Sailing Education Adventures

Beware of the potato patch when there is a winter swell!

Potato Patch Shoal
Northernmost area of San Francisco Bar alluvial silt deposits, which bar entry to the Golden Gate and require dredging. Waves breaking over the shoal are visible at low tides from the coastal hills between Fort Cronkhite and Tennessee Valley. Named for the 1800s potato farms near Bolinas Lagoon which shipped to markets in San Francisco: "Occasionally a potato boat would capsize on the sand bar, spilling its load..." (Doris Sloan, Geology of the SF Bay Region, UCPress 2006, p.121.) Marked by buoys also visible from shore. Prime "deepsea" fishing ground for SF sport boats.