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FAIRHAVEN — In the last few days, Sherry Holcomb has gotten a few packages. Sunglasses, a pair of flashlights, and a Q-tip holder embossed with a skull. They were ordered by her late husband — a mostly retired commercial fisherman — before he died at sea last week.
She’s also gotten visitors — announced and unannounced — there to help her navigate what comes next, ask questions or offer up a lasagna.
But she hasn’t gotten many answers.
Why did the fishing vessel that Truett “Gene” Holcomb was captaining last week capsize just three miles off of Provincetown? How could that happen when the water was like “glass,” as Holcomb told Sherry in a phone call late Thursday morning — the last time they spoke?
By 11:58 a.m. that day, the U.S. Coast Guard received a report from two witnesses of a capsized vessel. It was the Yankee Rose, the boat Holcomb had recently called from. The 46-foot dragger is painted forest green, but what Coast Guard rescuers saw on scene was her rusted keel.
The federal agency dispatched rescue boats, along with a Jayhawk helicopter and fixed-wing plane.
By about 12:30 p.m., responders from the Coast Guard and Massachusetts Environmental Police recovered a man from the water, 37-year-old Angel Nieves of New Bedford. They brought him to the pier to Provincetown Fire Rescue, where they determined resuscitation was not possible, according to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office.
By around 3:45 p.m., the vessel sank.
And by 1:27 p.m. the next day, the Coast Guard called off the search for Holcomb, who might have been in the wheelhouse when the vessel capsized. His body has not been recovered as of Tuesday.
The Coast Guard and the Massachusetts Environmental Police are investigating the accident.
“Screamin’ Gene,” as Holcomb was known by fellow fisherman, had escaped possible death last month, just days before the capsizing. He found Nieves unconscious on the Yankee Rose from apparent carbon monoxide exposure on Feb. 26 and called 911, according to Nieves’ fiancée, Danielle Jeffrey. The fumes were so strong that they sent six first responders to the hospital for evaluation.
Jeffrey said the carbon monoxide leak was from a generator they had brought on board the boat, which was docked at the pier. (The snowstorm had knocked out power for much of the area.)
Sherry said Holcomb, 61, got some oxygen but was OK. (That incident remains under investigation by the Coast Guard and MEP.)
The Yankee Rose had been operating out of Provincetown, but had New Bedford ties through its crew and vessel owners, according to the New Bedford Port Authority. Aurea Costeira, the owner of the Yankee Rose, declined to comment in a brief phone call with The Light on Tuesday.
Nieves and Holcomb were out catching scallops last Thursday. Sherry said Holcomb was to bring the vessel to New Bedford and dock it at Fleet Marina. Red’s Best, a seafood company with a processing site in the city, said the boat was scheduled to offload scallops at the facility that night.
Holcomb had fished for decades from Virginia, and he followed the fish to Massachusetts, where he and his southern drawl charmed Sherry at an eatery where she bartended. They married in 2018.
He retired around 2021, she said, but the sea always called him back and he was happy to help out with the Yankee Rose, going out for day trips with Nieves this winter.
Nieves, a father of four, centered his life around God and family, his fiancée wrote in a message to The Light.
“Being out fishing was a passion of his, but he always did it to support his family,” Jeffrey wrote. “His main goal was to make sure his children had a secure future. He wanted to own his own boat one day that he could pass on to his children.”
Jeffrey also wrote about Nieves’ generosity, saying they would keep one-dollar bills and teach their children to give them to people in need of help.
Nieves’ sister, Makayla, wrote on a GoFundMe page that Nieves loved his family and the ocean.
“His love for fishing came from his dad,” she wrote, adding Nieves would spend hours on the water as a kid. “We are extremely devastated by his loss and will never stop honoring him. His soul is now at rest.”
GoFundMe pages have been set up for both men for funeral expenses and to help the families manage day-to-day expenses. The fundraisers together reached more than $12,000 as of Tuesday.
Third fatal fishing accident in Massachusetts this year
Gov. Maura Healey, in a statement last week before the Coast Guard ended its search, said she was “heartbroken” by the news and held the loved ones of the crew in her prayers.
“This is another devastating reminder of the dangers that come with life at sea and another tragedy for Massachusetts’ fishing industry and the families who make their living on the water, especially so soon after the loss of the Lily Jean in Gloucester,” Healey said.
