February 18, 2013 — Two months after the Gloucester-based scalloping boat Foxy Lady II and its crew of two were lost at sea, the captain’s father says he still has questions about what may have happened, and how the vessel could have gone down without any signal from its own electronic emergency beacon.
Wallace Gray I — whose son, Capt. Wallace “Chubby” Gray II, 26, and crew member Wayne Young, 50, went down with the vessel — said he still has no answers as to why the Foxy Lady II’s emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, did not activate, as Coast Guard officials have said.
The vessel monitoring system, which emits radio signals used primarily for NOAA and Coast Guard law enforcement tracking purposes, indicated the boat was 15 miles north of Provincetown on the night of Dec. 15.
While Gray said that dealing with different government agencies at a time of loss is stressful, the Coast Guard has done a “wonderful job” and has been very forthcoming. But Gray said he’s still expecting some explanation as to why the EPIRB did not activate, and was still waiting for an audio report regarding the sinking.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times