December 12th, 2011
Tug company with rich history
It was a gorgeous morning, so I grabbed the camera and headed for Cap Sante. I was treated to an opportunity to shoot a photo of the “Rosario,” one of many Dunlap tugboats with “local” names. Among my favorite Deception Pass images is a shot of the Rosario pulling logs under the bridge. According to the company website: “Dunlap Towing Company is a family and employee owned business founded in 1925 by Gene Dunlap. Gene started the business when he bought out a LaConner tugboat operation consisting of three small tugboats and several small scows. At the time, the company was primarily used for hauling fish, grain and straw from the Skagit River delta and Skagit farmlands to the markets and flour mills of Seattle. Over the next 50 years, Dunlap expanded into log towing, gravel barging and various other services on the Skagit and Snohomish rivers and around the Puget Sound. In 1978, Dunlap, along with two other partners, formed Northland Services, a freight company specializing in containerized and break bulk freight barging to Alaska and Hawaii.”