Hurricane Matthew destroyed one of the things Christine DeLong loved most about Hilton Head Island.
But it also gave the 54-year-old a gift that she had been dreaming of for years.
A few weeks after the Oct. 8, 2016, hurricane, DeLong, of Bluffton, sat at her desk unable to concentrate, replaying images of Palmetto Bay Marina docks ripped to pieces by the storm surge and boats scattered across the marsh.
For years, DeLong has gazed at the boats in the marina as she drove across the Broad Creek bridge daily to work at her business, Shoestring Celebrations — the view was the boost she needed to start the day.
As a self-taught mariner, DeLong’s passion for boating runs deep. But it had been years since she had her own boat.
The Palmetto Bay mariners didn’t know DeLong — yet — but in her own way she knew them. She kept track of their daily comings and goings from the marina as she made her daily trek across the bridge. She recognized boats and knew who was up early getting ready for a day on the water.
“As I looked over on this day it was literally gone,” DeLong recalled about the destructiveness of Hurricane Matthew. “I couldn’t believe what was happening, I was wondering about all the boats and people.”
DeLong sat that day at her desk, tears welling up, when she realized she had to do something to help. What she didn’t realize then is that decision some months later would help her complete a lifelong dream.
She left work and immediately drove to the marina where she gradually enlisted a group of new friends — those she previously saw only from her car while crossing the bridge.
DeLong said she held makeshift meetings at a campsite for a handful of mariners who lived on their boats and were displaced by the storm. She organized a benefit to raise money for them.
Through this benefit — a silent auction and oyster roast held in February at the Black Marlin — she would connect with a Florida man who she said would change her future. She said the man has requested that his identity be kept confidential.
The man arrived at the marina looking for a way to help. He quickly was introduced to DeLong.
“He asked, ‘What can I do to help you?’” DeLong recalled. She said she responded with some ways he could help the benefit.
Later in the evening, DeLong said the man asked her, “What is your dream?”
Her reply: “I told him I am a mariner, and I would love to open up a bed and breakfast one day on an old vintage boat of mine.”
DeLong said for years, she spent weekends in the Lowcountry waterways exploring and weathering storms in her boat until an electrical fire forced her to sell it.
She remained boatless for 15 years, which she noted often made her sad.
“I would go to Harbour Town at night just to hear the (boat) pumps and ACs running,” she said. “I am a boater. It runs thick in me.”
DeLong said her conversation with the Florida man about her lifelong dream was long forgotten as the days turned into months working on the benefit. She said she became friends with the man, helping him with marketing for a commercial fishing service in the area.
In February, the man asked for her to accompany him to look at something at Skull Creek Marina.
“We walked down the dock, and he said, ‘By the way, I bought you this boat yesterday. I would like for you to start the bed and breakfast,’” DeLong recalled. “I couldn’t believe what he was doing for me.”
Christine DeLong stands on a boat she is in the process of converting into a bed and breakfast on Hilton Head Island. [Submitted photo]
The boat — a 1971 42-foot Pearson motor yacht — was filled to the rim with junk that had accumulated over the years, DeLong said.
“What do you think?” the man asked.
“This is fantastic,” DeLong replied.
DeLong said she has spent recent months renovating the boat to create what she hopes will be the perfect bed-and-breakfast guest experience. She added, though, it could be some time before the business opens because she still has a few engineering items to be fixed on the vessel.
But it’s all been worth it.
“I crave the sun, and I crave being rocked to sleep in the hull of a boat,” DeLong said. “There is nothing more pure than that. This man has given me a great opportunity. He has invested his soul into my dreams.”
DeLong said she didn’t help those affected by Hurricane Matthew to get something in return. But she said she wound up receiving far more compared to the time and money she invested.
“For those who still may be suffering from a loss, just know that if there is a will, there is a way, and everything can be fixed and made right,” DeLong said.
Teresa Moss: 843-706-8152, @TeresaIPBG
