Capt. Travis Basom of TowBoatUS Old Hickory Lake.
Download hi-res photo

OLD HICKORY, Tenn., August 13, 2025 – The 24/7 on-water towing and assistance service for boaters, TowBoatUS Old Hickory Lake, has a new owner. Capt. Robert Butler, owner of TowBoatUS San Diego, purchased the business recently and his nephew, Capt. Travis Basom, is the towing port’s new manager of operations. The company provides on-water towing, soft-ungrounding, battery jump and fuel drop-off services to recreational boaters and anglers.

As owner of one of the busiest TowBoatUS ports in a nationwide fleet, Butler says he’s excited about his nephew’s opportunity “to leave the nest, if you will, and run his own towing port in the Nashville region. I have 1,000% faith in Travis,” added Butler.

Basom has nearly 20 years of experience working in the on-water assistance and salvage industry, not only on Southern California waters but also at TowBoatUS ports in Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, Florida.

Said Basom, “I’m really excited about the chance to help boaters here in Tennessee.” He adds that his towing and salvage industry work on the nation’s coasts will benefit TowBoatUS Old Hickory well. “I’m ready to put my skills to work helping boaters here.”

Butler and Basom have upgraded the towing port’s equipment, bringing an offshore commercial 28-foot Zodiac response vessel to the lake. The rugged vessel formerly patrolled the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, including the Hawaiian Islands. It homeports at Blue Turtle Marina. They expect to add a second response vessel, a Parker 25, soon, and have brought the port up to ACAPT standards, a certification which recognizes professionalism and high standards of service, training and equipment. All of the company’s captains are U.S. Coast Guard-licensed.

Much like an auto club for recreational boat owners, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) offers on-water Unlimited Towing Memberships for freshwater boaters and anglers for just $109 per year. Membership comes with more than 25 valuable BoatUS benefits, including a subscription to BoatUS Magazine, free DSC-VHF radio registration and more.

Separate from BoatUS on-water towing, the company also offers boat salvage, spill clean-up and launch services.

To request on-water assistance, boaters can call the BoatUS toll-free 24/7 Dispatch Center at 800-391-4869, call TowBoatUS Old Hickory Lake directly at 615-917-1131, or hail on VHF radio Ch. 16.

###

Suggested social media post:

TowBoatUS Old Hickory Lake under new ownership: Family business that helps boaters get home grows roots in Tennessee, aims for the “American Dream”  https://bit.ly/4oxIpyZ  @BoatUS #TowBoatUS #oldhickory #oldhickorylake #tennesseeboating #tennesseefishing

About TowBoatUS:

Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is the nation's leading advocacy, services and safety group for recreational boaters. We are the Boat Owners Auto Club™ and provide our more than 725,000 members with a wide array of helpful services, including 24-hour on-water towing that gets you safely home when your boat won’t, jump-starts, fuel delivery, and soft ungroundings. The TowBoatUS towing fleet is North America’s largest network of towing ports with more than 300 locations and over 600 red towboats, responding to more than 110,000 requests for assistance each year. The BoatUS App makes it easy to summon water and road assistance 24/7 and can speed response times (BoatUS.com/App). For more information go to BoatUS.com/Towing.