You won’t be able to take your favorite photo at the 2017 Heritage. Here’s why

Harbour Town Marina will not have one of its prime photo-taking spots ready in time for the RBC Heritage golf tournament.

Repairs to the T-shaped fixed pier, which allows tourists to walk out behind the lighthouse, will be finished in June, said Sea Pines Resort president Steve Birdwell.

That’s about about a month and a half after the golf event, slated for April 10-16.

The pier is a popular place for photos because it is far enough away to frame Sea Pines’ iconic striped lighthouse in the background.

The docks at Harbour Town, however, are expected to be operational by Heritage, allowing room for the yachts that are a signature feature of the event.

About a quarter of the harbour’s 85 docks are already available, though only to slip owners, Birdwell said.

Only a handful of boats are docked there currently, he said.

“The slip owners are very anxious to bring their boats back,” said harbormaster Nancy Cappelmann.

But a lack of power and water on the docks is holding boaters back, she said.

Plumbers and electricians are working to get these running again, but not all of the docks will have utilities by the time they open in April.

Another 20 docks should open by mid-February for slip owners.

The remaining 45 docks are expected to re-open to both slip owners and the public by the end of March.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed,” Cappelmann said. “It may not be 100 percent of the docks open, but there will be enough.”

Of the 35 boat slips available to the public during Heritage, Capelmann reported 15 reservations so far.

“That’s about on par for this time of year,” she said.

Two to three cranes, sitting on a barge, are making progress on dock repair every day, she added. And the 200-foot fuel dock is open to commercial operators.

Roughly 130,000 people attended the RBC Heritage in 2016, according to the event’s website.

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "You won’t be able to take your favorite photo at the 2017 Heritage. Here’s why."