Posted on 07/17/2026 3:04:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
KSBW 8 is learning of a local connection to the tragedy in the San Francisco Bay after a boat sank with 20 people on board Tuesday. Family members had gathered on the boat to scatter the ashes of a Santa Cruz County woman who died more than 10 years ago.
The ashes being scattered were those of Maria Vi Boisa, who was reported missing from Santa Cruz County in May 2015. The 32-year-old’s remains were eventually found two months later near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
The cause of death remains undetermined, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported that she died after taking her own life.
“She was a big surfer, loved the water, loved the bay, and that’s why they put her ashes out there,” Ralph Boisa, who adopted Maria and eight other children, told the Chronicle.
Three generations of the Boisa family were on the boat to remember Maria.
Ralph Boisa said he and his wife, who live in Washington state near the Canadian border, stayed home, but their daughter, Yvonne Thatcher, traveled from Auburn with her family to honor her sister, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
From the middle deck, where Thatcher was seated with her aunts and uncles, the boat capsized without warning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“They didn’t see or hear anything,” Ralph Boisa said, describing his daughter’s account, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “They’re sitting, and all of a sudden, the boat went over.”
So far, the body of one of the three people missing after the boat capsized has been recovered.
The woman was identified as 58-year-old Tondra Madruga, also known as Tondra Miller, according to the San Francisco medical examiner. Authorities said her body was recovered Thursday, two days after the 49-foot cabin cruiser Volare sank with 20 people aboard while the group was scattering a loved one’s ashes.
One man, 79-year-old Clifford Boisa, died after being pulled from the water, while two people remain missing.
The Coast Guard has suspended rescue efforts, but police continue searching. Authorities said the boat is believed to be submerged in about 120 feet of water.
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120 FEET OF WATER IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY SOUNDS RATHER SHALLOW.
WHAT IS THE DRAFT REQUIREMENT OF THOSE HUGE SHIPS THAT GO IN & OUT OF THE BAY?
I AM LOOKING AT MY PERIMETER FENCE ON MY PROPERTY & 120 FEET SEEMS VERY SHALLOW. MY PROPERTY IS 389 X 630.
Average depth of SF Bay is 36 feet. The shipping channels are deeper.
My God, what a tragedy! How awful.
The “strait” (don’t know if that is the correct term) just outside the Golden Gate is a viciously treacherous patch of ocean. The water goes from over 200 feet deep less than 50 feet deep (And maybe less) and when the tide changes, you can get enormous currents, currents faster than the hull speed of your [small] boat.Having traversed it in a 35’ sailboat several times, it can rapidly go from ripping violent to becalmed very quickly. As a bonus, the winds in that area can be very goosey, as well. It was not a look-forward-to experience. In 5+ years of sailing regularly with my sailing buddy, it was the only time I got seasick.
“My God, what a tragedy! How awful.”
It is a tragedy but the spreading of ashes is not relevant here.
People go out on boats for lots of reasons, mostly for pleasure for this type of boat.
I have a close friend who was a rescue diver for SF bay.
Got called in all the time for suicide recovery.
I told him he needs to find a better job.
Candlestick Park in South San Francisco was known for many things, including "the baseball stadium where home runs go to die."
Willie Mays might have hit another 100 home runs in a different baseball park.
Everyone probably crowded one side for the ash spreading.
The whole thing is a bit strange. Obviously it’s really weird regardless of why they were out there that the boat decide should immediately capsize. That’s just Outer Limits stuff
The other weird thing about it, which again is not necessarily relevant to the boat sinking, is we have a woman who committed suicide 11 years ago and was found in the bay a couple of months later. Whatever remained of her.. Why are these remains being thrown into the bay 11 years later? Again, that has nothing to do with the boat capsizing but the whole story is odd.
Maybe got bumped by a whale?
That does sound probable.
I had two cousins in Candlestick Park on October 17, 1989....
the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake which rocked the Bay Area just before game 3 of the World Series.
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