Nearly two dozen people who were enjoying a bachelor party on what’s billed as San Francisco Bay’s only “floating wine-tasting room” are OK after their boat hit a shoal near Alcatraz and began sinking Friday night, officials said.
The 45-foot Neptune hit the shoal at 8:42 p.m. PDT and started taking on water after the impact left a gash in the side of the boat, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Josh Dykman said.
“We were only in the boat for maybe about 20 minutes or so,” Matthew Rice, the party’s guest of honor, told KGO-TV. “We were coming around Alcatraz checking it out and all of a sudden it was like boom, just like a big jolt.”
The boat began to sink about 300 feet from shore, Dykman said.
Three Coast Guard boats took all 22 passengers and crew members off the vessel. Fire and police boats also responded. There were no injuries.