Fact Check: Can Daufuskie ferry operator ban island residents from riding? Has it happened?

Since Jan. 16 of this year, Beaufort County has contracted with Lowcountry Ferry to run the public boat service between Daufuskie and Hilton Head Islands. The relationship has gone through some choppy waters and now there are accusations that access to a public dock has been partly restricted and one resident and her family have been prohibited from riding the boat, according to Daufuskie Island Council Chairman Kade Yarborough.

The ferry service restricted access to the public pier at C.C. Haigh, Jr. Boat Landing on Pinckney Island for a little over a week from around April 15 to April 23. The county asked Lowcountry Ferry to unblock the section a day after Yarborough made a public comment at an April 22 county council meeting. However, part of the pier may be blocked in the future. The county reasons restricting access might be necessary because other boats blocked the ferry’s landing access and illegal private charters embarked from the dock, Beaufort County spokesperson Hannah Nichols said. The county is considering permanently restricting access to the part of the pier Lowcountry Ferry uses during operating hours, she said. Another section of the pier and the adjacent boat put-in would remain open. On Monday, easily bypassable rope stanchions blocked off most of the pier.

This means the fisherman who cast lines from the landing, which is halfway between, Hilton Head and Bluffton, can stay. Boaters would be able to dock for up to three hours on a section of the dock and could launch their vessels from the adjacent put-in. This will be especially important to one resident, barred from riding the public ferry, according to Yarborough.

Lowcountry Ferry isn’t allowing the owner of Daufuskie Island Liquors and her family to ride because she was transporting liquor on board the vessel, according to Yarborough, and despite the absence of any South Carolina law that prohibits the transportation of alcohol on a boat.

The owner and many other Daufuskie Island residents have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the service’s prices and other issues since Beaufort County switched the service provider from the previous contractor, Haig Point, at the start of 2024. The owner of the liquor store didn’t respond to two phone call requests for comment.

Haig Point Vice President of Sales and Marketing Adam Martin said that while he doesn’t know the situation’s specifics, Haig Point never had issues with residents or store owners transporting alcohol during the seven years it held the contract.

Others riding Lowcountry Ferry’s vessels haven’t had issues either. A passenger stood waiting for the ferry on Monday, carrying a six-pack of Corona beer. Vacationers commonly bring alcohol over to the island, which doesn’t have any major grocery stores. On Lowcountry Ferry’s website, there isn’t any language prohibiting alcohol.

“I believe it’s just because this person really stood up to the ferry company and called them out in multiple ways,” Yarborough said. “And it was handled in such a such a terrible way. There was no warning. It was none of that. It just was straight to ban (her) and her whole family.”

Lowcountry Ferry didn’t respond to a voicemail asking for comment. When a reporter reached Lowcountry Ferry by phone in February they were directed to the ferry service’s email. Multiple emails have gone unanswered since then.

County Chairman Joseph Passiment said that he didn’t have an opinion on the docks being locked and referred the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette to county administration.

Buckingham Landing

Buckingham Landing, the previous Daufuskie Island ferry embarkation point on the mainland, was illegally locked and chained last month for 24 hours by a private boat service, according to Nichols. Daufuskie Island residents raised concerns that the ferry operator was responsible, but that wasn’t the case, Nichols said.

“That wasn’t the county or the ferry,” she said. “That was just some some random company.”