A local marina is currently expanding its facilities to enable a waiting list of patrons to have access to store their boats, and the owners have plans to offer other arrangements and accommodations for outdoorsmen.

Cotton Patch Landing on Blounts Creek, owned by Jimmy and Pam Daniels, has the ball rolling on its new 25 bay dry dock boat storage building, which is projected to be completed by the end of October, said owner Pam Daniels. Plans are also in place to install a nature walk pier to walk to the water and reach 27 new boat slips. All of this will be convenient and close to camping, dry dock boat storage and bathhouse facility.

The Daniels bought Cotton Patch back in 2006 to retire in Blounts Creek, Pam Daniels said.

“All of this has culminated over the years we’ve been open and people wanting to come and stay overnight,” Pam Daniels said. “There’s a need out there, and we’re just trying to fill it.”

The marina already provides dry dock boat storage services, but the new project is an expansion of that. Those who use the service call the marina and set up a time to use their boats and the marina has the boat ready to go when the patrons arrive, Daniels said. The Daniels’ also provide ice for coolers and have the capability to offer ethynol-free gas for boaters to fill up.

The expansions are due to having more clientele than the facility can accommodate, as well as there being few places for boaters to store their boats, Daniels said.

“For one, we’ve had to turn people away that have called looking for a facility to keep their boats, and with us being right here on the water, they can just call us, and we’ll put their boat in,” Pam Daniels said. “We have ethynol-free gas to fill their boat up and we can put ice in their cooler, and everything will be ready when they come. The facility now holds only five boats, and we have a waiting list. There’s a need in this area with people wanting to have a place to keep their boats out of the elements.”

According to family friend and Blounts Creek resident Bob Daw, Cotton Patch will soon have primitive camping sites available with each campsite having a picnic table, safe fire pit and a pole for a lantern. In addition, there will be accommodations for permanent and overnight campsites available for all RVs and motor coaches with a cement slab and all amenities for campers. Campers will also have access to a bathhouse with showers and all bathroom facilities plus a washer and dryer available near the campsites.

“Our Cotton Patch Marina owners Jimmy and Pam Daniels have a vision and expansion plans to offer the full outdoor experience for all types of water sport lovers,” Daw said. “I am personally excited that my love of Blounts Creek can be shared in so many ways with others in eastern North Carolina.”

Daw said Cotton Patch will have a 15-acre fenced in storage area outside for campers, boats, motor homes or anything else in need of storage or protection. This will be installed soon as the owners have already ordered 15,000 tons of crush and run gravel and chain linked fencing. In the future, the marina will also provide five, one-room efficiency cabins with a bathroom on the waterfront with boat slips for nightly rentals, according to Daw.

“It’s just such a pretty area, and Jimmy always has his brain turning, trying to make things bigger and better,” Pam Daniels said. “There’s a lot of people who want to come down here and fish, and they need a place to stay. In the future, we’re hoping to build some little cabins out here and have a place for people to stay. We’ve got some people that are fishing right now. It’s two boats and five people, and they’re going to have to stay all the way back in Chocowinity, and they’re coming back to fish tomorrow. It would be so much nicer if they had a place to stay here.”