‘This is Jeffrey, this is Bluffton’: Boaters give ramp volunteer personalized golf cart
Jeffrey Gainey is official. He’s the Red Cap Boat Valet.
The 35-year-old South Carolina native, who spends his whole weekend volunteering at the Old Oyster Factory boat ramp in Bluffton, was gifted a refurbished golf cart on Saturday morning to make his 12-hour days trucking up and down the ramp and helping people park a little easier.
The golf cart, which has “Red Cap Boat Valet” inscribed on the windshield, like Gainey’s signature red baseball cap, was purchased through a community fundraiser. The event brought together boaters from far and wide to support the man who keeps the ramp running like clockwork.
“If I ain’t here, it’s going to go crazy,” Gainey told The Island Packet on the July 4th weekend. He was on his hundredth trip up the boat ramp to help people park their boat trailer without backing into out a trash can or leaving scars on one of the live oaks shading the parking lot.
Earlier this summer, Bluffton residents Corey Chumney and Paul Tollefson wrote essays about Gainey after they chatted at the boat landing. Gainey had a profound impact on Tollefson, who said the boat landing brings both of them peace in one way or another.
“If you are lucky enough to live in Bluffton, and own a watercraft, you have crossed paths with Jeffrey. Jeffrey is here at the boat landing, it’s 7:12 a.m. and I casually strike up a conversation. I’ve met Jeffery many times, and it’s usually under the same circumstances. We are both down here trying to clear our mind, as we stare at the salty May (River), small ripples of waves tell us that the dolphins are feeding,” Tollefson wrote. “This is Jeffrey, this is Bluffton. Be nice.”
Fellow resident Ashley Tillman saw the essay and started an online fundraiser with Chumney to get Gainey a golf cart to take him up and down the boat ramp as he helps people back into the water and find parking spots in the Oyster Factory parking lot near Old Town.
“He seemed out of breath and he stated that running back and forth to the parking lot was killing him. So of course I asked what he needed. Jeffrey said he’d love to have a gas-powered golf cart to get back and forth to the factory and up and down the hill. I’m not made of money as I assume most of you aren’t but is there any way we can make his wish come true?” she posted on the fundraiser from an original Facebook post by Chumney.
Bluffton came through.
The fundraiser reached nearly $5,000, and Tillman said Chad Goodwin, a fellow Bluffton resident, found a golf cart that could be outfitted for Gainey’s needs. Trexton Specialized Vehicles, in Augusta, tricked out the cart just for Gainey.
As the sun shone down on the boat ramp on Saturday morning and temperatures climbed toward 90 degrees, the community effort came full circle. Gainey received the personalized golf cart, two coolers, gift cards and some “Red Cap Boat Valet” business cards for him to give out, according to Marc Robson with the Bluffton Police Department’s Marine Patrol Unit.
Gainey typically organizes boat launches from 7 a.m. until sundown from Thursday through Sunday. He does so at the request of no one, and doesn’t get paid beyond the occasional tip or cold soda.
Robson said he feels better knowing Gainey is there to make things work and keep congestion down.
The golf cart gift comes with a few loose ends to tie up, though.
Last month, Gainey said he wasn’t sure he’d be able to insure a golf cart if he received it. He said he didn’t have a driver’s license, either.
Robson said he is working with Gainey’s uncle, his caretaker, to help arrange a driving test. Tillman said the community has contributed money to an insurance fund for the cart. Until then, he’s not street legal.
That doesn’t stop him from being a quiet guardian for Bluffton’s boating community, and the community is showing love right back.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 8:38 AM.
