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hittaker Creek. Home to private residences, two boatyards, and multiple marinas.

To get to the creek, you have to head down Whittaker Creek channel. If you go aground in the channel, you may hear Dan Allen hailing you on the radio. He’s got a good view of the boat traffic from his home, and reaches out to help boaters in need.

Why?

Because Whittaker Creek Channel needs dredging.

The Coast Guard installed a Danger Shoal sign in May 2024.

In 2020, money was raised for the task. The channel was dredged, but the project got a late start and had to stop when the seasonal moratorium went into effect. On top of that, dredgers hit also hit an unexpected bit of dense rock – which was difficult to drill.

Since then, a marker has been placed to direct boaters around the shoal, and a new plan was enacted: move the channel away from the shoal and into deeper waters. The new channel route will be better for boaters and should need less dredging.

This is a survey of Whittaker Creek channel. The red lines are where the channel is now. The yellow lines show where the channel will be moved into more reliably deeper water. Part of the move will include dredging…

It’s taken a marine survey, the cooperation and buy in from State permitting offices, obtaining a matching grant to help fund it – and support from the community.

TownDock.net spoke with Dan Allen in February. Not only is Allen the unofficial channel navigator, he’s also a key member of the non-profit Friends of Whittaker Creek. Back in February, the non-profit needed to raise around $29,000 to complete the matching grant requirements.

Money has been coming in. Today, they need less than $8,000.

Friends of Whittaker Creek successfully petitioned the State for a grant of $258,600. It required a portion of those funds be raised locally; $86,200.

Dan Allen broke down the remaining costs in an email to TownDock:

It’s the last piece of the puzzle. The permits are in place, a spoil site has been acquired, and State agencies have approved moving the channel a few degrees into deeper waters. There’s a State moratorium on dredging between April and September, so work will begin fall of 2025.

What that remaining $8,000 gets the community is a wider channel where boaters don’t get hung up on the shoals as often, a longer period between dredges (about twice as long according to estimates), and easier access to the homes, marinas, and businesses on Whittaker Creek.

Allen says the average donation is roughly $160, with marinas on the Creek donating $3,000. Some residents have donated more than once.

A dredge at work in Whittaker Creek, 2020.

The Friends of Whittaker Creek could use your help to get this funded.

You can donate at their GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/complete-dredging-of-the-main-channel

Or send a check directly to:
Friends Of Whittaker Creek
1108 Neuse Drive
Oriental, NC, 28571

It’s move that helps the whole community. And as Dan Allen says, “it’s hard to get to the Wednesday night race when you can’t get out of the channel.”

List of Donors, updated April 9.

Those with an * have donated more than once:

Douglas Dollberg
Stanley & Mila Feigenbaum
Scot Finch
Thomas Parsons
Brett Lushina
Ann Marie Wolf
David & Wilda Young
Joshua Baker
Ken Belangia
Adriane Bell
Jack Bond
Ton Bowers
Christopher Cornwell
Todd Cox & Lynn Murray
Susan Fears
Terry & Arthur Halpern*
Paul Jodoin
Gene & Mary Klark
Chris and Kimberly Mullins
Sophie Riggs
Andrew Schneider
Ken & Carol Small*
Keith Smith, TownDock.Net
John Standley
Whittaker Creek Yacht Owners Association
Joan & Patrick Allen
Lesley & Daniel Allen*
Deb Aronson
Alan Backus
Earle Barnard**
Sally Belangia
James Bigbie
Sharon Biles
Cheryl & James Blackerby*
Kelley & Thomas Brna*
Diane Carbone
John and Ellen Chappell*
Bentley Cheatham
Howard Cheetham*
Mark Clardy
Nelda Coats*
Iris B. Cooper
Todd Cox
Carl Crothers*
Gerald Crowley
Margaret Dales
Alden & Annette Davis
H. Sykes DeHart*
Marjorie Dufek
Bogdan & Jacqueline Ewendt*
Kent Fann
Steven Ferlauto
Emmitt Gibson*
Chuck Gordon*
David Greenlee D.D.S.
Daniel Grotjan
JoJo Grundstrom
Catherine Hackett
Neill Haggard
Terry Halpren
Erik Hardtle*
Leslie “Bill” Hewett Jr.
Natalie Holm
Kim Howell
Elizabeth & John Hughes
Joanne Hurley
Breena & Spencer Litzenberger, Inner Banks Canvas
Paul Jordan
Maureen K. Anderson
Drew & Margaret Keasler*
Ken King
Matthew Kuhn
Ken Laser*
Charles Lee
Jennifer Pawlikowski M&J Marine DBA Sailcraft Service*
Lisa Mannion*
Lisa & Dennis Marlin
Don and Katherine Mau*
G John Messer
Peter Messikomer
Mathew Meyer
Dennis Miller
Don Munn*
Joel Nelson*
Stephen Noe
John & Amy Nuttall
Beth Obenshain
Vincent Oliver
John Owens*
Bob Parry
Jennifer Pawlikowski
Bruce Phillips
Captain John Rahm
Ken Reed
Sophia Riggs
Peter & Barbara Ritchie
Elsie Roane
Lynn Robinson
Stuart Robinson
Vincent Rogers
Ann Rost
Paul – Neuse River Sailor
Jack Schewel
Lynn Scott
John Shearer
Kim DeCoste & Frank Sheets
Richard Simpson
David Slater
Mary Ann Parham Douglas Sligh
Bob & Debbie Slook
Carol & Ken Small
David Smith
Judith & George Smith
Lew Smith
Jake Sorofman
Elizabeth Sowers
Cecile Stanley*
Sharon Stephenson
Tom & Mary Stone
Carolyn Stutts
JoAnn Taylor
Teresa Teeman
Mark & Cassie Tesh
Steve and Lisa Thorburn
Arthur Tierney
Pape Truitt
Joe Valinoti
Bruce VanMeter*
Andrew Wallace
Robert & Gay Webster
Jean & David White*
Whittaker Creek Yacht Owners Assoc
Henry Frazer Whittaker Pointe Marina*
Brenda Williamson
Henry Frazer Windward Ventures, Inc.*
Steven Yochum
Matthew Young
Eric Pittman, Zimmerman Marine Inc*

Posted Sunday April 6, 2025 by Keith N. Smith