Woodbridge, Va. — The place for some boaters to ride out Hurricane Irene was on the dock at Hampton’s Landing Marina.
It was here at 7 p.m. at least two boaters decided to batten down the hatches, tie up their boats to the dock, and wait out the storm – while having a few drinks.
“This is all we have, it’s everything to us,” said John who lives in Woodbridge and docks his large pleasure boat here.
It took John and another boater, D.J. Bryce of Springfield, about 20 minutes to secure their boat for the storm. Afterward, it’s time to wait it out.
“If you’ve been around long enough it’s not that bad. This is not my first hurricane, but it is my first one on the Potomac. It’s already high tide here, so I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” said Bryce.
The marina had staff on hand to watch over the marina during the storm and to make sure none of the boats broke loose from the dock, or ended up on the dock following a large storm surge.
It already high tide so it’s the worst it’s going to get
“I’ve got to watch everything. Got to make sure all of the lines are in place. Got to make sure none of the boats ride up on the dock,” said Garret Dewhurst of Woodbridge.
Stafford and eastern Prince William counties sat under a flood warning from the National Weather Service at 7 p.m. Saturday, as major flooding was expected from Irene.
Since Saturday morning, Quantico had picked up 1.38 inches of rain. By 7:50 p.m., Quantico was reporting sustained winds of 30 mph and gusts up to 51 mph.
