The famous Potato(e) Patch, (Six Fathom Bank) is located just east of the “Gate”, not out to the Faralones.
The Bank is formed from sediments dropping out of suspension after being flushed from the bay by the tide. It mainly formed during the California Gold Rush when hydraulic mining was clogging streams, rivers and San Francisco Bay with tons of sediments.
>>The famous Potato(e) Patch, (Six Fathom Bank) is located just east of the “Gate”, not out to the Faralones.
Read the descriptions below. Under certain conditions the Potato Patch can extend to the Faralones, slightly North and East of the Golden Gate. There’s a smaller version just South of the GG as well. Northward coastal currents carry most of the Bay silt to the North.
“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...”
“On official nautical charts, Potato Patch Shoal is part of the larger Four Fathom Bank outside of the San Francisco Bay. This is an expanse of relatively shallow reef covering several square miles, with water depths ranging from 23 to 36 feet. Considering how far those depths extend from shore and how big the waves get during winter swells, that’s almost the equivalent of dry, sucking reef more than a mile out to sea.
In winter, the Potato Patch catches hell from all of the energy pouring into the Bay Area from the North Pacific. On a big day, the Patch is creepy — a minefield of shifting, throwing peaks, extending from a couple of hundred yards offshore all the way to the horizon.”
The water bounces around from there to about a mile outside of the GG bridge. Wonderful way to destroy a beautiful day on a small fishing boat by barfing your brains out. By the time the swells smooth out you'd rather just go aground off the Marin coast than back the way you came. At least that's how I felt on my 13th birthday.