Best bargains often come from local thrift stores

With this feature, we seek to capture a glimpse of what you and your neighbors have to say about a variety of topics, issues, events – and just plain fun questions. You might see us anywhere around town, with notepad and camera, randomly seeking out folks who are willing to participate. If we find you, we hope you will want to respond.

At the God’s Goods thrift store in

Bluffton, we asked: “What is your all-time best, most fabulous thriftstore find?” favor, they’re at a 45-degree angle, and they actually double the wake. It is actually doing more damage.”

The size of the boats now on the water has also had an impact on safety and marine traffic, Keuhn said.

“When I was growing up on the river, there were boats probably no bigger than 21- to 25-foot, but we’re starting to get boats with more engines on the back, massive sterns, and more massive boats than that body of water can handle,” she said. “You have to be respectful that other people might be on that waterway. If you have a boat that big, you need to go idle down that waterway. You can’t regulate the size of the boat, so I’d like to remind people that the May River is a small body of water with a dead end. Stay in the Calibogue or the mouth of the May.”

Then there is weather – one form for which we should begin preparations: hurricanes. Keuhn said after either Hurricane Mathew or Irma, Palmetto Bluff lost 10 to 15 feet of their riverbank.

“That’s not boat traffic. Palmetto Bluff is not allowed to have breakwalls for environmental reasons. They’re not allowed to cut down the maritime forest because the roots absorb the fresh water runoff from rain that we want to keep out of the salt water in the May,” said Keuhn.

That leaves the shoreline open to Mother Nature as well as human activity.

The five trees species that primarily comprise the maritime forest are pine, live oak, palmetto, Southern red cedar and magnolia, as well as the scrub brush and wax myrtle.

“The roots hold the sand together and stabilize the bluff,” she added. “The tide is responsible for some erosion along the bluff, maybe not on the marsh side. That’s why it’s hard to get a dock permit. The only thing that marsh grass can’t take is shade, so everywhere there is a break in the marsh system is because of the docks.”

Other challenges with building docks is that the lumber is treated and leaches chemicals, and oils sometimes leak from the boats.

“Docks aren’t very environmental but it’s kind of grandfathered and is a big part of our boating culture, so I wouldn’t get rid of our docks,” Keuhn said. “Our immediate problem is the influx of activity and lack of boating etiquette from people who don’t know better.”

Bud Mingledorff, who grew up visiting relatives in Bluffton and now lives along the river, also says new residents are impacting the environment and life on the water, and

RIVER from page 8A knowing that the river is both tidal and a dead end would make their boating safer and better for everyone.

Slowly cruising along the riverbank in Old Town on a recent boating trip, he pointed out how homeowners, developers and the community on the Old Town side are dealing with the changes caused by the May River’s tides, boaters and the weather.

Mingledorff would like to see Palmetto Bluff allow bulkheads to protect the properties before the bluff itself is washed or blown away. The fallen trees and vegetation below the bluff provide perches for birds of all kinds.

In Old Town, some properties have new or aging bulkheads. Some have a few tons of rip-rap – a layering of large stones intended to protect soil from erosion where there is high or concentrated flowing water. An alternate effort similar to that was a load of recycled concrete construction debris. Other properties had a cover of heavy vegetation or chose to let a natural grass cover serve as erosion control.

“The problem with vegetation,” said Min- gledorff, “is one good storm and the heavy bushes will pull out and take a portion of the bluff with it. And the trees on the edge are in just as much danger when you can see the exposed roots.”

For those with bulkheads, also called sea walls, their lawns are protected for the life of the wall, but the lack of one next door can affect the neighbors.

“What happens when your neighbor gets a bulkhead is it puts extra stress on your property. The water will pass by the wall and then break on the next shore,” Keuhn said. “You’d think it would be better but it isn’t. The more that people stabilize their bluff, it’s a trickle effect down the line. It’s the path of least resistance for the tide pushing into the land. It happens regularly even without boats.”

Eventually, the changes along the May River will impact property owners. Mingledorff said the geology that is happening on the high bluffs is like what happened to the Grand Canyon.

“The Colorado River was just a creek,” he said. “This is simply real life happening before your eyes.”

NOW