15 Harbourside Lane
Shelter Cove Harbour
Hilton Head Island
South Carolina,
Description:
A self-proclaimed "World's Largest Figurative Sundial" centers on a 12 foot (3.6m), 3000 pound (1360 kg) statue of Neptune. His trident, set at an angle of 32 degrees, serves as the gnomon. This massive structure sits on a low dais 26 feet (8m) in diameter, surrounded by low octagonal steps. Neptune is an impressive sculpture by Wayne Edwards. But the hour lines are a disaster. "Edwards enlisted the help of experts Frank Yerkes and Richard Hamilton of the engineering firm Sea Island Engineering, now known as Sea Island Land Survey, LLC" They could find north (and there is an "N" in the chapter ring indicating true north, but regardless of the story about sighting Polaris, the noon mark is aligned -8 degrees to the west, pointing to magnetic north). More serious is the marking of hour lines from IV (am) to VIII (pm). The VI hour lines are opposite, but drawn to the center of the dais that is easily 9 feet (3m) from the base of the trident gnomon where they belong. This great structure will never tell solar time.
General Information:
Inscription:
Owner: Shelter Cove Harbour and Marina at Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort
Two plaques at the base of the statue
Designer: Wayne Edwards (Statue)
Builder: Johnsons Atelier, foundry in Princeton NY
