Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Missing Boater

The search for a missing recreational boater who did not return after leaving from Pillar Point Harbor on Wednesday was suspended late Friday night, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast Guard crews Friday morning found the 18-foot vessel Shau Tsu Wong, a 64-year-old San Ramon man, had departed in for a recreational trip from the harbor near Half Moon Bay on Wednesday.

The boat was found capsized off the coast of Ano Nuevo State Park, but the missing man was not found, according to the USCG.

The search was suspended as of 10:30 p.m. Friday night, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard received a call on Thursday from the boater's son, Petty Officer Pamela Boehland said Friday. The son said his father did not usually take night trips on his boat, a white 18-foot vessel with a red stripe on it and two outboard engines, Boehland said.

The Coast Guard had initially launched a helicopter from its San Francisco station around midnight but did not find the boat or Wong. The helicopter crew returned to the station and then launched again at sunrise Friday, according to Boehland.

Two boats from the Coast Guard, an 87-foot patrol boat and a lifeboat, also participated in the search, Boehland said.

Crews searched more than 3,800-square-nautical miles of water, which officials described as an area more than twice the size the state of Rhode Island.

A shore-side search for Wong stretched from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, Coast Guard officials said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Wong is asked to call the Coast Guard at (415) 399-3530.