The Legendary Owl of Bolinas
by Jocelyn Moss
The entire town of Bolinas turned out to greet the arrival of the schooner, Owl, on June 28th, 1911. The new boat was built in Coos bay, Oregon for Dr. Gibson who was on board for the maiden trip. The Owl was a combination passenger and freight boat that was built to provide transportation from Bolinas to San Francisco and return. The boat was soon sold to Louis B. Petar who captained it for twenty years.
The worst part of the trip occurred after going out the Golden Gate when the boat hit the “Potato Patch” along the Marin coast. This area of turbulence caused universal sea-sickness among the passengers. But even worse was the trip from Bolinas when the boat carried pigs for market. The pigs were just as susceptible to sea-sickness as the humans. That made the voyage quite unpleasant.
Arrival at Bolinas had to be timed to high tide as there was a sandbar. The Owl would occasionally get stuck on the sandbar and have to wait for a swell to come along and carry her over.
The passengers were San Francisco families and tourists who would come to summer in cottages they owned or rented. They would often stay the whole summer enjoying the beach and surrounding countryside. It was a grand time with children running wild and the Bolinas residents providing local color. It was sad to leave the leisure life and return to school and city life.
The Owl was sold in 1933. It is a mystery what happened to her and her whereabouts are unknown.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
