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The Ship’s ManifestScallywags & Crew
Every voyage has its cast. Red-ruled cards are the flag officers of the Frochise™; periwinkle cards are the people caught in its wake; brass cards are the institutions holding the paper. Court findings are quoted as findings. Everything else is a question we’d love answered under oath.
The Heir
Joseph J. Frohnhoefer III
CEO, Sea Tow Services International
The CEO who inherited the fleet, the flag — and the forty-year franchise question his father left unanswered.
Open dossier →The President of “No Knowledge”
Kristen J. Frohnhoefer
President, Sea Tow Services International
Sea Tow’s counsel told a federal court its own President has “no knowledge” of the six-year lawsuit. We have questions.
Open dossier →The Architect
Mitchell A. Stein
General counsel · lead litigator · third-party defendant
Present since the 1988 AG file. Three federal sanctions. One trademark destroyed. Still at the helm — and we keep asking why.
Open dossier →The Founder · deceased
Capt. Joseph J. Frohnhoefer Jr.
Founder (1983) · signed the 1989 Assurance
The founding captain — and the man who personally signed New York’s 1989 franchise enforcement papers “from now until the end of time.”
Open dossier →The Deserter
Steven Altman, Esq.
Former Sea Tow co-counsel — withdrew on the record
Sea Tow’s own lawyer told a federal court his client demanded strategies “contrary to the law” — then walked off the ship.
Open dossier →The Ones Who Fought Back
Erich & Abigail Jaeger
Former Tampa Bay operators · counterclaimants
A working family, a $1.5 million demand, and the first crew in forty years to turn and fight.
Open dossier →The Privateers
Rosen Karol Salis, PLLC
Franchise-law counsel for the Jaegers — on contingency
The franchise-law firm that took the Jaeger case on contingency — and broke the outspend-them equation.
Open dossier →The Believers
Dr. Russ & Karen L’Hommedieu
Non-party witnesses, M.D. Fla. movants
They trusted friends of nearly thirty years, sold the house, and moved to Florida — and, per their sworn declarations, the deal documents never matched the pitch.
Open dossier →The Bystander
Ryan Hurley
Emergency Response Captain · non-party
An operational boat captain with no records, no authority, and no connection to the surviving claims — subpoenaed anyway. Twice, arithmetically speaking.
Open dossier →The Fleet
The Franchisees
100+ captains under the yellow flag
Captains who bought a brand, and inherited its litigation. Some were subpoenaed. Some were pressed to sue. A few refused.
Open dossier →The Quartermaster
The SBA
Keeper of the Franchise Directory
The June 30, 2026 recertification deadline has passed — and our August 2026 review of the post-deadline Directory found Sea Tow not listed. The why is the open question of the season.
Open dossier →The Sleeping Gun
The NYS Attorney General
Holder of the 1989 Assurance of Discontinuance
In 1988 the People of New York called Sea Tow a franchisor in writing. The enforcement clause they extracted has no expiration date.
Open dossier →Ship’s discipline
Two Josephs sail these pages. Capt. Joseph J. Frohnhoefer Jr. (“Joe 2”) founded Sea Tow in 1983, received the 1988 AG investigation, signed the 1989 Assurance, and has passed away. Joseph J. Frohnhoefer III (“Joe 3”) is the current CEO. We never conflate them, and neither should you.