Captains, Mentors, Moms

From Farmland To The High Seas

For most of her life, Rebecca Close was surrounded by land – miles of it. Born and raised on a farm in British Columbia, she grew up operating heavy equipment and doing farm work – boats, tides, and towing operations were nowhere in the picture. But now, as a TowBoatU.S. captain on call at all hours in the often-unforgiving waters of the Pacific Northwest, Close is the epitome of showing it’s never too late to chart a new course.

To emphasize how far from nautical her earlier years were, Close says, “I learned how to swim at 28 at the University of British Columbia while living in Vancouver. It was a fear of mine, and I decided to overcome it. They had a great program for adults, and I took instruction for a couple of years and became a very good swimmer.”

As a young mom, she made sure her four sons – Calum, 26, Simon, 23, Landon, 20, and Myles, 16 – grew up swimming and confident in the water, so much so that two sons went to State with their swim teams, and three became lifeguards.

Several years ago, the family relocated to eastern Washington with Close eventually moving to Port Angeles in 2017. There she immediately sought out a way to get on the water.

“I joined the Port Angeles Yacht Club and took my first sailing lesson. I had rarely been on a boat before in my life but knew right there and then that I wanted to be on the water a lot more.”

She immersed herself in sailing, volunteering with the yacht club, junior sailing, high school sailing, and the Community Boating Program. “I took my youngest with me. He was a little dinghy sailor for a couple of years. I’d go out and sail with the little ones or do safety boat support.”

Her experience grew quickly. In 2023, she took several major steps, earning her captain’s license, becoming a U.S. citizen, and launching 360 Marine, LLC, a towing and marine service business based in Port Angeles, with her partner, Karl Schwab. “We acquired a Shamrock 27 towing vessel, put some sweat equity into fixing her up, and brought her to Port Angeles,” she says.

As part of a greater towing community, Rebecca and Karl work closely as independent contractors with TowBoatU.S. Port Hadlock, the towing and rescue operation for the Port Townsend area. Their days (and often nights) can revolve around answering calls and navigating long, rough tows around the clock. “Karl and I are usually able to work a flexible schedule, which allows us the freedom to answer a dispatch call,” she says.

Working in the Juan de Fuca Strait is no small feat. “An average tow is four to eight hours given the distances we often have to travel by water. In that time, the weather and sea state can change drastically, and tides often move at a 2- to 3-knot average, changing the coordinates of a vessel in distress substantially,” Close says.

High winds quickly becoming small craft advisories are common in the waters between the Olympic Peninsula and Canada, adding steep chop to the already large swells rolling in from the Pacific. Throw in thick fog, crossing major shipping lanes servicing the Seattle area and Canada, and frequent debris in the form of big logs, and those extreme conditions demand constant vigilance.

It’s all a long way from the farmyard, but Close wouldn’t have it any other way, and she’s proud to be part of the growing community of female captains providing critical services to boaters.

“I had all my kids in my 20s and dedicated my life to that. Now, often as the only woman on the boats, it’s a privilege to be part of a team of captains who provide a service to help boaters reach safety or get to a port for repair. I feel fortunate to have found an opportunity to do something I enjoy and encourage other women to do the same.”

From Racing Cars To ‘Bonus Parenting’ On Boats

For Deb Fritz, adventure has always been part of the plan. Before she was leading marine tows in the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, she was a motorcycle racer, competitive car driver, ski enthusiast, and lawn and landscaping business owner. Fritz’s path to becoming a captain and owner of TowBoatU.S. Friday Harbor – as well as loco parentis to scores of young deckhands – was always going to be more adrenaline-fueled leap than straight line. Long before she set foot on a boat, Fritz was tearing up racetracks.

“When I was a kid, I raced motocross,” she recalls, and took that passion to the Louisville Motor Speedway in Kentucky where she began racing cars. “The group of guys I hung out with had this thing called the ‘mechanics’ race’ as the last race of the year. I raced it and won, and loved it.”

From there she was named Rookie of the Year in each division she raced in, won feature events, and was named Most Popular Driver of the Year. Back in the 1990s, there weren’t many women on the track. “In fact, I think it was the late ’80s before they even allowed women in the pits.”

But that never fazed Fritz. She loved not just the racing itself but the science behind it, the setups of cars, and figuring out the way things worked. “There was a lot of physics involved and it always intrigued me.”

After years on the track, Deb took a break to do something different – skiing and snowboarding. “I ended up moving out to Summit County, Colorado, to do that for a season, and stayed for seven seasons.”

Her entire career had been outdoors-focused. Her lawn and landscaping business in Kentucky employed a lot of young workers and she mentored them through their first jobs. But the water ultimately called her.

