Most of the 20 adults aboard knew one another or were relatives, authorities said, and 16 survived the capsizing.
SAN FRANCISCO — A gathering on San Francisco Bay to remember someone who had died turned into a large rescue operation Tuesday when the group’s cabin cruiser capsized near Alcatraz Island, killing one man and leaving three people missing.
Most of the 20 adults aboard the Volare were family members or knew one another and had gathered for a memorial, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said. Sixteen people survived the sinking, including three who were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Authorities continued searching Wednesday for the three missing passengers. Their identities and the name of the man who died had not been released. A dog traveling with the group also died, officials said.
The 50-foot, multilevel vessel had departed from the St. Francis Yacht Club before it took on water and overturned in rough seas between Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge. The emergency call came shortly after 3:30 p.m., when the cruiser was about 600 yards from Alcatraz.
Officials said a wave may have struck the vessel or caused it to take on water, but the cause of the capsizing remained under investigation. Crispen said authorities knew the boat had been operating in rough conditions but did not yet know whether weather, equipment or another problem caused it to sink.
The first emergency calls described what appeared to be a fire. Responders later determined that the material seen above the boat was steam, not smoke. No evidence of a fire or explosion was found, and none of the survivors was treated for burns.
By the time rescue crews reached the Volare, it was almost completely submerged. Its motor was still running, and the vessel was leaking fuel. Some passengers had fallen or jumped into the water. Others were still aboard as public safety crews and nearby private boaters moved in to help.
San Francisco police maritime officers found a man in severe distress and brought him aboard a rescue vessel. Officers performed CPR while taking him to Gashouse Cove Marina, where he was pronounced dead. Officials said he was alive when rescuers first pulled him from the water.
All 16 survivors were brought to shore. Three were taken to a hospital in stable condition and were expected to be released after treatment, authorities said. Officials believed their injuries occurred when they fell or were thrown from the cruiser during the capsizing.
The other 13 survivors were taken to an assistance center at Fort Mason. The city’s Human Services Agency and the American Red Cross provided blankets and other support as relatives waited for information about the people still missing. Several survivors left the center without speaking publicly about the sinking.
Aaron Anfinson, captain of the Bass-Tub, was carrying 32 guests toward the Golden Gate Bridge when someone aboard a smaller boat signaled for help, he told the San Francisco Chronicle. The person pointed toward a vessel in the bay that appeared from a distance to be burning.
When the Bass-Tub reached the Volare, the apparent flames were gone, but the boat was sinking. Anfinson said some passengers were in the water and others were still aboard. His crew tried to hand out life jackets while emergency vessels approached the scene.
The rescue brought together the San Francisco fire and police departments, the U.S. Coast Guard, Oakland and Richmond police, Tiburon firefighters and the Southern Marin Fire Protection District. Private vessels also assisted before and after government crews arrived.
Authorities originally believed 19 adults were aboard and that two were missing. They revised the count to 20 passengers and three missing people after interviewing witnesses. The change showed the difficulty of confirming who had been on the vessel during the first hours of the emergency.
The Coast Guard took charge of the search as teams used boats, aircraft, divers, thermal cameras and computer models. The operation extended beyond the Golden Gate Bridge after currents and wind carried the search area west into the open ocean.
Alcatraz is now a major tourist site, but its location in the middle of the bay has long been associated with cold water, strong currents and shifting winds. Those conditions complicated the search and increased the urgency of finding the missing passengers.
Officials had not said whose life the group had gathered to honor or released further details about the memorial. The search for the three missing people continued Wednesday while investigators examined how the Volare capsized.
Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.