{"id":402035,"date":"2026-07-17T08:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T08:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/402035\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T08:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T08:51:15","slug":"3-remain-missing-as-search-ends-for-passengers-of-capsized-boat-in-san-francisco-bay-marin-independent-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/402035\/","title":{"rendered":"3 remain missing as search ends for passengers of capsized boat in San Francisco Bay \u2013 Marin Independent Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 A memorial service on San Francisco Bay became its own tragedy Tuesday when a three-story boat carrying 20 people capsized in rough waters near Alcatraz Island, killing one person and leaving three others unaccounted for more than a day later.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Coast Guard planned to end its search for the three missing passengers at sundown Wednesday, turning a rescue operation that spanned an area larger than Yosemite National Park into a recovery effort. There\u2019s a \u201chigh possibility\u201d they remain inside the boat at the bottom of the bay, though officials had yet to locate the vessel as of Wednesday afternoon, said Capt. Jarod Toczko, commander of the the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s local sector.<\/p>\n

State and federal officials praised the private boaters who raced to the listing vessel and helped save 16 people. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie called those good Samaritans \u201cheroic,\u201d saying he was \u201cincredibly proud of the all-hands-on-deck effort\u201d by them and emergency crews to limit the death toll.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jarod Toczko speaks to the media during a press conference at Fort Mason in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. To the left is San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. One person died and three are missing after a boat capsized near Alcatraz Island yesterday while on the water for a memorial service. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

One rescuer told television station KGO that passengers were \u201cbanging on the windows, trying to get out.\u201d Officials described the 49-foot-long Volare as having two enclosed cabin levels beneath an upper deck shaded by a canvas top.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that were bobbing in the water, we pulled them out first,\u201d rescuer Justin Marceline told KGO. \u201cThe people in the water were elderly folks, they were conscious, but people were too tired and worn out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outing \u2014 one of the bay\u2019s worst maritime disasters in recent years \u2014 had begun as a somber trip for family members and close friends gathered for a memorial service, according to San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen.<\/p>\n

\"AA Blue and Gold Fleet tour boat heads out to sea past Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. One person died and three are missing after a boat capsized near Alcatraz Island yesterday while on the water for a memorial service. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

A wave hit the Volare around 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, causing it to list to one side before rolling over, Toczko said. Around that time, the San Francisco Fire Department received a report from other boaters of a vessel in distress about 600 yards from Alcatraz, where the water is roughly 130 feet deep.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll indications are that it happened very quickly,\u201d said Toczko, adding that conditions provided a \u201cvery challenging environment\u201d to save people thrown overboard.<\/p>\n

A San Francisco police marine unit pulled a man from the water in \u201csevere distress\u201d and administered CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was identified Wednesday as Clifford Boisa, 79, of Sutter County, according to the San Francisco County Office of the Medical Examiner. His brother, John Boisa, was the boat\u2019s owner and pilot, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.<\/p>\n

Three survivors taken to nearby hospitals were later released. The other 13 people rescued from the boat were treated at the scene Tuesday and allowed to return home that night, Crispen said.<\/p>\n

Officials did not release details Wednesday about the three missing passengers. Toczko said only that everyone aboard was part of a group of close family and friends.<\/p>\n

\"AA Coast Guard rigid-hull inflatable boat, right, passes a whale-watching boat heading out to sea in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. One person died and three are missing after a boat capsized near Alcatraz Island yesterday while on the water for a memorial service. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

The Coast Guard decided to end the search after crews covered 950 square nautical miles using 11 boats and four aircraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have completely saturated the search area,\u201d Toczko said.<\/p>\n

Life jackets were aboard the boat, though only some passengers were wearing them, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The Stockton-registered boat had traveled to the bay before departing from a yacht harbor in San Francisco\u2019s Marina District on Tuesday, Toczko said. It was struck by the wave after leaving Angel Island, he said.<\/p>\n

Initial reports indicated a fire had broken out aboard the vessel, but authorities later determined witnesses had mistaken steam for smoke, fire officials said. The boat was large enough to withstand the waters near Alcatraz, said San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias, but \u201cthe question is whether the boat was designed to be in the bay at that time of day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA San Francosco Fire Department boat continues to search for three missing individuals after a pontoon boat capsized on July 14, 2026 in San Francisco, California. 16 people were rescued while three remain missing. One death has been reported. (Photo by Heather Diehl\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The area where the boat sank is often called \u201cthe slot,\u201d a band of the bay where offshore winds from the Pacific are compressed as they race east past San Francisco. Winds that may normally be 10 knots can jump to 20 knots there, said John Harrison, 77, who has been a member of the Treasure Island Yacht Club for 50 years.<\/p>\n

Although Harrison said the area is \u201cnot eminently dangerous,\u201d he added that \u201cyou gotta know what you\u2019re doing\u201d to navigate it safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on which way the tide is flowing, if you get tides going against the wind, you get real chop,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cIt\u2019s not particularly safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crispen initially said the boat set sail from the St. Francis Yacht Club, though the organization disputed that Wednesday. The boat \u201cdid not embark from, nor was it associated with\u201d the yacht club, said Susan Ruhne, who is listed as its commodore in nonprofit filings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share the same bay, and our condolences go out to the family and the friends of the victims of this unfortunate tragedy,\u201d Ruhne said.<\/p>\n

The deadly disaster cast a pall over the bay\u2019s boating community Wednesday, said Abel Arredondo, 40, who has sailed for years and now performs safety checks on boats at San Francisco harbors. He recalled working at the yacht harbor Tuesday and watching in horror as the boat appeared to slowly sink while nearby boaters raced to help save people in the water.<\/p>\n

About 24 hours later, he struggled to come to grips with what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really heartbreaking,\u201d Arredondo said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really dark day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks to the media during a press conference at Fort Mason in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. To the left is U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jarod Toczko. One person died and three are missing after a boat capsized near Alcatraz Island yesterday while on the water for a memorial service. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 A memorial service on San Francisco Bay became its own tragedy Tuesday when a three-story…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[71025,184,48285,7,160172,100,395,7648,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-402035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-alcatraz-island","tag-bay-area","tag-boating-accident","tag-california","tag-capsized-vessel","tag-news","tag-peninsula","tag-rescue","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}