Coast Guard searching for missing boater who capsized off Muir Beach

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. (KTVU) - The male owner of a small boat is believed to have been on board when it capsized off Muir Beach this morning, Marin County Fire Department Battalion Chief Bret McTigue said late this afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard spoke to the boat owner's East Bay family, McTigue said. The missing boat owner launched the boat around 7 a.m., McTigue said.

The Coast Guard identified the missing boater as 64-year-old Juki Dang from Oakland. 

Someone on board "The Zodiac" vessel notified the Coast Guard around 11:30 a.m. about the capsized boat, and debris, including a chest containing ice and fish, were found nearby, McTigue said.

The Marin County Fire Department was able to re-right the boat, which did not have identifying markings on it, McTigue said.

The boat is a 10-foot boat, according to Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Marcia Medina.

Car keys and the missing boater's wallet were found aboard the white, fiber-glass skiff. 

The water near the shoreline where the boat was found is about 30-40 feet deep, McTigue said.

The U.S. Coast has not released the boat's owner's name, McTigue said.

The Marin County Fire Department will continue the search, still regarded as a rescue mission, until sunset, but the Coast Guard will search until 2 a.m. Thursday, McTigue said.

The search area two miles offshore is between Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area a mile west of Bolinas south to Fort Cronkhite, McTigue said.

The National Parks Service, Southern Marin Fire Protection District, Muir Beach and Stinson Beach fire departments and helicopters from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in San Francisco participated in the search this afternoon.