Boat with 6 people in Sonoma disappears while crabbing off Bodega

Boat with 6 people in Sonoma disappears while crabbing off Bodega

Authorities are searching for survivors after a boat with six people on board disappeared Nov. 2 off the coast of Sonoma near Bodega Bay. So far, one person has been found dead and another has been rescued and given medical treatment.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office received a call Saturday evening regarding an overdue recreational boat whose occupants were last heard from around 3 p.m. that day. A cell phone ping located him in the Carmet Beach area, just north of Bodega Bay, the sheriff’s office said Sunday on Facebook.

The 21-foot white Bayliner reportedly had six occupants — three adults and three juveniles — and was crabbing off the coast of Bodega. The recreational Dungeness crab fishing season in this area had just opened on November 2.

The Sheriff’s Office launched a search using drones and its marine unit, with assistance from local firefighters, the U.S. Coast Guard, California State Parks and the U.S. Air Force. “During the ongoing search, debris was found along the coast and one person was found alive and receiving medical treatment. A second person was found and pronounced deceased at the scene,” the office said.

Ongoing relief efforts are encountering unfavorable weather conditions. The National Weather Service’s Bay Area office issued a beach hazard statement for North Bay from Sunday afternoon through Monday evening, asking people not to swim and warning of “prolonged swells from northwest with breaking waves of 10 to 14 feet.”

Authorities are asking anyone who sees anything related to the missing boaters to call the Sonoma Sheriff’s Office at 707-565-2121.

Originally published: