Dawn of a Brand New Bay

An island icon is being restored, reinvigorated and made ready for a brighter future.

Local Life | Story by Barry Kaufman and Photos© by Lloyd Wainscott

For many of us who evacuated the island in advance of Hurricane Matthew, it was the first image we saw of home and the first warning of the devastation that awaited us when we returned. Broadcast on The Weather Channel, aerial footage showed the docks at Palmetto Bay Marina shattered to splinters and cast about the shoreline like dead spartina pushed onto the bank by high tide.

Yet as Hilton Head Island rebuilt around it, the docks of Palmetto Bay Marina continued to carry the scars of that fateful storm. The months turned into years, other hurricanes came and went, and still one of the truly iconic sights on the island remained in ruins.

The story of how it continued to sit in disarray has been told before – suffice it to say, promises would be made and broken over the ensuing years, ownership would change hands, and the businesses that call the marina home would soldier on. So when it was announced that yet another company had purchased Palmetto Bay Marina with designs on restoring it to its glory, you can forgive locals for their skepticism…..