Friday, 17 July 2026, 7:02
A memorial service outing turned tragic on Tuesday when a cabin cruiser capsized in rough seas near Alcatraz Island, leaving one man dead and three people missing. The 50-foot vessel, identified as the Volare, was carrying 20 adults when it took on water and overturned about 600 yards from Alcatraz just after 3:30 p.m., according to San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen.
The Stockton-based boat departed from the St. Francis Yacht Club and was carrying mostly family members who had gathered for a memorial service, Crispen said. Witnesses reported rough seas before the vessel began taking on water and turned over. Early 911 callers reported what appeared to be a fire, but officials later determined the smoke was steam—no evidence of fire or explosion was found. San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias clarified that the vessel was not a pontoon boat, as initially reported, but a three-story, 49-foot cabin cruiser named Volare from Stockton. He added that the first 911 calls came in at 3:37 p.m., and that the steam was created when the hot engine hit the water.
First responders arrived to find the boat nearly fully submerged, with the motor still running and fuel leaking into the bay. Rescuers pulled 16 people from the water; three survivors were hospitalized with stable, non-life-threatening injuries. One man was brought to shore in severe distress and pronounced dead after CPR. A dog was also found deceased at the scene. The 13 uninjured survivors received assistance from the Human Services Agency and the American Red Cross at Fort Mason. Elias noted that the vessel had life jackets on board, but it is not known how many passengers were wearing them.
By Tuesday evening, authorities were searching for the missing in open ocean on the western side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The search, which involved divers, helicopters and vessels, was expected to continue all night, officials said. Authorities updated the initial number of missing people from two to three after hearing from witnesses. “Right now we are in full rescue mode,” Crispen said, adding that three people who suffered injuries falling from the boat were taken to a hospital and expected to be released Tuesday night.
Videos of the scene showed boats deployed to rescue people who had been on the vessel, which was largely submerged with objects floating nearby. The boating mishap was initially reported as a fire, “but we now don’t have any evidence of that,” Crispen said. The person who died was alive when plucked from the frigid waters by rescue crews but later died. A dog onboard also died. All those rescued were taken to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small craft harbor in San Francisco.
Aaron Anfinson, captain of the Bass-Tub, told the San Francisco Chronicle his boat was carrying guests toward the Golden Gate Bridge in “pretty windy, a little choppy” waters when a man on a smaller vessel flagged them down and pointed to a pontoon boat in the middle of the bay that appeared to be on fire. By the time the Bass-Tub reached it, the flames were out, but the pontoon was sinking. Some people were already in the water while others remained aboard, Anfinson said, adding that they tried to hand out life jackets to the passengers. One woman’s head was injured. “We figured we would get her first,” Anfinson said. A deckhand lowered a swim ladder and threw a life ring into the water to help pull her aboard. “It was scary,” Anfinson said. “I don’t want to see anybody in that situation.”
The U.S. Coast Guard, San Francisco Fire and Police Departments, Oakland and Richmond police, Tiburon firefighters, and the Southern Marin Fire Protection District all responded. Private boaters also joined the rescue. Mayor Daniel Lurie said search teams used thermal imaging, tide predictions, and computer modeling throughout the night. “The work our first responders have done so far today has been nothing short of heroic,” he wrote on social media. By the time first responders arrived, only the top canopy of the three-story boat was visible above the water. The boat sank in the shipping channel, the deepest part of the bay, where divers cannot access the vessel. “The boat is 120 feet at the bottom of the bay right now,” Elias said.
As of Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard continued searching for the three missing people, treating the effort as a rescue mission. Officials have not released the identities of the deceased or the missing. The San Francisco Police Department is leading the investigation into the incident.
At a 5:30 p.m. news conference, authorities had initially said two people were missing, but that number was later updated to three. Crews were using modeling software to predict where the missing passengers may have drifted as rescue personnel continued to search the area overnight using boats, helicopters and dive teams, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. John Corvino said Tuesday evening. After multiple agencies joined the search and rescue operation overnight, San Francisco Fire Department officials said Wednesday that the U.S. Coast Guard was leading all search and rescue operations. At 6 a.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard relieved the San Francisco Fire Department boat and its crew of seven, according to department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias. “They said, ‘Thank you for your services. We no longer need you. We will continue our search,’” Elias told The Times. “And they’re still searching now.” Coast Guard officials did not respond to requests for updates Wednesday morning on the search for the missing boaters.
