California Recovery Divers

09/28/2026

We're finally all set to search for Arturo tomorrow. It's been quite a process.

Beardsley Lake is in a chain of lakes and dams that are particularly sensitive to Golden Mussel infestations. The critical infrastructure has to be protected. This meant that as the Tuolumne County Sheriff needed to reduce their search assets, we needed to do some serious prep to perform this sonar search. We moved our primary sonar equipment from our work work boat installation to a personal boat more appropriate for this lake. We also had to take that boat to New Melones reservoir for inspection, decontamination and tagging. Unfortunately, we also had to make some repairs to that boat, and then coordinate with the Tri-Dam authorities and the sheriff for access.

It's been quite a process. But here we are, looking forward to tomorrow, hoping we can bring some relief to the Duran family. Wish us luck - based on the process so far, we'll need it.

08/21/2026

There's currently a multi-agency search underway at Beardsley Lake coordinated by Tuolumne County Sheriff. This is a textbook multi-agency response, with excellent technology and human assets being deployed in a very difficult situation.

Family members have been in touch with us, and we've urged everyone to please let the expert first responders do their job. Ignore self-proclaimed experts on social media. This is not a situation where a recreational diver or super snorkler can do anything but get in the way, and maybe spread bad information. It's highly technical work, in very challenging circumstances.

The assumed last seen location is in nearly 200' deep water - well beyond the reach of hand searches. It's near the dam, in a narrow ravine, limiting the optimal use of towfish sonar, which is usually the best tool for large area searches. And ROV sonar struggles with the terrain, which is filled with big boulders and drop-offs - and the video systems are useless in the black water at depth unless you're within a few inches of your target.

And at these depths, there's no assurance that nature will return Arturo.

Our hopes and prayers are with the family and with those working long frustrating hours on-scene. This is a difficult situation for all involved.

08/10/2026

Spent the morning fine tuning some minor reconfigurations on the work boat. And waiting for more info on a request from friends in the first responder community. We're always grateful for our supporters - every tank of gas, insurance payment, storage fee... It all adds up, and every donation helps, and is deeply appreciated. Thank you.

07/20/2026

Interview with ABC News Luz Pena about the work on the Volare boat disaster in SF Bay:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/Da8RpBotqBL/

07/18/2026

It's been a busy week on San Francisco Bay for our friends in the San Francisco Police Department Marine unit. This is a profoundly difficult situation for the first responders, and an unbelievable tragedy for the families involved.

A summary of the work so far, and the challenges ahead:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da8RpBotqBL/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

07/18/2026

We're glad the boat was located. Now recovery operations face a massive challenge bringing it to the surface. More about the challenges in this article and news clip.

San Francisco police on Friday said they found the wreckage of the 49-foot cabin cruiser Volare in the area where it sank earlier this week near Alcatraz Island. The 20-passenger boat that carried mostly family members sunk on Tuesday, and two people are still unaccounted for.

07/16/2026

There's a very complex search and recovery operation going on in San Francisco Bay. We've been contacted by various agencies and news organizations, and are honored to be able to help.

Here's an article with more background information:

One Sutter County man died and three others remain missing after a boat based out of Stockton sank in the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday afternoon.

07/14/2026

Crews from our team searched for Tito Montances for two days. After being turned away from a large area search by rough seas and shallow water, we returned to search the launch area and canal with our remote control sonar bot. Nature has returned Tito. Our hearts go out to the family.

Please wear a PFD. Water can turn deadly for even the most experienced watermen.

https://www-kron4-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/coast-guard-suspends-search-for-missing-bay-area-fisherman/

06/13/2026

We generally don't post about the situations we're called to address, but the search for Max Castro at Shasta Lake as received a lot of attention already. We brought deep water search capabilities and ROV to supplement Shasta County Sheriff's searches. While we were able to complete scans of the entire arm of the lake and identify and eliminate several targets with our towfish and ROV, we were unsuccessful in locating Max.

We returned to the Bay Area with heavy hearts as we continue to look for resources that might be able to help. Thank you to all who have reached out to offer assistance to us or to Max's family.

05/10/2026

https://www.californiarecoverydivers.com/blog/the-tale-of-the-scottbot

An innovative re-use of technologies provides a useful tool for searching difficult locations.