Tragedy in San Francisco

[gamayun]

A friend says the spot where that wave is breaking is actually about 35-40' of water along the Bonita Channel, which loses its "channel" in these conditions. The Potato Patch is a shallower area west of there and should be avoided pretty much always.

Here's good info on the bar right outside the Golden Gate, and specifically, the Bonita Channel, where that trawler was: The San Francisco Bar | CoastsideFishingClub.com

Thanks for reminding me about this stuff. It's good to have the refresher whenever sailing in that area.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by r_p_ryan

I realize this is a retired thread, but I shot some video from the lighthouse on the point right near the entrance to SF Bay. It shows a 15 - 20' sneaker wave form and break several hundred yards offshore. It also shows a cabin cruiser that had just traversed that area a couple minutes before.

It was a calm day, with light winds and a gentle swell. This wave came out of nowhere and would have capsized yachts of large proportion.

https://youtu.be/AZ9kru3KLDE

That video is a great heads-up to folks sailing in/out of the bay. Imagine a swell running, 25-30 knots and a strong ebb tide opposing it... not hard to see how a large set or single wave can develop. Thanks for that video.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by gamayun

A friend says the spot where that wave is breaking is actually about 35-40' of water along the Bonita Channel, which loses its "channel" in these conditions. The Potato Patch is a shallower area west of there and should be avoided pretty much always.

Here's good info on the bar right outside the Golden Gate, and specifically, the Bonita Channel, where that trawler was: The San Francisco Bar | CoastsideFishingClub.com

Thanks for reminding me about this stuff. It's good to have the refresher whenever sailing in that area.

I believe that we are indeed seeing the Potato Patch, or at least Four Fathom Bank. Notice the buoy in the video -- that looks like buoy"RG" WSW from the Pt Bonita light. See the chart in your linked article:


The Bonita channel hugs the shore north of the point.

For what it's worth, I think more boats have been lost in the "south channel", which is a channel in name only.

[Kaimana]

I was sailing on the Bay one day in 1975 or so in my SeaRunner 37 when I sailed near the downwind mark of a fleet of class sailboats racing. They might have been San Juan 24's, I'm not a boat expert. Bigger than a Cal 20, smaller than an Ericson 27. It was a nice day; everyone had their companion-way hatch boards out and the hatches pushed all the way open.

The boats were gybing to go round the mark and head upwind for the final leg of the race, and it was apparent that one crew was having trouble setting up for the gybe; the vang had gotten stuck or something.

They let the jib go, and started sheeting it around to the other tack, but the mainsail did not go around because the vang was stuck or some line was fouled. They gybed, the mainsail filled and knocked them down on the other tack, and just then one of SF Bay's cute little 5-foot wind chop waves jumped into their cockpit, rushed down the companionway and filled the boat.

It sank by the count of three and was gone.

The three sailors had lifejackets on, luckily didn’t get tangled in any lines, and so they were floating where the boat had been. The next boat to the mark quickly doused sail and picked them up. Didn't even need the Coast Guard.

My point? It's ALWAYS dangerous out there, and you should treat the ocean (or SF Bay) as if it's trying to kill you.

I nearly died once when I was sailing a 12-foot centerboard dinghy on the Bay. I'd gone out alone late on a dark winter day, capsized, didn't have a wetsuit yet, got real cold, and fortunately got the boat back upright and everything working again before my body froze up and quit.

Yes, you need a liferaft. An EPIRB. A working VHF. Flares, strobe lights, whatever you can afford. Wetsuits, lifejackets, swim fins, because you need to be able to spend a couple hours swimming to shore or in a liferaft without dying of exposure. How much is your life worth?

But don't stop sailing. Just go prepared. A year after this incident, I single-handed that 37-footer from the Marquesas Islands to Hawaii, then spent a year sailing her around Hawaii. It was a gas!

Fair Winds......