On Wednesday afternoon, Coast Guard Sector Commander Jarod Toczko announced that active search operations would be suspended at sunset that day. “As I look at the extensive search effort we have put forth to this point, I look at the probability of success of locating a survivor within the search area given everything we've put forth, and all the environmental conditions, my intention is to suspend active search operations at sunset this evening,” Toczko said. Crews had cumulatively covered 950 square nautical miles over 23 hours. Toczko told reporters that the decision to suspend the search was not easy, but his teams have completely saturated the search area. He added that there was a "high possibility that individuals could have been trapped in the vessel."
Rescuer Justin Marceline told KGO that some passengers were "banging on the windows, trying to get out" of the boat. "It was pretty wild, seeing that, honestly," Marceline said, adding that conditions in the water were "really bad." "The people that were bobbing in the water, we pulled them out first," Marceline said. "The people in the water were elderly folks, they were conscious, but people were too tired and worn out." Toczko praised the work of the Good Samaritans who jumped to save the passengers. "No question, no doubt...those people saved lives," he said.
During a news conference Wednesday, Jarod Toczko, Deputy Sector Commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, said the search has been unsuccessful in locating any survivors within the search area. Coast Guard crews have searched about 950 square nautical miles with 11 vessels and four aircrafts. “Suspending an active search is one of the most difficult things we do as coast guard commanders. I don’t take that responsibility lightly at all,” Toczko said. “Our goal is always to bring home families' loved ones and we understand that families want answers and that is never lost on us.” He said the families of those missing have been notified. “Our crews will continue to diligently search until we reach that point later this evening,” Toczko said.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie expressed his condolences to the family and friends of those on the vessel and the family of the three missing. “These are the moments you do not want to come down as mayor and see a loss of life, but I am also incredibly proud of the all hands-on-deck effort by multiple agencies throughout this region,” Lurie said. He added, “My heart goes out to the families of the victims.”
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen confirmed that the pilot of the boat was one of the three people taken to a hospital and has since been released. The 13 uninjured people on the boat are now home, Crispen added.
The Coast Guard officially suspended search operations late Wednesday, after crews spent a total of 54 combined hours searching for the missing people. Toczko told reporters, "We always hold out hope."
The incident occurred in San Francisco Bay, a popular but often treacherous waterway. The area between Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge is known for strong currents and choppy conditions, especially in the afternoon. Longtime sailor Mike Peterson noted that such incidents are rare but can happen rapidly when conditions change. Alcatraz Island, once a federal prison infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it, is now a tourist destination. It is located in San Francisco Bay about a mile (about 1.6 kilometers) north of the city’s shoreline, in an often windy area that attracts sailboats and other recreational vessels.
Boat capsizes in the Bay are uncommon but have occurred historically, often due to sudden weather shifts or mechanical failures. The Volare, a three-deck cabin cruiser, was described as about 49 feet long and had launched from the St. Francis Yacht Club. The investigation into the cause is ongoing.
Randell Sharpe, a marine accident investigator in the Bay Area, said at this point it was “really tough” to determine what caused the boat to capsize. It was a pretty large boat, he said, and did not appear to be overloaded with passengers. “It certainly was capable of operating in the San Francisco Bay in that area,” Sharpe said. “What would cause a vessel like that to tip over? The only way to know is to salvage the boat. It would take a lot to make a vessel that size tip over and sink.” For example, he said, something could have failed in the engine room. But once it rolled on its side, it had little chance of floating. “Generally, boats that size don’t have enough subdivision to float once once they’re flooded up,” he said. “The issue would be once one compartment floods, there’s no watertight bulkheads to prevent the rest of the boat from flooding.” Sometimes a boat is divided up into sections, with the bulkheads or walls watertight, Sharpe said. But while watertight bulkheads are required on inspected small passenger vessels, he said, it’s not a requirement on a larger pleasure yacht. “The cause of the flooding is the key issue,” Sharpe said. “And hopefully, some of the passengers that were rescued will be able to shed some light on what might have happened seconds or minutes before the capsizing.”
The deceased was identified as Clifford Joseph Boisa, 79, of Sutter County, by the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Wednesday morning. Boisa was the man retrieved from the water by the San Francisco Police Department marine unit, who was in severe distress and later declared dead. The Sutter County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Boisa served as a reserve deputy sheriff beginning in 1987.
