This weird place is called the Potato Patch — a gnarly, snarly, troubled patch of wild water at the west end of Santa Cruz Island, where Ma Nature is known to practice deviant behavior. Boaters should be very wary of the Potato Patch.

Powerful northwest-flowing currents in a rapidly expanding/contracting area just west of Fraser Point, oppose large sets of ocean swells coming from the northwest. This forces those big open-ocean waves up and up and up.

The surging currents are inconsistent, creating sudden towering surprises whenever the current velocity suddenly ratchets up and forces swells upwards. That is when things get hairy out there.

How big do they get? I recall one day on a charter, while rounding Fraser Point, a good quarter mile off the island in relatively flat seas, a monstrous swell suddenly rose up under my vessel.

I slammed the throttles of my big twin outboards forward to warp speed to overcome the raging current and the lift of the wave. I was just barely able to stay ahead of that watery mountain.

I’ll never forget the looks of awe on my passengers’ faces as they watched a 20-foot cresting wave threaten to break on us from astern. It was a defining moment for all souls on board.

Truly weird things happen at the Potato Patch. For example, roiling underwater eddies occasionally collide to produce amazing aberrations of nature.

On another charter fishing trip we were traversing the area on a calm sunny day with no apparent cause for wariness, when Ma Nature struck a surprise blow from below. Fortunately, this salty ol’ skipper never lets my guard down and I was ready to react.

Multiple swirling eddies slammed together to force a rogue 15-foot wave to rise up right in front of us. There was no time to alter course and run from it.

I bellowed (Skippers always bellow. It is our favorite thing to do.), “All hands hang on tight. Now!”

I spun the wheel just enough to keep the bow climbing up the wave and gunned the engines just enough to hold our position. The wave passed under us and conditions remained calm and comfortable the remainder of the morning.

So why on earth would anyone want to take a boat into the Potato Patch? Good question. Answers include:

1) The area is absolutely gorgeous and inviting.

2) The most natural course around the island lies right through the Potato Patch.

3) There are more fish there than you can shake a fishing rod at.

4) There is something in our human nature (applying doubly to those who take to the sea in boats) that makes us want to tempt the dickens out of Ma Nature. What’s up with that?

Capt. David Bacon is a boating safety consultant and expert witness, with a background in high-tech industries and charter boat ownership and operation. He teaches classes for Santa Barbara City College and, with a lifelong interest in wildlife, writes outdoors columns for Noozhawk and other publications. The opinions expressed are his own.