What You Get at a Rubright Marina

Every Rubright marina sells fuel and has a store, and the storage and rental options differ by lake and by location. Here is what is available and, more usefully, how to decide which option suits your boat and how you use it.

Boat storage

Storage is the main reason most people come to us, and the choice between the options matters more than it first appears. It changes what your boating year looks like and what you spend on maintenance.

Covered slips

A covered slip keeps the boat in the water under a roof. Sun and rain stay off the upholstery, gelcoat and canvas, which all last considerably longer as a result. For anyone on the water most weekends, this is the shortest distance between deciding to go and actually going: you park, walk down and cast off. Covered slips fill first every season, so if you want one, ask early.

Open slips

An open slip costs less and puts the boat in the water without the roof. It suits owners who cover the boat anyway, who are on the water often enough that sun exposure does not accumulate, or who run an aluminium fishing boat with little finish to protect.

Dry storage and SpeedyDock

Dry storage keeps the hull out of the water between trips, available at our Tennessee marinas. The difference to maintenance is larger than most owners expect. A hull sitting in freshwater grows algae and slime, which slows the boat and costs fuel, and over time can cause blistering on a gelcoat hull. A boat that comes out after every trip grows none of it: no bottom paint, no slime line, no seasonal haul out.

The usual objection to dry storage is the wait. SpeedyDock removes it. You schedule the launch from an app, the team pulls the boat, and it is in the water at the time you asked for. Dry storage stops being a compromise and becomes the easier option.

Ethanol free fuel

Every marina fuel dock carries 100 percent ethanol free fuel with Primrose additives. This is worth understanding rather than taking on faith, because it quietly determines how much you spend on engine work.

Pump gasoline contains up to ten percent ethanol, and ethanol pulls water out of the air. In a car that turns its tank over every few days this never matters. 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, which is exactly where the fuel pickup is. Ethanol also acts as a solvent on older rubber fuel lines and carburettor parts, and loosens tank deposits that then travel into the fuel system.

Ethanol free fuel costs more per gallon and far less than a carburettor rebuild.

The marina store

Each marina has a store stocked for lake days rather than as a full chandlery. Ice, cold drinks, snacks, sunscreen, rope, basic hardware, and the safety equipment you are legally required to carry: a wearable life jacket for every person aboard, a throwable device on larger boats, a fire extinguisher and sound signalling equipment. Discovering you are one life jacket short is far better handled at the store than by the water patrol.

Boat rentals

Boat rentals are available at Barren River State Dock in Kentucky. If you do not own a boat, or you are visiting the state resort park for a weekend, you can rent a pontoon for a family day or a fishing boat for working the coves. Rentals book out on summer weekends, so call ahead rather than turning up hoping.

Which services are where

Ethanol free fuel and a store are at all four marinas. Covered slips are at Gallatin Marina, Barren River State Dock and Peninsula Marina, and open slips at Barren River State Dock and Peninsula Marina. Dry storage and SpeedyDock are at the Tennessee marinas, Gallatin and The Boathouse. Boat rentals are at Barren River State Dock. If you are choosing a marina by the services you need, that is the short version.

Rubright Marinas, 727 Marina Private Rd, Gallatin TN 37066. Call 615-452-9876 or email [email protected].