The Gangplank Marina in SW is home to 120 residents. Taken from GPSA.

Most D.C. homeowners have a lot to worry about when it comes to severe weather, but their homes floating away certainly isn’t one of them. But for the 120 residents that live aboard houseboats at the Gangplank Marina in Southwest D.C., it’s one of the things on their minds as they settle in for some rough waters during Hurricane Sandy.

During last year’s Hurricane Irene, we spoke to Jason Kopp, president of the Gangplank Slipholders Association, about what it takes to prepare for a hurricane when you live on a boat. Beyond tying down anything that could fly away, he told us, houseboaters have to double the lines that they use to tie to the dock—you know, to prevent floating down river mid-storm.

Reached this morning, Kopp said that he and his neighbors were as prepared as they could be, but they would leave their boats for dry land if conditions got dicey enough. “The marina is still owned by the District, so marina management is definitely in touch with D.C. officials on a regular basis at this point. If we are asked to evacuate, I believe most slip holders plan to leave the marina immediately,” he said.

“We spent most of the weekend preparing our boats for the storm. Many slipholders returned from travel (one slip-holder flew back from San Francisco on Saturday) to ensure our boats were properly prepared. Marina staff are on regular patrols and slipholders are keeping in touch to identify any dangerous situations that may arise,” he said.

“Some live-aboard boaters have decided to spend the night on land today, and either headed to a friend’s house or rented a room at a nearby hotel. I anticipate lots of rocking! It may indeed be hard to sleep,” said Kopp, who recently tweeted that 35 mph wind gusts are “rocking the boats quite a bit” and that he might head for land if they get much stronger.

Kopp sounded optimistic about one thing, though: “On a positive note, weather forecasts do not predict a storm surge traveling up the Potomac like during Isabel. That is good, because one of the most dangerous situations for the marina would be to have the water levels rise above the seawall. Our docks float, but the pilings only go so high,” he said.