SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday evening for three people still missing after a boat capsized near Alcatraz Island during a family memorial service, an outing that left one man and a dog dead and 16 others rescued from the bay’s cold, choppy water.
The 50-foot, three-deck cabin cruiser, named Volare and registered out of Stockton, was carrying 20 people, most of them extended family and close friends, when it capsized around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday roughly 600 yards from the island. The group had gathered to scatter the ashes of a relative who died more than a decade ago, according to family members and fire officials.
Witnesses described rough seas with swells reaching up to five feet, though marine forecasters had not issued a small craft advisory. San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said the vessel was found almost fully submerged when crews arrived, its motor still running and fuel leaking into the bay. Investigators later found no evidence of an earlier fire reported by some witnesses.
Nearby recreational boaters reached the scene before official rescuers. Aaron Anfinson, captain of a tour boat called the Bass-Tub, told the San Francisco Chronicle that a smaller vessel flagged him down and pointed toward the sinking cruiser, and his crew began handing out life jackets and pulling people from the water as fast as they could.
One man pulled from the bay, later identified as 79-year-old Clifford Joseph Boisa of Sutter County, received CPR at the scene but was pronounced dead. His brother, Ralph Boisa, said the group had gathered aboard his younger brother’s boat to celebrate the life of his daughter, who died in her 30s more than ten years ago, and described the loss of Clifford as a crushing blow to the family.
A search that stretched through the night
San Francisco Fire Department and Coast Guard crews used divers, helicopters and boats to search both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge through the night and into Wednesday. Officials said some passengers had been on the vessel’s lower and main decks when it capsized, raising early concern that some of the missing may have become trapped as the boat went down, though investigators said no conclusions had been reached.
Thirteen uninjured survivors were taken to a family reunification center, while three others were hospitalized with injuries from the capsize and later released. By Wednesday evening, after more than a day of searching open water using divers, aircraft and vessels, Coast Guard Capt. Jared Toczko announced the search would be suspended. Toczko called it one of the hardest parts of the job and extended condolences to the families of everyone involved.
Families of the three still missing have been kept updated throughout the search, fire officials said, and the decision to end active search operations does not close the case. A Northern California family that came together to honor one loss now finds itself mourning several more, with investigators still working to determine exactly what caused the boat to roll over so quickly in the bay’s rough water.
The vessel had departed a marina near the St. Francis Yacht Club earlier Tuesday and passed twice under the Golden Gate Bridge before visiting Angel Island State Park, according to ship-tracking data reviewed by local outlets. Fire officials said the boat’s owner, identified as Clifford Boisa’s younger brother, was among those rescued, and that the vessel appeared to have been struck by a wave that overwhelmed it before the crew could react.
Marine safety experts told local reporters that boats with enclosed lower decks can be especially dangerous in a capsize, since passengers below deck have far less time to escape than those on open upper levels. That detail remains part of what investigators are examining as they work to reconstruct the vessel’s final minutes on the water.
