Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

TN or similar distance houseboat rental


Kalamazoo

Recommended Posts

Discussed having a two family houseboat trip next year. Looking for suggestions.

My brother will bring his family of 4, my family of five and boat will be in tow with me.

I'm out of Michigan, don't want to drive to arizona or other far, far places (sorry SD)...maybe TN is the outer radius.

thinking late May would be a nice break from MI winter/spring. don't want to pay premium price for June/July/Aug, MI is nice enough those months anyway.

Overall, a nice lake that's reasonably warm (for northern thick bloods), has enough to do on/off water, nice enough houseboat, reasonable distance and pricing.

Go.

Link to comment

Dunno when your spring break is but the water here in east tn is still pretty darn cold. As for lakes Norris is nice but will still be at winter levels until mid to late April. Center Hill is nice but not a lot to do off the water.

Link to comment

Pates Ford marina on center hill lake is nice and reasonable. Several restraunts on the water at several diff marinas. Great service there too with just about anything you need. Smithville and cookville are close if you like getting out and cruising off water. I rented they're 75' boat this past Labor Day and was very pleased.

Link to comment

Dale Hollow is nice and Sunset marina keeps their house boats in good condition. Also Wisdom Marina has a large house boat that is fairly new that would accommodate your 2 families.

As was mentioned Norris Lake is nice but since they drop its level a lot to accommodate spring run off it may not be a great experience.

Cumberland is another option but I've never run a house boat there. I have friends that do and like it.

Link to comment

State Dock at Lake Cumberland.

Sunset Marina or Wolf River Marina or Sulphur Creek at Dale Hollow.

Normally i would say Eagles Cover or Holly Creek also at DH, but they have just changed owners (2nd change in about 2 years) so not sure how they will be operating yet for 2016.

Sunset has a 6 BR boat and they are well maintained and a very nice marina. Easy access to launch your boat and load the houseboat. We have rented from them 3 times.

Sulphur Creek also very nice marina and boats.

Not rented from Wolf River, but boats look very nice and it is a nice marina. My sister rents from Holly Creek and Hendricks Creek.

We had issues with a Wisdom Rental.

That time of year the lake can still be high (TVA Flood Control) and there can still be some sticks and logs, but usually by then it is pretty clear from the winter.

If you go, let me know, and i can give you some recommendations on areas to tie up and the locations of 2 courses (if needed).

Going I65 South, Sulphur Creek is about 5 hours from Indy. Wolf River and Sunset about 5-1/2 to 6. Maybe a little longer towing a boat.

Link to comment
ahopkins22LSV

Following this thread as we want to do a similar trip in the near future as well!

We like Dale Hallow and have used Eagles Cove, http://www.eaglecoveresort.net.

Check their rental rates as the end of spring shoulder season is an excellent time to go. Water will be in the 70's and air in the 80's. Nothing a cold blooded northerner can't enjoy.

70 water and 80 degree air? Sounds like July and August in MI!

  • Like 3
Link to comment

We've done a houseboat at lake Cumberland for the last 25 years. Most frequent out of Grider Hill but hit most of them over the years. Went to Norris as well this year and are planning a return trip next July. We rented a house on the water though. Will follow this thread for ideas, would like to try Dale Hollow at some point.

Link to comment

My suggestion is Table Rock Lake in Missouri. One of the best lakes in the midwest, and depending on where you are on the lake, just minutes from Branson. Branson has tons of things to do. Shopping for the ladies, Six Flags for the kids, and a few miles down the road is Bass Pro Shops in Springfield for the guys. There is great golfing in the area too. We went in the middle of June this year, and the water was already almost 80 degrees.

Link to comment

I have been bitten by the floating house bug after last year. The ease of setup and cleanup is awesome. You don't need to spend a half a day with trying to find a place to park the houseboat and tie-up. However, the seclusion part of a houseboat is nice. That being said, floating house, I recommend Norris. Houseboat, Dale Hollow or Lake Cumberland. I believe Cumberland will be slightly closer for you coming from Michigan.

Link to comment

I have been bitten by the floating house bug after last year. The ease of setup and cleanup is awesome. You don't need to spend a half a day with trying to find a place to park the houseboat and tie-up. However, the seclusion part of a houseboat is nice. That being said, floating house, I recommend Norris. Houseboat, Dale Hollow or Lake Cumberland. I believe Cumberland will be slightly closer for you coming from Michigan.

We saw those at Norris this year and have thought about renting on as well. My question is how do you get all of your stuff on it for a week? That's the nice thing about a houseboat, you can just pull it right up to the dock and roll everything from the truck to the boat on the dock. With a floating house are you just supposed to make trips with your own boat back and forth? We had 12 people on the houseboat last time and that requires a lot of stuff for a week!

Link to comment

I have been on 5 trips to Dale Hallow lake. Rented at Sulfur Creek Marina each time. We always went in September. It was beautiful and I hope to return in the next couple years. Last trip we rented 3 80 footers, they were all really nice and kept up.

Link to comment

Cow Creek (nice long cove) has a ski course and there is another one near Hidaway Marina (more main lake but on the backside of an island and usually blocked from the wind).

Edited by blk93jeepzj
Link to comment

We saw those at Norris this year and have thought about renting on as well. My question is how do you get all of your stuff on it for a week? That's the nice thing about a houseboat, you can just pull it right up to the dock and roll everything from the truck to the boat on the dock. With a floating house are you just supposed to make trips with your own boat back and forth? We had 12 people on the houseboat last time and that requires a lot of stuff for a week!

On our trip, we had 6 people in an LSV. We loaded everything from the trucks into the boat, launched the boat and drove to the house and unloaded. The good thing with the floating houses are that they are relatively close to the marina/ramp. If multiple trips are needed, you are near. But, if we do the floating house again, we honestly may rethink how we pack food. With the number of marinas at Norris that serve food and the general overall cost of food at those marinas, it is hard to not eat at a marina for lunch and dinner. Besides, who wants to stick around to prepare and cleanup a meal afterwards? I get the need for having pizzas cooked on the grill at 2 am and then the eggs in the morning.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...