Built in 2017, Nicole Foss, an Arctic class tug, 123 feet long, 295 gross tons.
So, who was Thea Foss and what does she have to do with huge, modern, ocean-crossing tugboats like the one above except maybe for her last name? Well, let me tell you.
Thea Foss, sitting on the deck of her wooden houseboat in 1889 in Tacoma, WA, was the founder of a business that would go on to become Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States and one of the largest tugboat companies in the world. In truth, she didn’t set out precisely to do that but that is precisely what happened.
In 1889, Thea simply bought one wooden rowboat for $5 off of a disgruntled fisherman. She sold it for $15 and then bought two more rowboats which she also sold for a profit. She very purposefully continued to buy rowboats and then she began renting them for 50 cents/day to the local fishermen. Thea’s husband, Andrew Foss, a carpenter, was up in the valley building a shed at the time. By the time Andrew returned from his shed-building job with $32, Thea had amassed $41.
That rowboat venture blossomed into a fulltime business for Thea and for her carpenter-husband (who soon became a boat-builder, not surprisingly). Their endeavors grew into the Foss Launch and Tug Company, owned and operated by Thea and her husband, and then later yet that company became the huge Foss Maritime company of today.
Thea (nee Christiansen) Foss (1857-1927) came to the USA as an immigrant from Norway and married another Norwegian immigrant, Andrew Foss, in Minnesota in 1881. The two of them moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he was a carpenter and where she began buying and selling/renting rowboats while her husband was away from home because of his carpentry work. She was a woman who saw an opportunity and she took it!
Keep in mind that, back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, there weren’t a lot of roads in the Pacific Northwest. There were streets and roads and trucks inside cities, but certainly no trucking industry to speak of outside cities. Almost all commercial traffic (including passenger service) traveled by water.
More information from the Foss Maritime website:
“It started in Tacoma, Washington when Thea Foss bought a used rowboat, hoping to rent it out to help with the family’s finances. After painting it pristine white with green trim, she sold the rowboat at a profit and used the money to buy several more boats. She was in business – renting the small boats to fishermen and duck hunters, ferrying customers, and delivering supplies in the Tacoma waterways. She continued to purchase more rowboats and launches while her husband, a carpenter, began building them. Soon, the fleets were up to 200 boats. Thea then expanded the business by transporting logs with towboats, under the name Foss Launch and Tug Company. By 1904, the company boasted 10 launches, a shipyard, a 60-passenger oil powered boat, and a small rescue craft to help disabled vessels. World War I propelled the small towing business to a new level, allowing Foss to purchase interests in a Seattle-based towboat company.”
A bit more information about Thea’s life (and some old photos) is HERE.
There are plenty more images and information online about Thea Foss and the Foss Maritime company and the boats. Here’s a video below to whet your appetite.
The Arthur Foss (built in 1889 and 120 feet long) was purchased by the Foss Tug company in 1929. Although not built by nor for the Foss Tug company, it was the first tug purchased by Foss Tug after Thea’s death and so was named for Thea and Andrew’s first-born son, Arthur. The video below shows some of the history of this vessel, and the video shows a great deal of what boating was like on Puget Sound and environs back then. The Arthur Foss was in the movie “Tugboat Annie”. It is the oldest wooden tugboat still afloat today and still in use today.
It’s interesting to note that the Arthur Foss was built during the same year (1889) that Thea bought and sold that first rowboat.
There was only ONE boat that was built by Foss Tug and Launch that was named “Thea Foss”. There may be other boats around named “Thea Foss” today, but this one particular boat (below) is the only original “Thea Foss”. This original “Thea Foss” is still cruising Puget Sound today, with her name changed to Mitlite. She was launched by Foss Tug and Launch in 1933 with the name Thea Foss. She’s 58 feet long and a real beauty.
The word mitlite (or mitlait) is a Chinook verb meaning to sit, to stay, to abide. Who wouldn’t mind sitting on the deck of this boat on a perfect summer afternoon or evening while sipping a little iced tea?
Here’s some history about this original “Thea Foss” (now named Mitlite) … in late 1931, Henry Foss, one of the owners of Foss Tug and one of the sons of Thea and Andrew, wanted to keep Foss workers on the job as much as possible during the depression. So work was begun on the only yacht to be built by the Foss Tug and Launch Company in Tacoma (they built many tugboats, but not yachts). When other work was a bit slack, work on “Thea” was resumed, thus keeping the company’s experienced crew employed. The vessel’s lines were drawn by G.E. Nyman of Tacoma and her construction was supervised by Linas Berg. A hollow Tobin bronze wing-shaped rudder and a stream-line designed air-driven winch as well as all outer gear were cast by Tacoma Brass Company and finished by Fred Dravis of Hicks and Bull Company, Tacoma. All are still in the boat today and working well.
Ok, that’s a good bit of history about Thea Foss, wise and smart and forward-thinking woman that she was, and a lot of info about old wood boat stuff isn’t it?
But I just can’t resist showing you one more great, old Foss boat that still plies the waters of Puget Sound today …
Joe, now under private ownership, originally a Foss tug named Joe Foss.
Foss tugs are easily recognized and well-known up and down all of Puget Sound. Every one of them still enchants us with those original green and white colors that Thea Foss used on the first rowboat she bought in 1889. These boats are an important part of our history. I’ve been aboard Arthur Foss and Mitlite and Joe and a few others. We do love our old wood boats hereabouts!
Thea and Andrew are long gone now, but still today all Foss tugs are named after family members.
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You might be wondering why I write about boating every once in a while, when the focus of this blog is supposedly, usually, on RVing and my current travels (in the travel trailer or otherwise). I’ve owned two different boats and cruised Puget Sound and the west coast of Canada for almost 30 years. I was raised in a waterfront home on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound and spent years in small rowboats and then in ski-boats as a teen. It’s sort of in my blood, I guess. It certainly still is in my consciousness. Boating comprises a huge amount of my experience in life. So I appreciate your indulgence when I wander off into boating subjects. 🙂 It’s part and parcel of seeing the world, just with a bit different mode of transportation … one with a rudder and prop underneath the vehicle/vessel instead of tires.
Thanks to EVERYONE who reads this blog. I love that there are new subscribers every week or so. And I love that the very first readers are still here reading! I feel so humble and blessed by everyone here, whether you subscribe or just stop by once in awhile. Each one of you makes my day!!