On The Water: Boats and Boaters

When he’s not fishing, surfing or kiteboarding, Mount Pleasant native Jimmy Purcell enjoys sipping a good Chardonnay.

To make a living, he serves sunburned Shem Creek boaters seafood paella, filet mignon and French champagne as the partial owner and executive chef of Water’s Edge restaurant.

The laid-back but upscale restaurant on Shrimp Boat Lane frequently sells out of nightly specials such as swordfish and rabbit and has reeled in a Wine Spectator award of excellence every year since it’s been open. But the ambiance maintains a successful blend of white tablecloth elegance and a salty open-air, right-off-the-dock feel.

Purcell got his first taste for the food and beverage business when he left college to spend his days catching waves and his nights working at a restaurant at Wrightsville Beach. He quickly developed a taste for the culinary arts and quality wine  — a passion he now shares with a steady stream of water-loving locals and tourists on Shem Creek.

What are your hobbies? Kiteboarding, surfing. We used to fish a bunch. But I have a 20-month-old son now, so that’s been cut down a little bit. Anything on the water.

Do you have your own boat? What kind? Yes. It’s a 15-foot High Tide. I also have a canoe.

Who do you fish with? My partner, Mike Pendleton, and my wife, Jena. I cannot wait to take my son out. We bought him a life jacket two weeks ago, so I’m excited about that.

Favorite type of fishing? Inshore, offshore, and for what? I love both. In the early spring and late fall, offshore is great, but you have to watch the weather a lot more. Inshore is so easy because it’s right here. Inshore, I fish for trout, flounder, sheepshead, spot-tail bass. Offshore it’s mahi, grouper and wahoo.

Everybody’s got a crazy boating story. What’s yours? Growing up we had Pearson 26 sailboat. We used to go to Capers Island and camp out with the whole family  — five people in a 26-foot sailboat. We were coming back one Sunday afternoon and the Ben Sawyer Bridge would not open because the power was out. We ran aground and had to spend the night in a huge electrical storm, right there on the Intracoastal (Waterway). We just sat there and made the best of it.

How are boaters as customers? Boat people have always been great. It’s a different breed. You have golfing types and tennis types and sports types and boating types — they’re their own type of people. Boaters make great customers.

As an angler and chef, are there any fish out there that you think are underrated? Sheepshead. Black seabass. Seabass has come around. Back in the day it was a trash fish; people would not keep it. But it has beautiful white meat, and I think it’s up there with grouper.

What’s your favorite seafood dish? Fresh local shrimp — doesn’t matter how we cook it. And then probably swordfish.

How are the local shrimp around here? As far as taste and flavor, you can’t beat Charleston shrimp. They’re sweet, they’re good. Even the big ones are really sweet.

What’s your favorite thing to drink with a good meal? A great, hearty California chardonnay.

What’s the easiest fish to cook? Mahi mahi.

Do you have a simple, at-home recipe for mahi mahi? At the house we’ll marinate it in a little bit of oil, fresh herbs, shallots and garlic, and a little bit of lemon juice. Marinate it an hour or two in that, and put it on the grill.

How did you get into cooking? When I decided that school was not the right thing for me, I moved to Wrightsville Beach … I got a job at night so I could surf and go to the beach during the day and cook at the Bridge Tender at night. That’s where it started.

How did you get into wine? Drinkin’ it … I worked at a restaurant downtown where I had the opportunity to manage, and I got into purchasing it. The wine rep would come by three and four times a week and we would taste it.

What is your take on restaurants purchasing local seafood? As long as there’s enough out there, then I think they should support it 100 percent.

How would you describe your restaurant? Our motto is “Downtown Dining on Shem Creek,” but we still sell a bunch of fried seafood. When we first got here seven-and-a-half years ago, we made a bunch of sushi; I think I ate most of it because sushi on Shem Creek didn’t sell. We ran it again a month ago, and we sold out by 8 o’clock. So I think we’re changing the appetite on Shem Creek. Every time we run rabbit as a special we sell out of it. We have over 500 bottles of wine, and that’s something that Shem Creek didn’t have before. I think we’ve turned a new page for Shem Creek.

Reach Emily Lane at 843-937-5519 or

elane@postandcourier.com