Welcome to
Datah, an island community of just over 1000 acres. Datah lies about six miles due east of Beaufort, and lies nestled between river and creeks.
Positioned
roughly half-way between Charleston SC and Savannah Ga, you could say that Dataw
is the quintessential low-country location.
It has the history which we covered a bit yesterday, but it also has the
true look and feel of the tidal estuaries that come to mind when one talks
about this part of the earth.
Developed by Alcoa about thirty years ago,
the island has kept development to roughly one house per acre, thus avoiding
the crowded feel of a resort community. Being
developed as a whole also allowed water retention ponds, streets, utilities and
other features of the island to be positioned in the most efficient manner. Even the street signs were made to imitate the old tabby oyster shell construction that was popular here in centuries past.
Golf, tennis
and a nice clubhouse are staples in many planned communities, but to have a neighborhood
marina in a protected area with ready access to the intra-coastal and the
Atlantic Ocean is a rarity. And the marina
was done right – the big machine you see pulls boats out of the water so that
they can be dry-docked for repairs or storage.
This is a very unusual feature for any marina, let alone one that serves
a small community.
You got to love some of the boat names you find - I could do a whole article just on boat names.
The feel of
the live oaks, the palmettos, the Spanish moss, all of the birds that call the
estuary home, huge oyster banks, great channels to crab in, all manner of fish
to catch - everywhere you look another picturesque low-country scene unfolds. If you don’t mind the
short ride to the beach on Hunting Island it has everything you could want in
the island lifestyle.
Numerous
Osprey nest stands have been built and are sitting empty around the island, but Osprey’s have a mind
of their own. One particular male returns
each year and tries to make his nest on top of one fellow’s boat – which caused him to get a sprinkler system to drive it off. It then moves next door and tries to build on the neighbor's dock. The Department of Natural
Resources told the resident to make sure he takes away every stick the Osprey stacks
up each night, because once the nest is built it has to be left alone. Perhaps this year the osprey will learn a bit earlier
and use one of the many nest sites that are empty - but probably not.
If you would like to contribute to this effort, just Click Here. To contact me, click Here. But whatever you do,
Have an Awesome Monday !!
David
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