Hilton Head went crazy 2 years ago over a beached red buoy. Now, it’s washed up again
In the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, a mysterious visitor to Hilton Head Island sparked weeks of speculation about its origin and destination. It prompted selfies, repeated attention from the U.S. Coast Guard and even served as the backdrop for one crazy wedding before disappearing back into the sea.
Eight feet wide and 21 feet long, the 13,000-pound “Red No. 8” buoy loomed between Hilton Head Island’s South Forest and Coligny beaches. The delighted confusion over its discovery was similar to the intrigue over Hurricane Dorian’s Myrtle Beach Jeep in 2019. The buoy even inspired a T-shirt campaign to make its temporary home permanent.
However, a month after the buoy appeared, it was gone, hauled onto a truck and whisked away by the Coast Guard to its original mooring, a mere 8 miles away in the mouth of the Port Royal Sound.
Now, two years later, Old Red’s gone further. Much further.
The buoy appeared on Central Florida’s New Smyrna Beach on Friday, about 280 miles south of Port Royal. Despite the distance, Florida beachgoers still are charmed by its appearance.
“It’s nature’s power to come this far,” Steve Breyfogle told Orlando TV station WKMG News 6. “What was it, South Carolina? I think somebody ought to name it New Smyrna since it’s landed here.”
It’s unclear when the buoy began its journey. According to the Post & Courier, Red No. 8 was still in Port Royal during the Charleston Coast Guard station’s last buoy check in September, following Hurricane Dorian.
However, the buoy’s new home in Florida is temporary, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials. It’s scheduled for pickup by a Coast Guard crew on Thursday and will be returned to the Charleston station before being repositioned with chains and concrete in Beaufort County, the Post & Courier reported.
Anybody on Hilton Head interested in commemorating the buoy’s journey can visit its 700-pound replica, commissioned from a Florida company by SERG Restaurant Group and perched between Skull Creek Boathouse and Skull Creek Dockside.
“This became a symbol of coming together after the storm,” SERG spokeswoman Brittany Shane said when the replica was placed in January 2018. “It is a cool thing and we wanted to have that piece of history.”