Sailor rides out Irene at Washington marina

"I've spent my life on the water," Rogers said with matter-of-fact tone on Tuesday.

The decision could have been a fatal one, however, as storm surge from Irene plowed through the marina. When he poked his head out of the boat Saturday, he said, things looked a bit different.

"Boats (were) catawampus and up on the dock," he said. "(Water) was over the top of my pilings. We were stranded."

Some other boaters had to rescue Rogers from the trawler during the storm.

"My boat's fine," he said.

The same can't be said for a number of boats at the marina and a nearby boat yard. Some sank, while others were up on docks or a nearby road.

Many boaters sought refuge down river in Goose Creek State Park, but even that wasn't safe haven from Irene's surge.

The Margaret, a vintage wooden sloop that was part of WRAL News' Parade of Sail five years ago, is now the newest landmark at the entrance to the harbor of Bath, where it washed ashore.

Irene bashed Bath, tossing boats, smashing docks and littering the harbor with debris.

The storm surge crashed into Bath resident Paul Kamarow's basement workshop.

"It blew the doors out and me along with it," Kamarow said Tuesday.

He had 5 feet of water inside his house and a mound of debris outside.

Kamarow has lived in Bath for 30 years, but he said Irene was a first for the state's first town. Still, he said, it wasn't bad enough for him to move.

"I'm going to clean it up and start all over again," he said.