TowBoatUS names new Norris Lake owner

For the last four years, Tommy Overton has helped out on occasion at TowBoatUS Norris Lake. Jumping aboard as part-time crew, he provided needed relief to towing captains on long towing jobs, and Overton found a calling for the on-water work after a long career in the hospitality industry. The company’s owners, Robert Dial and Duran Carmany, have now sold the company to Overton.

“Hopefully I can build the business and make my wife happy,” says Overton with a smile. His wife, JoAnn, is also joining the company and managing business operations. He says he expects to still work closely with his former bosses, who remain in the boat salvage and wreck removal business.

TowBoatUS Norris Lake provides routine assistance including towing, ungrounding, battery jump and fuel drop-off services, and is part of a nationwide network of more than 300 locations and 600 red TowBoatUS response vessels. On Norris, Overton has two, 21-foot, response boats in his fleet. One is kept in the water while a second is on a trailer, ready to go at a moment’s notice, speeding response times on a lake with some 800 miles of shoreline.

Last year, more than 90,000 recreational boaters requested on-water assistance nationwide. On Norris Lake, Overton says many of the calls he gets are for engine breakdowns, running out of fuel, submerged object strikes and groundings. “Both the fall drawdown, when shallows emerge, as well as the spring, when we get a good number of logs in the water, cause unexpected trouble for boaters. I’m here to make their day a lot better and get them home,” says Overton.