Those who know the four men who sailed on the Emmy Rose are certain about one thing: The crisis that caused the Maine-based fishing vessel to sink off Provincetown happened so fast, the crew never had time to use their collective experience at sea to help themselves.

There was no Mayday call over the marine band radio, there was no call for help on the satellite phone on board. The only alert that something was wrong came from the vessel’s emergency radio beacon, which automatically broadcast coordinates some 20 miles northeast of Provincetown early Monday morning.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard had searched 1,500 square miles of sea. Along with the emergency beacon, the only sign of the Emmy Rose and its crew was an inflated life raft, an oil slick, and some debris. 

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