Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jul 18

San Francisco Police Find 49-Foot Volare Wreckage as 58-Year-Old Victim Is Identified

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jul 18

San Francisco Police Find 49-Foot Volare Wreckage as 58-Year-Old Victim Is Identified

Q: How could a single wave capsize a 49-foot cabin cruiser, and what made it so vulnerable?

A single wave can capsize a 49-foot cabin cruiser if it hits at the wrong angle and the boat’s stability is already reduced. That appears to be the key issue in the Volare sinking: witnesses reported rough Bay conditions, the boat took on water after being hit by a wave, began listing, then rolled over quickly. Size alone does not make a boat immune. A cabin cruiser is not a commercial ferry; its stability depends on weight, balance, speed and how it meets the sea. If a steep wave strikes the boat broadside, or if the operator cannot keep the bow angled safely into the swell, the roll can become too great to recover from. Once water comes aboard or into the engine space, stability can deteriorate very fast. The Volare may have been especially vulnerable because it was carrying 20 people on a three-level vessel in choppy San Francisco Bay waters near Alcatraz, where wind, tide and current can combine to create short, steep waves. Marine experts say capsizing a boat of this size is unusual, which points to a combination of factors rather than the wave alone. The likely vulnerabilities investigators will examine are passenger load, where people were positioned, whether weight was concentrated high up, whether the boat was struck beam-on, and whether any mechanical or seaworthiness issue made recovery impossible after the initial hit. In short, one wave can be enough when a boat is near its stability limits and then starts taking on water.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 18

Police found the submerged wreckage of the 49-foot Volare on Friday, a day after recovering and identifying Tondra Madruga, 58, as one of three people missing.
The cabin cruiser sank Wednesday in San Francisco Bay after a wave hit and capsized it during a trip to scatter a loved one's ashes, with 20 people aboard.
Marine crews located the boat on a rocky seabed about 120 feet deep using sonar and are now deploying a remotely operated vehicle to assess whether it can be recovered safely.
One man, Clifford Boisa, died after being pulled from the cold water, while police continue searching for Carol Boisa and Jackie Boisa after the Coast Guard ended its search Wednesday night.
The sinking triggered a search across more than 800 square miles, stretching from the bay toward the open ocean beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, underscoring the area's strong currents.