March 3, 2021 • Volume 10, Issue 3 • Complimentary • HiltonHeadSun.com
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Boathouse expansion a sign of current boating times By Tim Wood CONTRIBUTOR
The “hole in the ground” at 405 Squire Pope Road is a perfect representation of what’s going on with the Hilton Head Island boating scene. The Boathouse is not only still operating, but is thriving at a time when Hilton Head’s boating industry is seeing unprecedented growth. General manager Grant Kaple said that the space formerly known as Schilling Boathouse – founded by Dr. Fred Schilling in 1987 and run by his son, “Captain Bill,” for two decades – is expanding. The former 22,000-square-foot facility has been torn down to make room for a newer facility to better support The Boathouse’s growth. “T-Top boats didn’t exist in 1987, and your largest outboard was 25 feet with twin 100 or 150-horsepower motors. So the racks weren’t big enough and the dry stack storage wasn’t built for the boats of today,” Kaple said. “So we’re building a facility that gives us a better sales and service space and more storage that fits the times.” The average 1987 model was 6,000 to 8,000 pounds, whereas the biggest model they sell today is Grady’s 45-foot boat that weighs in closer to 30,000
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pounds, with four massive 425 horsepower Yamaha motors. The new space will add an additional 10,000 square feet, but more importantly, it will be configured to meet today’s boating designs. “We used to think of storage more linear than cubical, but with the T-Tops, it’s all cubical now,” Kaple said. “We’ve been running at 98 percent capacity and have an extensive waiting list of folks looking for storage.” The new building will grow storage capability by 65 to 70 spaces for a total of roughly a 350-boat capacity. The sales and service and office space part of the building will be more compact than before to better utilize the space while still offering a full array of boating products, and will allow for more boats to be displayed inside. The company is also working to extend the docks, which requires approval from multiple state and federal agencies. Kaple said he and company officials are aiming for a June 2021 completion. It’s just one part of continuous growth by Island Marine LLC, the company behind The Boathouse. The company closed its 15,000-square-foot Moss Creek location and moved to the old Stuckey’s Furniture building at 5279 North
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LYNNE COPE HUMMELL
With the mammoth original Boathouse as a backdrop, workers polish, measure and check levels of the concrete floor for the new addition of its new storage facility on Squire Pope Road.
Okatie Highway on the Okatie/Ridgeland line. The new facility opened in spring 2019 and more than doubled the facility space and spans five acres, compared to 1.5 in Moss Creek. “There is a lot of traffic that goes between Savannah and Beaufort and the majority use that Route 170 corridor coming from Route 46. We’re seeing so much growth there and we’re perfect-
ly positioned to meet their boating needs,” Kaple said. “It’s just 11 miles from The Boathouse to Okatie, but man, it’s a whole different world. The island folks stay on the island and this new crowd doesn’t want to cross the bridge any more than they have to.” One other advantage of the Okatie
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Please see BOATHOUSE on page 14A
Sunny Side Up 3A • Editorial 4A • Sun on the Street 6A • Noteworthy 34A • Business 35A • Legal 36A • Technology 39A • Health 40A • Wellness 41A • Pets 42A • Faith 43A • Home 44A