One dead, three missing after memorial boat capsizes near Alcatraz in rough bay waters

What happened on the bay

A recreational boat carrying 20 people for a memorial service capsized in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least one person and leaving three others missing. The vessel, a 49-foot three-deck cabin cruiser named Volare, was about 600 yards from Alcatraz Island when it was hit by a wave, rolled onto its right side, and began taking on water, according to U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jarod Toczko. The emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m. local time. By the time rescue crews arrived, the two lower levels of the boat were already submerged.

All indications are that things happened very quickly when the vessel took on a wave over the side.

San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said the boat's motor was still running and leaking fuel when first responders reached the scene. Initial reports of a fire aboard were later determined to be steam, and Crispen said authorities now have no evidence of a fire. The boat had departed from or near the St. Francis Yacht Club, passed under the Golden Gate Bridge twice, and visited Angel Island before the apparent return trip, according to ship-tracking data from VesselFinder.

The victims and survivors

Of the 20 people aboard, 16 were rescued on Tuesday. Three were hospitalized with injuries and have since been released, while the other 13 rescued passengers returned home. One person, identified by the San Francisco medical examiner as Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, of Sutter County, California, was brought to shore in distress and died of his injuries. Boisa was the older brother of the boat's owner and captain, John Boisa, 62, who survived. A dog on board also died.

Our understanding was there was some kind of memorial service that they were engaging in.

The passengers, who were not from the Bay Area, had been spreading the ashes of a loved one in the bay's waters, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. Captain Toczko described the group as "all close friends and family."

Search and rescue effort

Coast Guard crews searched for roughly 23 consecutive hours, covering approximately 950 square nautical miles and more than 1,700 nautical miles of track line using 11 vessels and four aircraft. The search also involved divers, helicopters, and thermal imaging, with authorities using tide prediction and modeling to guide their efforts. By Tuesday evening, search teams had expanded to the open ocean west of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Suspending an active search is one of the most difficult things we do as Coast Guard commanders. Our goal is always to bring home families' loved ones, and we understand that families want answers.

Captain Toczko announced Wednesday that the active search would be suspended that evening, shifting to recovery efforts. The sunken vessel has not yet been located. It came to rest in a part of the bay that is about 120 to 130 feet deep with strong currents, in a commercial shipping channel too deep for local divers to safely reach.

Conditions and investigation

Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said winds were light across San Francisco and the bay Tuesday morning but picked up in the afternoon, causing choppy waters. At the time the boat capsized, conditions were "a little breezier than what it normally would be, but not by a ton," Garcia said. While no instrumentation on the bay measures wave height directly, Garcia estimated waves may have reached about four feet. The average bay temperature in July around 7 a.m. is roughly 59°F (15°C), according to the Pacific Open Water Swim Company.

Aaron Anfinson, captain of another vessel called the Bass-Tub, told the San Francisco Chronicle that his boat was carrying passengers toward the Golden Gate Bridge in waters that were "fairly windy, a little choppy" when the incident occurred. Investigators have not yet determined exactly why the Volare sank. Captain Toczko said the missing passengers could have been trapped inside the boat's two lower, enclosed compartments when it rolled.

There is a high possibility that individuals could have been trapped inside the vessel.

The Alcatraz waters

Alcatraz Island sits about one mile (1.6 kilometers) off San Francisco's shoreline. The area is known for powerful tidal currents and steep wind-driven waves that make it challenging even for experienced boaters. The island housed a federal prison from 1934 to 1963, notorious for being inescapable due to the cold Pacific waters and strong currents surrounding it. It is now a national park and one of the city's most popular tourist destinations. Fatal recreational boating accidents are relatively uncommon in the bay, but Tuesday's sinking marks a rare tragedy in waters that attract sailboats and other recreational vessels year-round.