Tomales Bay search suspended for 70-year-old oyster farm owner

Search and rescue crews were out Wednesday morning searching for Charles “Tod” Friend, the owner of Tomales Bay Oyster Co., who fell off his boat in Tomales Bay and hasn’t been seen since. In this file photo, employees work near oyster beds at the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. in Marshall, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. less Search and rescue crews were out Wednesday morning searching for Charles “Tod” Friend, the owner of Tomales Bay Oyster Co., who fell off his boat in Tomales Bay and hasn’t been seen since. In this file ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Tomales Bay search suspended for 70-year-old oyster farm owner 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

The search for the missing 70-year-old owner of a Marin County oyster farm who went missing in Tomales Bay on Tuesday was called off on Wednesday, an official said.

Charles “Tod” Friend, an owner of the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. in Marshall, vanished about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday after embarking on a short motorboat trip his employees said he’s made “a million times.”

Rescue crews had combed “every rock and stone,” in an attempt to find Friend, said Lt. Doug Pittman of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. The search was suspended around 4:30 p.m., he said.

“We are all in shock; can’t believe this is real,” Sean O’Brien, an assistant manager at the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. told The Chronicle on Wednesday.

Friend was last seen leaving a public boat launch at Nick’s Cove in Marshall. He was heading for a dock about 3 miles south when he disappeared, O’Brien said.

“It’s very usual for him to go there,” O’Brien said of the trip Friend was taking when he went missing.

A group of boaters who know Friend were out on the bay and reported seeing his empty vessel spinning in circles, Pittman said.

Investigators believe Friend, who was not wearing a life jacket, fell off of his boat about 400 yards from the shoreline, though it remains unclear what caused him to fall.

On Wednesday, officials from the Coast Guard, the Marin County Fire Department, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, at least 50 search-and-rescue volunteers, and family members and others who know Friend were out looking for him.

The San Francisco Police Department dispatched to the scene a marine unit and a 47-foot boat equipped to search underwater, Pittman said.

Marina Andriola Watchorn, one of the owners of the Hog Island Oyster Co., said her 32-year-old son, who lives in Santa Rosa, texted her Wednesday morning that he was joining the search efforts.

“He’s a very experienced waterman,” Andriola Watchorn said of Friend. “He’s a real man of the land and of the sea.”

Friend took over ownership of Tomales Bay Oyster Co. in 2009. He began his oyster farming career in 1989 when he worked for the Hog Island Oyster Co. During his nine-year tenure there, he developed a close bond with Watchorn’s son, Gianni Watchorn.

Gianni Watchorn said he combed the shoreline for hours Wednesday searching.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @SarRavani