CAPTAIN NATE’S OASIS
DONATE:
Service fees apply. Receipts for tax deduction purposes available upon request.
For no service fees, you can make a check out to:
Hilton Head Reef Foundation - Nate Riley Fund
Mail Checks to: Steve Riley. PO Box 21041. Hilton Head Island, SC 29925
ABOUT:
Fundraiser to help build Captain Nate’s Oasis – an expansion of the Whitewater Reef, which is approximately 5 miles offshore of Hilton Head Island. Honoring long-time Broad Creek Marina employee and Charter Boat Captain Nate Riley who passed away in 2024.
Plan: sinking two modified 20-foot cargo containers in a new area adjacent to the existing offshore reef. To be known locally as Captain Nate’s Oasis. If successful, we would hope to add more containers to the site in the future.
Fundraising goal: $10,000
Partners: Island Boat Works and Daufuskie Island Transportation, Broad Creek Marina, Hilton Head Reef Foundation, SCDNR.
Why give?
Captain Nate Riley was a native Hilton Head Islander who loved inshore and offshore fishing, and sharing that love of fishing with others. He worked for many years at Broad Creek Marina, both on the docks and as a driver of the lift truck. He participated in many fishing tournaments with friends. He served as mate for several of the charter captains operating out of Broad Creek Marina; and realized his dream of becoming a charter captain, earning his six-pack license in 2019. He started Boat of Lies Charter with several investors in 2022. In 2024 he started Tighten Up Charters with a new investor. Unfortunately, Nate was taken from us in July of 2024.
Family and friends wish to memorialize Nate and honor his love of sport fishing, by helping to ensure the long-term health of offshore recreational fishing by expanding the Whitewater Reef. This is an existing reef about five miles off the southern tip of Hilton Head Island; a reef Nate visited often. This expanded area will be known to local anglers as Captain Nate’s Oasis.
Why an offshore reef? According to South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) website, “the creation of artificial reefs off South Carolina is especially important to the development of our marine fisheries resources because of the relative lack of naturally occurring hard-bottom areas along our coast. Off of South Carolina, the majority of the continental shelf is covered with sand several feet deep while only about 10 percent of the bottom has the appropriate geological makeup to allow for the formation of a reef community. This results in limited opportunities for anglers and divers and leads to heavy utilization of some of the more well known hard bottom areas along the coast. The creation of artificial reefs reduces pressure on these areas, allowing resources to recover and thrive while giving recreational sportsmen and women a wider range of areas to make use of. This, in turn, also creates a positive economic impact on coastal communities across the state.”
Visit the SCDNR WEBSITE for more information.