The Yankee Rose’s tragic capsizing comes just over one month after the January sinking of groundfish vessel Lily Jean off of Cape Ann, which killed six fishermen and a fisheries observer. That incident remains under investigation by the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board.
Another fishing boat capsized on New Year’s Day in Cow Bay in Edgartown amid snow, strong winds, and major swells. Both passengers, a husband and wife, died after being transported to the hospital.
“Fishing has defined the identity of coastal communities across the northeast for generations, bringing both the pride and the heartbreak that come with this work,” Healey said. “Every time a vessel leaves the harbor, families understand the risks that come with this work, and moments like this are felt deeply across the entire industry.”
Commercial fishing remains one of the most dangerous professions in the country. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its fatality rate was more than 40 times higher than the national average.
Twenty-seven years ago, Holcomb was seemingly involved in another vessel incident. Truett Holcomb Jr. was the master of a Virginia-based boat that grounded off the Elizabeth Islands south of New Bedford in November 1999 while another crew member was at the helm, The Standard-Times reported in 2000. The Coast Guard cited Holcomb for being under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, while the ship’s helmsman tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
The Coast Guard has given no indication as to what caused last week’s capsizing. An agency spokesperson on Monday said “any information as to the cause won’t be released until the investigation has concluded,” and the investigation remains ongoing. (NTSB is not involved in the Yankee Rose investigation, the agency confirmed.)
Among the most common hazards for fishermen are vessel disasters, including sinkings and capsizings. Between 2000 and 2019, vessel incidents accounted for nearly half of deaths, with bad weather contributing significantly.
In 2012, a 42-foot scalloper capsized two to three miles off the coast of Provincetown at around 11:30 a.m. One man was rescued, but the captain, believed to be in the wheelhouse, was not found. That boat reportedly got its gear tangled in lobster traps.
A fishing vessel can quickly fall into danger of capsizing if its gear gets caught during a tow, or it lifts gear from the side, which shifts the center of gravity.
Jeffrey said she plans to honor Nieves by working with the SeaWORTHY Foundation, a New Bedford-based organization that was founded after two fishermen out of New Bedford died in 2017 when their vessel capsized.
According to its Facebook page, the organization won a federal grant in 2024 to fund research into how vessel stability factors into sinkings.
The organization is “fighting to get regulations on these boats so that we can prevent any future tragedies from happening,” Jeffrey said. “God will turn this tragedy into a blessing, even though a part of us is missing forever.”
What comes next
The Coast Guard left Sherry with a binder, titled “Search for Mr. Truett Eugene Halcomb [sic].” It explains the search efforts, mapping exactly where the rescue crafts flew and sailed, but it doesn’t include the why and how this tragedy unfolded.
“Something had to happen so fast that they couldn’t react,” Sherry said. “[Holcomb] knows what he’s doing. He’s done it his whole life.”
Jeffrey and Sherry, alongside their relatives, now join generations of fishing families — spouses, parents, siblings and children — who have had to piece their lives together after a traumatic loss, in some cases organizing memorials without closure, or without the remains of their loved one.
The Coast Guard doesn’t directly perform salvage or recovery operations, an agency spokesperson said. The need for removal is based on environmental or navigational hazards, and at this time there are no intentions to salvage the Yankee Rose.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Environmental Police on Tuesday said it is deploying an “underwater recovery unit” in partnership with Massachusetts State Police. Using a remotely operated vehicle and sonar, officials will work to determine the condition of the vessel and gear, and see if a recovery is possible.
The Holcombs shared a dog, Bella, Holcomb’s “pride and joy.” Sherry said Bella heard the noise of Holcomb’s truck, brought home by the boat owner, but had no one to greet. She’s been sitting on his square of the couch, Sherry said, nuzzling her nose in his jacket. She sniffs his truck tires when out for a walk. Her appetite comes and goes.
Sherry and Holcomb, whom she described as her rock and soulmate, never got to say goodbye. But then again, it’s something fishermen avoid. Old superstition says uttering the valediction is bad luck that can doom a trip.
“He would never say bye… Bye is forever,” said Sherry, wearing one of Holcomb’s many skull T-shirts. “We say, ‘Later. I love you.’”
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
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