Choose Granite Countertops Near Me Orleans, MA for Elegance and Durability

ORLEANS, Mass. —

Two bodies were found on board a missing fishing boat off Eastham, Massachusetts, in Cape Cod Bay, the Coast Guard confirmed Wednesday.

F/V Seahorse was last seen leaving its slip in Orleans, Massachusetts, with its captain and his girlfriend on board Sunday.

Family and friends said the bodies are those of the boat's captain, Shawn Arsenault, 64, and the captain's girlfriend, Felicia Daley, 54.

Felicia Daley

Felicia Daley

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said Arsenault and Daley were known to be fishing in the vicinity of Eastham's Target Ship Wreck in Cape Cod Bay, but a cellphone ping last placed the boat 2 miles offshore of Chatham. The couple left out of Rock Harbor in Orleans with plans to go clamming.

Shawn Arsenault's brother, Paul Arsenault, said the faint image of the Seahorse's overturned white hull has confirmed his worst fears.

He thinks his brother's boat may have gotten hung up on something while fishing before taking on water.

"It's like a nightmare," Paul Arsenault said. "I'm waiting to wake up."

He said fishing was in his brother's DNA.

"He just loved being on the water," he said. "He loved the excitement. He loved being his own boss. He loved being a captain."

Friends of the couple are devastated.

"If you had her as a friend, you had a good friend," Daley's friend, Scott Amerault, said.

They are now remembering their time together.

"One thing about Shawn, you would know he was in the next town over, because his voice was so loud, he'd be cracking jokes," Shawn Arsenault's friend Patrick said.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is investigating reports that equipment on the boat was thrown overboard by Shawn Arsenault shortly after he left.

"It was reported he was throwing something overboard," Coast Guard Cmdr. Cliff Graham said. "I can't confirm what kind of equipment or what it was specifically."

On Sunday morning, Sam Miller found a GPS unit on a nearby beach. The name on the blue tape matches the missing boat, and her family left a note on Shawn Arsenault's pickup.

"I noticed in the surf there was something floating, so I went down to see what it was, and it turned out to be a GPS unit off of a boat," Miller said.

However, when the truck had not moved the next day, they called the harbormaster, who then alerted the Coast Guard.

Some who are familiar with the 30-foot boat said they had concerns.

"That was not a very stable boat," charter operator Hap Farrell said. "It had a round shine, and a lot of gear high. If it got hung up on a drag or something like that, it'd go right over."

As questions linger, friends are left wondering what could have gone wrong to cause the boat to take on water.

"Who knows, it's the ocean," Amerault said. "It takes you when it wants to. You can't question what the ocean does."

The Coast Guard is now urging members of the public with any information to call the Sector Southeastern New England command center at 866-819-9128.

In the town of Orleans, Massachusetts, a conspicuously large rock with googly eyes sits in the parking lot just outside the Staples located at 136 MA-6A #5.

It has since garnered online attention with a Facebook group in Orleans first calling attention to it. People began visiting the massive geode and taking pictures of the rock, which would later be dubbed: Staples Rock.

From there, it became such a point of interest that Staples Rock received its own Google Maps location (open 24/7), which led to people leaving reviews of the Cape curiosity.

"Absolutely phenomenal experience! It was HUGE. It's way better than the Plymouth Rock I think," one Google reviewer said. "We went after work and it was quiet and great lighting!"

But where did the rock come from? Here's the answer.

What is the Staples Rock

The Staples Rock is a wide boulder in Orleans, Massachusetts, that went from local curiosity to statewide attraction for its strange location and quirky vibes.

The large rock was uncovered during some sewer work on the Orleans Marketplace parking lot, according to a CBS News report.

After a motor accident when a driver crashed into the Staples building in 2024, the suggestion to put the Staples Rock in the parking lot to guard the building was floated, the property manager said. That suggestion, joke or not, stuck.

And now Massachusetts has two notable rocks, although one may be more historically significant than the other.

Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.

ORLEANS — Town meeting voters approved spending $4.5 million to pay for a design of a new fire and rescue station.

The vote was 352 to 134. It must also pass at the annual town election on May 20 to move forward.

Town meeting was held on Monday, May 12, at the gymnasium of Nauset Regional Middle School to decide 36 articles.

The current 1987-built fire station is too cramped, outdated, and is not up to today's safety standards, operational demands, or space requirements for fire and rescue services, according to town officials.

Fire Chief Geof Deering named air quality, lack of appropriate male and female spaces, inadequate space for equipment and personnel, and no training space among the problems with the current station. He showed photos to showcase the building's problems, including the station's first aid room that doubles as the public lobby.

Maxine Minkoff, a former principal of Nauset Regional Middle School, said she supported a new fire station, but was concerned about the location being too close to Orleans Elementary School. Officials have said the new station will be at 58 Eldredge Park Way where the current station is.

"It doesn't take that much for elementary school kids to get distracted. You put fire engines, fire sirens, and all kinds of traffic there and it makes it very hard to continue with very fine education the kids in Orleans are getting right now," said Minkoff during town meeting.

The funding, if approved, will pay to hire architects, an owner's project manager, and other related costs. After the design is complete, a proposal for a full construction would be presented to voters at a future town meeting.

Select Board Chairman Mark W. Mathison said the exact location of a new station cannot be determined until the town hires an architect and design firm to come up with a plan.

"We're asking for the design of a fire station and until we know really how big it is and how it can truly be configured we won't know where it fits on that property. We can't say it's going to be 137 feet from anything because we don't know that yet," said Mathison.

In other business at town meeting, residents voted to support spending $40.5 million to fund the third phase of construction for the Lakes and Ponds Sewer Area Project in the area of Crystal Lake, Pilgrim Lake, Lonnie's Pond, Arey’s Pond, and Namequoit River.

Voters also approved spending $5 million to design and build solar projects at the wastewater treatment facility on Overland Way, the water treatment facility off Route 28, and the Department of Public Works facility on Giddiah Hill Road.

Both of these articles will also need to pass during the annual town election on May 20.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on X @zanerazz.

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