When she left for college, Fritz’s parents had moved to the San Juan Islands. “I’d spend summers there and volunteered for the guy who ran the TowBoatU.S. port,” she says. “I just loved being on the water.”

That turned into something bigger when an opportunity presented itself. “They said to my partner, Andrew [Dirienzo], and me: ‘Hey, if you ever get tired of the ski industry and want to move out here, let me know.’”

A few years later, that’s exactly what happened when she got her captain’s license and had an opportunity to purchase TowBoatU.S. Friday Harbor in 2012. Fritz has been running the marine towing and salvage operations in the challenging waters of the San Juan Islands since. The job is demanding. The calls come in at all hours, and making the right decision quickly is critical.

“The hardest part is probably those 3 or 4 a.m. calls that wake you up when someone’s aground or something, and the Coast Guard just starts rapid-firing,” she explains. Those first few moments are crucial. “You’re getting all that information in, then determining: Is this something we should be going out on? Are we the best team to help?”

There’s no time to waste. “The Coast Guard is waiting to decide if we’re going because if we’re not, they have to launch someone. They need an answer.”

The conditions in the San Juan Islands make the job very complicated. Strong currents, unpredictable weather, and dense fog mean that every tow comes with its unique set of challenges.

“We usually know what the weather, tides, and wind are for the next three to five days, so we don’t have to figure that out. You have to make informed decisions quickly.”

Going back to her abilities in physics, she particularly loves the challenge of salvaging capsized boats. “If a boat is rolled upside down and I’m the diver, I like figuring out if I can roll the boat with two [flotation lift] bags or three. If I put this one here, can I get more leverage? Just working that out is exciting.”

But Fritz isn’t just running a towing operation – she’s also helping shape the future of young mariners. “With TowBoatU.S., you’re a big part of the community, so we know a lot of the kids. We go to football games. We know lots of parents, and they say, ‘Hey, take my kid’ once they’re 14 or 15 years old.” For many, TowBoatU.S. is their first real job.

“We’ve had a number of kids who’ve spent time with us who’ve gone on to work on the [crude oil tanker] Polar Adventure, bigger ships, Crowley [shipping and marine logistics company], the Navy. They graduate and some have turned into captains.” It’s more than just a summer job.

“You’re on board with them for a long time. You hear everything – good, bad, and indifferent. The things their parents probably don’t hear!” she laughs, adding, “You’re really leading them because they have to listen to you in a way that they don’t their parents – it’s a very sought-after job.”

Despite the long nights and high-pressure calls, Fritz still finds moments to appreciate where she is and what she does.

“The best part is the relaxing time on the tow, looking out. Maybe there’s some snow on the mountains and I think how beautiful this all is.”

Captaining Fleet And Family

When we first catch Sarah Lawrence for an interview, she’s juggling a sick kid and a last-minute change in plans. She’d intended to go to the annual TowBoatU.S. Conference in Las Vegas with her husband, Adam, who’s also her business partner. But as is frequent in the life of a busy mom balancing childcare logistics with work, a quick pivot was called for.

That ability to adjust and keep moving forward, whether navigating a tricky tow, homeschooling her son, or overseeing her expanding businesses, has proved Lawrence’s secret weapon whether she’s steering through calm or rough waters. But long before she was the owner of TowBoatU.S. Kent Narrows and Knapps Narrows on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, she was just a kid on a boat.

“I grew up in the marine towing and salvage industry. My parents started back in the ’80s, so I grew up as a towboat kid. In winters, we’d head down the ICW and cruise to the Exumas, the Abacos, and different parts of the Bahamas, then come back in the spring and open the towboat business back up. My parents homeschooled me in the winter, then put me back in school when we returned.”

Her love for boating never faded. In college she sailed competitively and, after graduation, bought her own sailboat in St. Martin. “I got my captain’s license in 2009 and started working for a charter company and boating school. I was doing a lot of ASA instruction and deliveries between the Caribbean and East Coast of the U.S. while living on my boat and coaching junior sailing.”

She met Adam in the Bahamas, got married, had their first child, and eventually made the move back to the U.S. to work in the family business now in its 36th year. Today, they’re 24/7 all year round with four towboats and 10 people on their team. “Our busy season is April through October and November. In winter we slow down but still get occasional jobs,” she says.

As if running a round-the-clock marine towing operation wasn’t enough, four years ago Lawrence launched Chesapeake Boating Academy, a hands-on on-water training school offering accredited courses. “I partnered with the BoatU.S. Foundation to get boating safety outreach into different communities around the country.” Now, with locations in both the Annapolis area and Kent Narrows, she’s helping more people – especially women – become confident boaters.

