The U.S. Coast Guard and local agencies have been conducting an extensive search of San Francisco Bay after a pleasure boat carrying 20 people capsized in the frigid waters near Alcatraz Island. The three-level recreational vessel, which was heading to a memorial service, sank on Tuesday afternoon with 20 people aboard, authorities said.
Clifford Joseph Boisa, a 79-year-old man from Sutter County, was identified as the person who died in the incident. Boisa served as a reserve deputy sheriff beginning in 1987. Three passengers remained missing as of Wednesday, while 16 others were rescued, including three people who were taken to local hospitals.
The vessel, which departed from the area near San Francisco's St. Francis Yacht Club, was found with only its upper deck above the water. The boat's engine was still running, and fuel was leaking into the bay. One person was found in the water, while the remaining occupants were located inside the vessel's top compartment before rescuers pulled them to safety.
Commercial fishermen Mike Montoya and Justin Marceline, who rushed to help after the vessel went down, described a frantic rescue as passengers fought to escape. "There was even people banging at the windows as they were like filing out, and as soon as people were hitting the water, we were just trying to pick them up as fast as we can," they said. Some people didn't even have life vests on and they were drowning."
The Coast Guard and San Francisco Fire Department continued searching Wednesday using boats, helicopters, thermal imaging, tide predictions and drift modeling to find the three missing passengers. The cause of the sinking remains under investigation, but officials have said strong summer winds and rapidly changing conditions on San Francisco Bay can create dangerous boating conditions.
The San Francisco Fire Chief said crews were dispatched at about 3:35 p.m. local time after a vessel fire was reported roughly 600 yards off Alcatraz Island between the former prison and the Golden Gate Bridge. However, when first responders arrived, they found no evidence of a fire, but instead discovered the boat had capsized and was already mostly submerged.
