TradeWinds Towing LLC

About Us

TradeWinds Towing is owned by second generation tugboaters Dominique and Rachel Smith, who were raised and homeschooled on an ocean-going tugboat.  Their parents Latham and Elsbeth Smith were seized by wanderlust yet with two small children they needed to make a living.  In 1969 their parents completed construction of a sturdy hand-made ocean tug, the ELSBETH. In response to Elsbeth’s desire to continue playing piano while at sea, the captain’s cabin was constructed around her piano.  The family and two crew lived and worked on board, and the tug tramped throughout the East Coast and Bahamas taking tows of opportunity and occasionally rescuing disabled ships at sea. They eventually secured a long-term contract hauling crude blackstrap molasses within the Caribbean for Bacardi Rum Distillery.  Over time, they built a larger tug and the younger of the now five Smith children were raised on board this tug which voyaged to Africa, Europe and South America and further afield.