Lady's Island Marina - at a dock

Can anyone identify what this thing is?

With the thunderstorms delayed until later afternoon, we decided to push on to Beaufort, specifically Lady's Island Marina. During weekdays the bridge there has very restrictive hours and doesn't open at all between 7:00 and 9:00 am and from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Otherwise it opens on the hour and 1/2 hour. However, on weekends it's on demand so we came up and asked for an opening and got one right away.

The Dockside restaurant is right behind the marina, supposed to be good

The passage was fairly routine today except for the exit from Field's Cut. The Coast Guard added a red buoy at the exit to mark the edge of the shoal but the shoal has been growing. You have to give that red buoy at the northern exit a wide berth to avoid shallow water. I didn't and saw 4.5 MLW right by the buoy.

The calm before the storms.

All the marinas seemed to be more crowded than in the past. We called ahead to Beaufort marinas and couldn't find a slip which we wanted for the night since there were thunderstorms predicted. On the way north we got a call from Lady's Island Marina who had a cancellation which we took advantage of so we're here for the night. The front is due to come through around midnight and last at least until 8:00 am. If we see a lull we'll head for B & B Seafood for Monday night and on to Charleston the next day. If not, we'll sit out the storms here. The trick is not to be on a fixed schedule, let the weather guide you, don't go regardless. Who wants to be out 8 hours in a driving rain or lightening?