A piece of Whidbey’s living history unexpectedly washed ashore Monday afternoon.

The 52-foot Cutty Sark with its classic lines and billowing sails regularly draws attention in Penn Cove, and it’s normal for people to take pictures of the sailing vessel owned by Capt. John Stone, owner of the Captain Whidbey Inn. However, the almost horizontal tilt of the boat and minimum amount of water beneath it during low tide on Monday created more concern than amazement.

Oak Harbor residents Bill and Sybil Barnes were among the passersby who stopped their cars along Madrona Way to take pictures — and tilt their heads sideways to get the full effect.

“They were just driving back to Oak Harbor when they saw, and they called us to come and bring our video camera,” said West Beach resident Wendy Patton, who was recording the event.

About 1 p.m. Monday the Cutty Sark broke loose from its mooring buoy after an outgoing tide and opposing wind put up a fight that the mooring line lost.

It was about this time that Louise Mueller saw the boat drift by, and it was the first time the 50 year Whidbey resident, who lives across Madrona Way, has seen the boat run ashore.

Back at Captain Whidbey Inn, a steady line of phone calls came in from concerned passersby, Penn Cove residents who looked out their back doors to see the Cutty Sark aground, and Coupeville residents who received word of the boat’s precarious situation.

Assistant manager for the Captain Whidbey Inn, Jennifer Elmer, said she was “amazed the boat had become the talk of the town.”

But the attention doesn’t surprise her.

“Everyone in the area knows John and the inn, knows the boat sails in the area, and since he charters in the area they’ve heard him talk about the sailing and history of the area,” Elmer said. The boat has hosted many local students on free excursions provided by Stone.

Elmer was in Coupeville when she overheard two women discussing the boat’s situation and “assured them that we did know about it and that everything was fine.”

Rich Cannon, a long-time friend of Stone, sat on board and phoned the boat’s minute-by-minute status back to anxious inn employees.

The gaff ketch was caught in a catch-22. It needed water desperately, but had to wait until the evening high tide to get enough water under it to right the boat. However, nerves were on edge as water lapped at the upper deck and threatened to enter the cabin. Luckily, Cannon and head chef Steve Clarke were able to prevent its entry.

“I can see it’s begun to spin a little,” Elmer observed. “Right now we’re also concerned with any damage that might occur when the water starts rocking it back and forth against the bottom.”

Around 8:30 p.m., the Cutty Sark was back upright with “no hull damage and only a few scrapes and bruises,” according to Clarke.

Though rare, this isn’t the first time staff has had to scramble to rescue the Cutty Sark. Last October, Clarke and Captain Stone had to scramble down the inn’s dock to rescue the boat after a rough storm broke a section of the dock free, with the boat still attached.

“Yeah, I was down there in my chef gear and everything frantically untying ropes with it all stormy and windy,” Clarke said.

And what did Captain Stone have to say about the Cutty Sark’s precarious situation? Stone left Sunday for a three-week long trip to Ireland with his wife.

“We didn’t get ahold of John, but we did hear from every one of his family members who called,” Clarke said.

Yesterday, all of the Cutty Sark’s mooring lines were replaced. It is something that was previously scheduled for June 18 — for the day after a weak mooring line caused the boat to break loose.

The Cutty Sark will be moved to Oak Harbor Marina until Stone returns, according to Clarke.