Concierge Boat Storage in Mount Juliet

Built around not waiting

The Boathouse at Benders Ferry joined Rubright Marinas in 2020 and runs on a different principle to a traditional marina. The whole operation is arranged around one idea: the boat should be in the water, fuelled and ready before you have finished parking the car.

That is what concierge storage means here in practice. You book a launch, our team pulls the boat from the rack and runs it down, and if you have asked for fuel it is already aboard. You walk from the car park to a boat that is floating and ready to leave.

It sounds like a small thing. On a Saturday in July, when the alternative is queueing at a ramp and then queueing again at a fuel dock, it is the difference between being on the water at nine and being on the water at half past ten.

Enclosed dry storage

Boats here are stored under a roof rather than on open racks, and the difference shows up in three places.

The finish lasts longer

Ultraviolet light is what degrades gelcoat, upholstery and canvas. A boat under cover between trips gets a fraction of the UV exposure of one sitting in an open slip, and over several seasons that is visible in the resale condition.

Nothing grows on the hull

A hull kept in freshwater accumulates algae and slime, which slows the boat and costs fuel. Prolonged immersion on a gelcoat hull can also lead to blistering, which is a serious repair. Boats kept in the water are usually bottom painted to manage this, and that paint is a recurring expense.

A boat that comes out of the water after every trip needs none of it. No bottom paint, no slime line, no annual haul out to deal with what has grown.

Weather stops being a factor

Rain does not fill the cockpit. Leaves and debris do not accumulate. Hail, which Middle Tennessee gets, does not reach the boat at all.

Customer fuel service

Instead of queueing at a fuel dock, you tell us to fuel the boat when you book the launch. It is done before you arrive, using 100 percent ethanol free fuel with Primrose additives.

Ethanol free matters more on a boat than most owners realise. Pump gasoline in most of the country contains up to ten percent ethanol, and ethanol pulls water out of the air. A car tank turns over every few days so this never becomes a problem. A boat tank can sit half full for three weeks, vented to humid air over a lake.

Absorb enough water and the ethanol and water separate out of the gasoline and settle at the bottom of the tank, where the fuel pickup is. On top of that, ethanol acts as a solvent on older rubber fuel lines and carburettor components, and it loosens tank deposits that then travel into the fuel system.

The per gallon price of ethanol free fuel is higher. The cost of a carburettor rebuild is higher still.

Why Mount Juliet

Mount Juliet sits on the eastern side of Old Hickory Lake and has been one of the faster growing parts of Middle Tennessee for a decade. For boaters coming from east Nashville, Hermitage, Donelson or Lebanon, it is a shorter and much simpler drive than crossing the city to reach the north shore.

It also puts you on the same water as Gallatin Marina, from the opposite side. Old Hickory Lake covers around 22,500 acres with roughly 440 miles of shoreline, formed by the Army Corps of Engineers when Old Hickory Dam was completed in the mid 1950s. The Corps still manages it, drawing the lake down through winter for flood capacity and bringing it back up in spring.

The eastern end has a different character to the water near the dam. More creek arms, more protected coves, and generally less traffic on a busy weekend.

Who this suits

Concierge dry storage is the right answer for a specific kind of owner, and it is worth being honest about who that is.

• People who use the boat regularly through the season and want the friction between deciding and going to be as close to zero as possible
• Owners who care about the condition of the boat and would rather not spend weekends cleaning a hull
• Anyone who has previously kept a boat on a trailer and is tired of the ramp on a Saturday morning

It is a less obvious fit for someone who wants to spend the whole day at the dock rather than on the water, or who works on their own boat frequently and wants unrestricted access to it. In the water slips exist for a reason, and Gallatin Marina has them.

Getting here

Before you keep a boat in Tennessee

Tennessee requires a boating safety education certificate to operate a motorised vessel if you were born on or after 1 January 1989, issued through the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The course can be completed online.

Your boat also needs current Tennessee registration, which is worth arranging before the first outing rather than after.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead do I need to book a launch?

Same day is usually fine outside peak summer weekends. On a hot Saturday in July, booking the night before is the difference between leaving when you planned and waiting.

What size boats can you store?

Enclosed dry storage has limits on length, beam and height. Call with your specifications rather than assuming, because the height limit catches people out more often than length does, particularly with towers and hardtops.

Is the concierge service an extra charge?

Launch and retrieval are part of how storage works here rather than an add on. Fuel is billed for what actually goes in the tank.

Can I work on my own boat here?

Routine access to your boat is straightforward. Larger jobs need arranging with the staff first so the work does not block the racks during a busy period.

What happens over winter?

Boats stay racked under cover through the off season. Winterisation is worth discussing before the first hard freeze rather than after it.