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We were getting back from fishing Sunday and saw 3 members of Fish and Game, as well as, Doran Beach Park Service people waiting at the launching dock. We then expected a search of the boat. As we pulled closer I thought I saw the largest kayak ever but it was an overturned hull. On a pleasant day for fishing when the fleet was mooching for salmon, A rogue wave overturned a boat at Bodega Rock (Seal Rock to locals). Three fishermen into the water, no deaths (broken nose worst of it), and the bottom of a 20 foot hull staring at us as we docked. Must have been a visitor because those with knowledge of the waters stay clear while underway, let alone drifting. No details only rumors of rock fishers. That area has claimed lives in the past and will in the future. Just a contemplative moment. I bring my own life vest (self inflating) and wear it whenever I go fishing on anyone's boat and I have never been teased.

Garris

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I fish Bodega often. There are a couple of reefs that come to the surface on low tide outside and plenty inside of Bird rock. Did the captain hit one of these? Not sure how he capsized. I find it hard to believe a wave alone cause this. The Coast Guard stays busy around Bodega Bay but relies on the fellow boaters often when a call goes out. The ocean is a cruel mistress.

Be safe

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Supposedly 100 yards off Bodega (Seal) Rock just outside of the jetty. Might have been where the party boat capsized several years ago with loss of life. I just chatted with the rangers and minimal coverage of details by the news. Facts hearsay. No rocks hit, just a rogue wave hitting the starboard or port side of the boat when stopped and she flipped over. The very reason for the humbling and contemplative mood. The news said "Good Samaritans" saved the boaters and turned them over to the Coast Guard. I thought more along the lines of doing one's duty for a fellow sailor. Being a "Good Samaritan" is voluntary. This was an accident where lives could have been lost. The head injury in the news was a busted nose, could have easily been knocked out. I do not know if they were wearing life vests.

Garris

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nice post, ive disciplined myself, and my wife also to get our inflatable vests on prior to launch..its amazing what a small percentage of boaters wear them..

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Very saddened for a continuation of this thread. Opening of sport crabbing yesterday with a small craft advisory. A thirty two foot fiberglass boat broadsided by a sleeper wave in the same area as the boat that started this thread. The result far more disturbing. Four drownings, one survivor. The survivor is a friend and two of the deceased acquaintances. Locals as well as commercial fishermen on board. None wearing life preservers.

Garris

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Garris, very sorry to hear about your friends and I applaud your decision to wear an inflatable PFD especially in those waters. You can't be too careful out there and I don't care if its slack water or waters like yours. You never know what might throw you overboard.

Are these rogue waves associated with offshore tremors or just the way the tide/winds occasionally team up?

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There is a shelf of rocks underneath in the area. I am not a geologist but a unique area for this phenomena. A couple buoys marks the area that you are supposed use to bypass the area. Everyone, myself included, takes liberties depending upon the conditions. I have rock fished on the perimeter of the area but I will probably quit that location. Bodega Head is a popular hike for my wife and I. A stunning vista of headland which looks down at Bodega (Seal) Rock. Surfers which follow the tide and currents catch great waves during proper conditions (I have only seen them a couple times in 20 years but awesome to watch).

Just down the way is Tomales Bay. Another area where you need to watch what you are doing.

Coming in from Salmon fishing a month or so ago we saw a 2 1/2 foot solo wave in front of us that came out of nowhere and keep its shape just south of Seal Rock. Calm conditions and it traveled two/three hundred yards till we lost it.

Garris

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The same sort of mishap occurred when I was at Bodega Bay on Feb.8, 1986 when a rogue wave capsized a party fishing boat leading to the drowning of 8 people -

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg545/docs/boards/merryjane.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/10/us/around-the-nation-search-for-4-halted-after-17-spill-from-boat.html