What’s the deal with the famous ‘little blue boat’ of Hilton Head? Here’s everything to know

This year, many users have taken to Facebook to comment on the mysterious blue and white sailboat moored beside the bridge to Hilton Head Island from the mainland.

Dubbed the “little blue boat,” many Facebook users have established it as a new Hilton Head landmark and have labeled it as “iconic.”

Originally located offshore by the Daufuskie Island Ferry dock in Bluffton, the little boat made its way to the other side of the 278 bridge to Hilton Head Island into a salt marsh following the winds from this year’s storms.

The boat has garnered so much attention that Facebook users have even created the Facebook group “We heart The Little Blue Boat” dedicated to the little sailboat and use this as a platform to help “save” the small vessel.

“Little Blue,” or “Bluey” as it is also called, has also created such a mass following that individuals have created various paintings, art, T-shirts, ornaments, “memes” and small sculptures of the blue-and-white sailboat.

A painting of the sailboat has even been auctioned off to the public.

Some fans of the little sailboat have even proposed the idea of creating a fundraiser to keep the boat in place or creating a replica to “honor it” once it has been removed.

Social media users frequently photograph the boat and take special note of it as they go about their daily activities.

Many locals to the area have commented on social media that seeing the boat “brightens their day” on the way to work or while doing daily errands and would be “so sad” to see it go. In addition, tourists visiting the area have commented on how they “look forward to seeing it” each time they have come to the area this year.

Some of the hundreds of comments of Facebook showing affection for the now poplar boat include:

• “I love it (the boat) and named it John B! I will be so sad if it moves!”

• “New piece of island history lol”

• “It’s been there since last summer. I love seeing that boat every time I cross the bridge.”

• “I love that little blue boat!”

• “Following this page we saw the blue boat here. It was so sweet to see the real thing when we drove down recently! Please leave it there. Possibly with a welcome sign.”

• “Save the blue boat!!!! It is now an icon!!!

The owner, Jon Everetts, a charter boat captain for Black Dog Fishing Charters on Hilton Head who has been doing fishing charters for 30 years, is a longtime local who has spent a majority of his life in Beaufort County but has only owned the little blue-and-white sailboat for two years.

It was originally moored by the bridge to avoid paying dockage fees. Aware of the rules, Everetts claimed it was legal to moor his boat in the given area.

The boat has had a tumultuous time while it took up residence beside the bridge. Despite the many days it swayed with the waves on calmer days, it was cut loose following one of the first storms last year and had to be retrieved. Afterward, it was docked farther away from the bridge so “people wouldn’t keep buggin’ DNR about it,” Everetts said.

After one of the most recent storms, it was again cut loose and made its way to the other side of the bridge where it is now stuck in the marsh.

“That thing won’t sink, that’s for sure,” Everetts said about his now famous sailboat.

After recently trying to remove the boat following a removal notice from SCDNR, Everetts is in need of a “giant tide” to move the boat from its current position.

His next attempt at the boat’s removal will be on Christmas Eve.

Everetts, 59, already had plans to remove the boat, but the DNR order quickened the process.

“Originally the boat was not moored illegally. SCDNR is currently in communication with the owner, who has plans to secure the vessel. SCDNR has not set an official timeline at this point but has the authority to do so if the owner does not act to secure the vessel according to state and federal laws and regulations for anchored vessels,” SCDNR responded in a statement.

Unsure what to do with the boat after its removal from the marsh, his wife wants to keep it out, but Everetts said there is work that needs to be done and the boat needs to be fixed first and foremost.

Making the removal process tricky for the boat’s owner, a special sailboat trailer is needed to remove the ‘little blue boat,’ but Everetts does not own one and cannot find one to use.

If he cannot find a trailer, he plans to moor the boat somewhere, but this location will not be near the bridge to Hilton Head from the mainland.

Although the ‘little blue sailboat’ goes by many names on social media, Everetts never officially named the boat himself.

Not a frequent user of Facebook, Everetts is surprised by all the attention his boat has received on the platform.

Users of the social media site have “so much love” for the boat that, unbeknownst to the sailboat’s owner, someone even decorated it for Christmas by hanging a stand of colorful Christmas lights along its side.

When informed that his boat was now decorated, Everetts chuckled and responded, “Well I’ll be darn. They’re trying to help themselves to my boat.”

“I wonder what the lights are being charged with. I’ll have to go check it out,” he continued.

“I’m just shocked. I don’t know, I guess it’s a good thing a lot of people like it huh. But, there’s a few people who don’t, I heard,” Everetts said about the mass following and popularity his boat has amassed.

A majority of the attention toward the sailboat is nothing but positive. However, some worry the boat might eventually affect local water and wildlife health. Plus, some dislike the appearance of an “abandoned” boat in the local waters.

“I don’t know what else to do. I mean, it is what it is. A lot of people have asked ‘well, what’s the deal with it?’ and the deal is it broke loose in the storm. It got washed up. I don’t know what else to tell ya,” Everetts chuckled.