No WiFi? No power? No problem. RBC Heritage yacht parties are a go!

Devastated by Hurricane Matthew in October, the Harbour Town Yacht Basin has bounced back and is ready to host it’s notoriously raucous yacht parties after rounds of golf at the 49th annual RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

“The general public just visiting Harbour Town today would have no idea what has happened over the last several months,” Sea Pines’ director of recreation and marine operations Rob Bender said Tuesday. “It looks like the marina that they’ve always seen.”

“We are very excited to welcome boaters back ... but there will be a few subtle differences they might notice,” he said. “We don’t have electrical service up on the docks yet and our (wireless internet) connection is not back up yet either.”

Harbormaster Nancy Cappelmann said Tuesday that while marina contractors “aren’t quite finished with the reconstruction,” yacht party-goers will enjoy much the same experience as in years past.

Most of the boats in the marina have their own generators and wireless internet connections, she said.

“We are good to go,” Cappelmann said. “We’ve got water (connections on the docks), and most of these boats are pretty self-sufficient.”

“We are looking at a gorgeous week, and we expect (the marina) to be full and everyone will have a wonderful time,” she said.

While the marina has mostly recovered from the storm, there’s still some work to be done. The pier remains closed and is not expected to reopen until mid-summer.

Immediately following the storm, “the focus was recovery — getting all the debris cleaned up, and securing everything that needed to be tied down for safety,” Bender said. “Then we got into the rebuilding process: repairing damaged docks, completely replacing some docks.”

“The team has worked day and night to get everything to where it is today,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Bender said he expects the action at the marina to pick up later in the week.

“It’s just a real festive time — especially on those Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights,” he said. “Boaters will be thrilled to be back, and we are thrilled to have them.”

Cappelmann said this year’s RBC Heritage is a special one — marking an opportunity to recognize the storm recovery effort and turn the page on Hurricane Matthew.

“We hope that all (the storm destruction) is in the past,” she said. “We want to move on. Forget the fall; let’s enjoy the spring.”

For more information on the Harbour Town Yacht Basin, call the marina office at 843-363-8335.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 2:19 PM with the headline "No WiFi? No power? No problem. RBC Heritage yacht parties are a go!."