The Volare is owned by 62-year-old John Boisa of Stockton, who is also listed as the captain. John Boisa is the younger brother of Clifford Boisa, the man who died in the incident. John Boisa is listed online as a member of the Stockton Yacht Club. The Stockton Yacht Club Board Chair Karen Conrod said in an email, “At this time the Stockton Yacht Club has no comment regarding the tragic incident. This is a heartbreaking situation that has touched the entire boating community deeply. We are keeping all those involved, their loved ones, the first responders, and everyone impacted by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers.” The Boisa family provided a statement to KPIX: “Everyone involved, all of the loved and cherished family members and friends, are grieving this loss. We want to thank all of you for our privacy at this time.” According to transponder data, the vessel tracked to be in Stockton on July 10 and on San Francisco’s northern waterfront on July 11, and again on Sunday, July 12 and Tuesday, July 14, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ralph Boisa, Clifford’s brother, told the Associated Press that his extended family and a few close friends were on his younger brother’s boat Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the life of his daughter who died at age 33 in 2016 and loved to surf. The three people missing are his sister Carol, Clifford’s wife Jackie, and his daughter’s friend, he said. “We’ve gone through a lot of tragedy over the years,” said Boisa, who lost his other daughter in 1995. He lives in Washington and couldn’t make it for the excursion.
Ralph Boisa, 77, whose daughter Yvonne Thatcher was on the boat with her husband and three kids, said some family members were inside the boat’s cabin when it took on the wave and quickly lost stability. Thatcher told her father that she was with Clifford, his wife, Jackie, and a third woman in the enclosed space. “She managed to get to the door and get out, just before the boat fully went under,” Ralph said.
The boat did not depart from St. Francis Yacht Club, as authorities originally said, but instead left from an adjacent marina. In a Wednesday social media post, the yacht club also clarified that none of its members had been onboard. “Our hearts go out to the friends and family of those on board … we share this Bay and therefore, understand the weight of this tragedy,” the club wrote. After leaving the marina, the boat passed under the Golden Gate Bridge twice and visited Angel Island state park in the bay before the apparent return trip, according to the ship-tracking website VesselFinder. Angel Island, the largest natural island in the bay, is known for sweeping views of the city.
Three passengers remain missing Thursday morning after the Volare capsized. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday night at sunset after 23 hours of searching. The three missing people include Carol Boisa, 74, (sister of Ralph Boisa, John Boisa and Clifford Boisa), Jackie Boisa (Clifford Boisa's wife), and a family friend whose name was unknown. Volare passengers are believed to be from the Stockton and Sacramento areas. The memorial service was to scatter the ashes of Maria Boisa, a Fremont nurse who died in 2015 at the age of 32 from suicide, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. It was first believed 19 people were aboard the vessel; the passenger count later increased to 20. Seventeen people were rescued from the water. Thirteen Volare passengers were uninjured and taken to a family reunification center at Fort Mason. Three others were taken to a hospital and were released Tuesday evening.
According to ABC News, authorities said they believe the Volare was hit by a wave, causing it to capsize. The person who died was an adult male, but his identity has not been released. Three people were taken to the hospital and reported to be in stable condition, expected to be released later Tuesday. The U.S. Coast Guard will continue the search-and-rescue efforts for the three missing passengers. The San Francisco Fire Department initially received a call for a fire on the boat at 3:30 p.m. local time, but authorities said they haven’t yet seen evidence that there was a fire on board.
As of Thursday, the San Francisco Police Department is working with other agencies to locate the sunken vessel. While the exact location of the ship was not known as of Thursday afternoon, it is in one of the deepest parts of the San Francisco Bay in an area commonly used as a shipping channel, officials said. The vessel is believed to have sunk to a depth of at least 120 feet on a rocky seabed, which is too deep for divers to reach. Once they get a better sense of the Volare’s location on the seabed, divers will use an underwater drone to confirm the vessel’s identity and then develop a plan — with the aid of a third-party salvage company — to potentially raise the vessel, a department spokesman said. It’s not yet clear how much the salvage operation will cost. Authorities are conducting a search for the vessel with boat-mounted sonar platforms and other tools. The recovery team includes divers from the San Francisco Police Department Marine Unit and the Alameda County Volunteer Dive Team. Divers are contending with strong tidal currents, and challenging wind and weather conditions, according to the department. “Our hearts go out to all the individuals involved in this tragic incident,” department officials said in an emailed statement. “The SFPD would like to thank all our partner agencies and members of the public for their quick actions during the rescue and for their tireless work on the response and search for the missing individuals.”
On Thursday afternoon, the San Francisco Police Department Marine Unit recovered a body from the water west of Treasure Island while conducting sonar scanning. Officers were alerted by a passing vessel around 1:02 p.m. and recovered the body, later declaring the individual deceased on scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the identity and release the name after notifying next of kin. It is not yet known if the body is related to the Volare incident.
This tragedy highlights the dangers of even routine outings on San Francisco Bay. As the search continues, authorities urge anyone with information to contact the Coast Guard. The community mourns the loss and hopes for the safe return of the missing.
