CAMDEN — Anyone who has ventured out to Curtis Island in Camden Harbor, or has even inquired about it, knows there is just one spot to land a shallow skiff or kayak — a spit of rocky beach on the northwest side that's only really apparent at low tide.

And that's exactly where a Camden family's 30-foot sailboat, Providence, beached itself after a mooring line came untied and the vessel drifted out toward Penobscot Bay overnight Wednesday.

Camden Harbormaster Steve Pixley said the owner, having just acquired a Camden mooring last year, sailed the boat up from Rockland last night.

"When they got to the mooring, they took the pennant off because it was pretty slimy and they wanted to take it home and clean it," said Pixley. "So they took the shackel and tied the line to it, but they didn't tie it correctly, or securely, and it came off overnight."

Pixley said since they planned to bring the pennant back the following day, it was likely the line was only tied lightly.

"They thought it would hold, but obviously it came undone," said Pixley.

Boats that have broken free of their moorings in Camden have done so in all kinds of weather, and they are most often found along the shore, sometimes being beaten by the waves. Other times, just the rising tide and the tension on the line can cause a mishap. A lobster boat broke free in a storm a few years ago and was discovered being battered by the waves between Eaton Avenue and Harbor Road in Sherman Cove, while a sailboat was washed ashore once at East End, also in Sherman Cove. At least two sailboats have grounded on the western side of the harbor, just south of Bay Road and below the Symington property.

Rarely has a drifting vessel made it to Curtis Island, which is surrounded by jagged rocks and a narrow thoroughfare between the island and Dillingham Point.

"That's one lucky boat," said Pixley. "I thought for sure it was an intentional grounding and I was going to praise the captain for getting it there, but to know that it made it there on its own, and with little damage, it was pure luck. There was one chance in a ion that a wandering vessel could find that one piece of sandy beach instead of the sharp rocks that are all around."

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Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached by email at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or by calling 207-706-6655.