alludes to tugs’ speed and sense of effortless movement.

 

And last and greatest, it’s Lincoln Sea. Notice the helmsman’s looking tiny  in the upper pilothouse. Named for an ice sea near the North Pole between Canada and Greenland, Lincoln Sea won the speed and pushing competition at last year’s 14th Annual Tugboat Race and Challenge. Well it should have, twin props nearly 12′ diameter each and more horsepower than all three K-Sea tugs above, Lincoln Sea belies its rowboat ancestry. Come find out on September 2 if she’ll be back.

And next time you have a transaction with a small family business, remember Carl Eklof and his rowboat and how that modest effort evolved into K-Sea.

All images, Will Van Dorp.