Dowry Creek Marina, longtime CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, lies off the AICW/Pungo River north of Belhaven, NC.

Our brief update on what happened, and our current status is below. The main point I wanted to express is that we have our piers open for business and started accepting boats, and our diesel pumps are operating so we are able to pump again. We will have gas by Monday. Our high speed pump is operating, so we can handle any size diesel-fueled boat, up to 120 feet with a 7 foot draft and up to 175 feet with a 6 foot draft. We are open from sunrise to sunset daily, and can fuel or dock boats in our marked and lit channel 24 hours a day if we get at least a 6 hour advance notice.
Located 4 miles north of Belhaven; Dowry Creek is Belhaven’s largest marina, and the largest on the Pungo River; with 73 boat slips and over 400 feet of deep water access face dock transient space. The decision was made three days prior to the storm hitting that the docks would be cleared of boats, to ensure both the safety of the boats as well as the integrity of the docks themselves. All boats were removed from the piers and either pullout out on trailers, pulled at the yards and put on stands, or driven up into Dowry Creek and further up into Hyde County along the Pungo, to anchor and ride out the storm.
During the storm, the marina piers were under 3 feet of water, along with most of the marina property to include the swimming pool, which for about 24 hours was turned into a wave pool with 1 ½ -2 foot waves crashing over the pool and on under the Clubhouse building. About 10-12 trees and large pier pilings plowed into the docks during the night, and 8 of them were still lodged in or on the piers when the sun came up in the morning as the hurricane was coming onto shore far to the south. When the water subsided, the staff was left with a huge cleanup across our 18 acres of marina. But the piers came out in very good shape, beaten but still mainly intact. All of the buildings and structures suffered little damage, and within 48 hours were cleaned and ready to open as the power was restored to the facility.
The convenience store, clubhouse and main pier opened for limited business on Wednesday, and to full operation on Thursday as power was restored to the pedestals on the piers. On Friday the marina diesel pumps were brought back on line, and Dowry Creek is now pumping diesel, which is hard to come by at this time anywhere else on the Pungo or Pamlico Rivers.
The Marina is fully open and receiving boats, although in a limited capacity over the next several weeks as the repairs are made to damaged sections of the pier. The high speed internet is 100% functional across the entire facility, laundry and clubhouse fully functional, diesel pumps in operation (and marine gas expected to be up and running by Sunday or Monday at the latest), and boat septic pump-outs back in operation.
In addition, Dowry Creek Marina also offers day passes, for boats that want to either anchor in Dowry Creek and come in by dinghy, or just pull in to the pier during the day for up to 5 or 6 hours between 9 am and 4 pm. For a small fee, boats not spending the night at the pier can use the internet, clubhouse, free laundry and showers, barbeque grills, and shuttle service to the Belhaven stores and restaurants for re-supply.
Dowry Creek Marina
110 Spinnaker Run Rd
Belhaven NC 27810
(252) 943-2728
dowrycreek@gmail.com
www.dowrycreekmarina.com

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