Penobscot Bay is high on my list of favorite cruising destinations. The jewel of Maine’s coastline is studded with beautiful islands to explore and blessed with summer seabreezes that make every afternoon outing a pleasant one. Add in the fact that every few miles reveals another cute port or fishing village, and you’ve got a spot every sailor should experience once.
The perennial favorite spot for visiting sailors in these parts is the picture-perfect town of Camden. Its harbor is marked by the iconic Curtis Island Light, backed by the towering Camden Hills. Schooners come and go all day long, along with beautiful yachts of every description. There’s basically boat porn everywhere you look in this town!
Camden is situated on the western shoreline of Penobscot, just a few miles north of the larger city of Rockland. Where Rockland is home to a working port with a waterfront to match, Camden is all about yachts and windjammer tours. It’s a small village built around its harbor, featuring numerous shops, restaurants, and entertainment options.
Exploring Camden, from water-front to mountain-top
It’s hard not to like Camden the moment you pull in. It’s a town still centered around its harbor. At the head of that harbor, you’ll find a charming city park overlooking the boats and a waterfall. If you feel like stretching your legs, a 1.1-mile-long hiking trail takes you up to the top of Mount Battie for even more impressive views. Within a five-minute walk, you can find over a dozen restaurants, a brewery, bakeries, some provisions, and all the shopping you might like. It can feel a bit busy and touristy, but it’s all in a good way. There’s a Hannaford supermarket located a 20-minute walk from the harbor, but Instacart and Walmart delivery services are available for larger provisioning runs.
Lyman-Morse deserves a shout-out as one of the friendliest marinas with the nicest facilities on the East Coast. The entire marina complex has recently been rebuilt and features several excellent restaurants along The Wharf. We’re big fans of the gins and cocktails from Barrens Distillery and Restaurant, and they make some outstanding food to boot. Boaters will also appreciate the marina’s immaculate showers, laundry facilities, courtesy car, and even private workspaces.
Camden is home to the Camden Classics Cup, a regatta of eye-candy yachts hosted by local yard Lyman-Morse. There are also various windjammer fests, art shows, food gatherings, and everything else imaginable going on in this tourist-centric town. Check the community calendar for all the goodies.
Sailing into Camden
Camden is right off Penobscot Bay, and there are no obvious challenges if you stick to the main buoyed channel. There are hazards — ledges and rocks and all things Maine — but they are well marked and expected. Upon approaching the channel, be ready for a bit of an overload. There are a lot of boats, moving every which way, in a small harbor.
There are two areas to stay: the Inner Harbor and the Outer Harbor. The Inner Harbor is crowded with marinas and waterfront businesses, plus dinghies, launches, and big schooners passing all day long. The Outer Harbor is more spread out, but it also lacks protection: This is one place you do not want to be in during a blow from the east. It gets rolly and rough fast in here, and you’ll find better protection from southeasters in Rockland. All moorings include launch service, but there are also plenty of dinghy docks available. The harbormaster runs a free pumpout boat. If it weren’t for the boat wakes and rolliness, it would be easy to spend all summer hanging on a ball in Camden.
The Inner Harbor has mooring floats (floating docks with a boat on each side for boats up to 42′ LOA) available from the Camden Yacht Club and Lyman-Morse, and slips from the harbormaster and Lyman-Morse. The Inner Harbor is tight; be careful in here, and only enter and dock after you’ve got permission to tie up. It’s no place for idle sightseeing.
The Outer Harbor has standard moorings available from CYC or LM. You can reserve moorings and floats from CYC and LM in advance on Dockwa. Some of the apps have an anchorage area marked just inside the Inner Ledges. It seems to me that there are too many moorings for this to be feasible, but if you persevere, you may find a spot. Remember, those outer moorings are designed for larger yachts (100 feet or more), so give them lots of space.
Camden, ME Boating Links and Resources
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