Family at the helm of TowBoatU.S. Cape May ready for first full summer in southern N.J.
CAPE MAY — It has been less than a year since Captain Kevin Black purchased TowBoatU.S. Cape May, but he has already made a lasting impression on the people whom he has rescued.
Last September, Black received a distress call from the captain of a 48- to 52-foot sailing vessel all the way from Maine.
“They had damage to their sails and when they tried to start their engines, they couldn’t get them started,” Black recalled.
He added that it was not a pleasant day at sea with 6- to 8-foot waves.
“There were six people on board and we towed them in here to a safe harbor. The captain of the vessel was extremely appreciative. He had six people on board and four of them were tremendously seasick. So once we got them in, we made sure they had food to eat,” Black said.
For Black, that human touch is a big part of what his marine towing, salvage and rescue business is all about. Black said that the majority of people on board that day believe he and his crew saved their lives.
“To me, it’s just another normal day, but I remember that vividly,” Black said, noting that he still talks to the captain of that Maine sailing vessel.
Black started his maritime career at Maine Maritime Academy in 1992 and has held a U.S. Coast Guard Master’s License with multiple endorsements for more than 30 years.
He worked with a national environmental services company and was in charge of a barge set and crew of 10 that skimmed oil in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster April 20, 2010.
“It was very somber,” Black said of the experience.
Later in his career, Black served as a port captain in New York City.
A Long Beach Island native, Black was always attracted to Cape May.
He said it is the relaxed atmosphere, slower pace and gorgeous surroundings that drew him to the southern tip of New Jersey.
“How can you not love it?” Black asked.
His 21-year-old son, Captain Gavin Black, agreed.
“It’s beautiful, I love it here,” he said.
Gavin, who earned his U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License at just 18 years old, joined the crew at TowBoatU.S. Cape May earlier this year.
“I’ve loved the water my entire life; it’s the only thing that felt natural. I got my first boat when I was 15 and I spent every single decent day on that boat since then,” said Gavin, who previously worked in New York City as a launch captain.
This past May, Gavin was instrumental in salvaging a 44-foot Henriques boat that sunk overnight just down the waterway from where TowBoatU.S. Cape May is headquartered in Cape May.
Gavin said he had to dive 6 feet in the water to get everything aligned to lift the boat up properly.
He said the best part was towing the boat over to the travel lift, which comes out over the water, drops straps in, puts the boat on top of the straps and then lifts it out of the water. Gavin’s objective was to move the boat safely, keep it afloat and make sure every around was safe.
“That was fun and memorable,” Gavin said of the salvage.
“Gavin did great. It was his second salvage with us. He stepped up to it and jumped right in and took control and it was great,” Black proudly said of his son.
Since Black purchased TowBoatU.S. Cape May on July 16, 2025, they have received about 260 to 280 calls for assistance from both BoatU.S. members and nonmembers.
They have also added close to 50 new members to their salt water towing membership, which covers as much as $3,000 worth of an incident, such as tows, jump starts, soft un-groundings and fuel drops.
Black has also updated the engines on two of the vessels that he inherited.
“The engines [on these two boats] were perfectly fine, except they were just getting older. And, I want to make sure when I hop in the boat, it’s going to start and we can go,” Black said.
TowBoatU.S. Cape May has seven tow boats, five of which are currently in the water, and services the area from Townsends Inlet through Cape May Point and back up to the Delaware River to just south of the Cohansey River.
Black’s wife Tina recently received her Captain’s License and works alongside her husband and son. Black also has two more sons — Guliano, 23, and Grant, 18 — and a daughter — McKenna, 16.
“I’m very lucky because we have a good, close family,” Black said.
TowBoatU.S. Cape May also employs two other part-time captains, Captain Dan and Benny, from whom Black purchased the business.
Black said after seeing how things work this past year, he would definitely love to expand his business.
“This area is very concentrated with service contracts, so there are a lot of providers around,” Black said.
TowBoatU.S. Cape May is open year round. Black said he was busy through the end of December last year, serviced his last call in the beginning of January and then business started picking up again in March.
“It was enough down time to do some maintenance on the boats and spend some time at home,” Black said.
He said he and his family have an apartment on site because you never know when a call is going to come in. Their permanent home right now is in Surf City but he hopes to change that in the future.
“Once we took over this business, I told my wife that we need to look for a house down here and see what we can do to make it permanent,” Black said.