With Burke, 9, and Vera, 7, literally in tow, balancing business logistics with keeping the home crew happy is not for the faint of heart. But flexibility is something Lawrence sees as key to doing both. When Burke was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, the family transitioned him to a hybrid homeschool and tutoring program.

“That’s an adjustment for the family, seeing as we have a 24/7 business and a boating school. We’re very busy, so often Burke will do school on the boat. We’ve got a houseboat at the marina next to the towboat, so everyone can be there and ready, and can cool off when it’s hot in the summer, or warm up in the winter.”

Her children don’t just adapt to the boating lifestyle – they’re living it. “The kids are basically part of the business. So when I need to put fuel on the boat, they come with me. They’re part of the day-to-day.” 

Burke even earns tips coiling lines in the summer and helping walk in lines for boats that have run aground. “He hopes to be running the boat when he’s older,” she says. Vera, meanwhile, has a passion for knots and helps the family entertain passersby at boat shows.

Lawrence sees strong parallels between captaining a boat and running a household. “Being a successful captain is anticipating problems before they happen. You’re always checking the weather and where the boats are, or if there’s a wake coming. You’re doing risk mitigation all the time. Same as being a parent. To be successful, it takes a lot of clear communication and delegating.” That delegating is helped by hiring the right people.

“As a mom, I can’t teach all of the classes. I can’t be in Annapolis and Kent Narrows because I’ve got kids who also need attention. We’re doing gymnastics, soccer, golf, and piano, so part of what I’ve done is to just hire a really great team. You have to stay focused and organized, and know when to say no.”

Although if you asked her kids they’d tell you the one thing she needs to start saying “no” to is buying more boats.

“I just put a deposit down on another boat yesterday, and the kids were like, ‘Mom! We don’t need another boat. Stop buying boats!’” she laughs.

Running Tows And Raising A Crew

Megan Mosier grew up near the water in Sanford, North Carolina, spending weekends on Jordan Lake, where her family had a small speedboat.

“I don’t even remember what kind of boat we had,” she admits, laughing. “But I’ve always had a love of water.” That love grew even stronger when she met her husband, Branson.

“We spent a lot of weekends going to the coast of North Carolina to fish, about three hours from here. That’s how I ended up with ocean experience.”

Branson ran a charter business off the coast for a time, but as their family grew it became clear their lifestyle needed to shift; it was too much going back and forth. They’d always kept an eye on TowBoatU.S., hoping if a local port ever came up for sale, they could buy it.

“One day, Branson was on his little duck boat called the Dixie River Queen, and it broke down,” Mosier recalls. “He called TowBoatU.S. to come get him because he always had a membership, and the captain told him the ports were for sale.” The rest is history.

With the opportunity to run their own TowBoatU.S. operation, Megan stepped up. “At that point, Branson needed to renew his license, and I needed to get mine. I already had a lot of time on the water, so I enrolled in sea school, took the classes and all my exams, passed with flying colors, and applied to get my captain’s license.”

For Mosier, earning her captain’s license was more than just a professional achievement – it was a personal one. “I was pretty excited because I’d stayed home to raise the kids and helped run our construction business”

Running a TowBoatU.S. operation is demanding, but the Mosiers have made it work as a family. Their three children, Madeline, 12, Bailey, 9, and Colton, 7, are homeschooled, which gives the family the flexibility to bring them along to the lake. “We love the freedom of being able to take our kids with us,” she says. “They’re part of our business, whether they like it or not. They’re going to grow up knowing it.”

Their oldest daughter is already following in her mother’s footsteps. “Our 12-year-old can already pretty much run a boat. She’s always asking, ‘Hey, can I load the boat today?’ She’s like me when I was young. She likes to learn.”

Mosier’s mother, Laurel, has also played a key role in helping out when needed. “We’re fortunate. My mother lives five minutes from Jordan Lake. If I have to go on a tow, sometimes I’ll drop them off there. She’s been a really good sport.”

TowBoatU.S. Falls Lake and Jordan Lake have kept the Mosiers busy, and things are only going to get busier; they opened two more ports at Kerr and Gaston lakes at the end of last year. Growing the business has required careful coordination. “The first year, Branson took Falls Lake and I took Jordan Lake.” They trade off dispatching duties. “Sometimes he carries the volume. Sometimes I do.”

With business expanding, Mosier is focused on setting an example for her kids.

“I want my kids to know that they can do anything they set their minds to. My parents raised me to believe I could do anything. I think my mom is still my biggest fan. She tells everyone I am a captain.”