Eric Sponberg on Internet Radio

Eric Sponberg, a contributor to this forum, will be discussing unstayed rigs at 11 am EDT (1500 GMT) Tuesday, May 22 on ProBoat radio. http://www.proboat.com/talk-radio.html Eric has designed a number of unstayed rigs. If you are unable to listen to Eric "live", it should be available in the ProBoat archive by the following day.

 

Thanks. I'll try to listen in.

 

Thanks David, for those who've missed it, it's now available here.

Cheers,
Angel

P.S.

Eric will be back on Pro-Boat-Radio later, topic then is (broken) rudders, soon as someone knows a date of that, please post it here...

 

Thanks for the link, Angélique.

 

i watched eric on tv a few weeks ago talking about the ghosts of st augestines forts.

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the pitches on my behalf. I am going to be on Proboat radio again next week to talk about broken sailboat rudders--chime in if you get a chance. This topic is one I am discussing at IBEX in October in Louisville, KY.

As for the ghost program, that's right. My wife and I are ghost tour guides here in St. Augustine. We dress up in colonial costumes and take guest around town to tell ghost stories and take pictures of ghosts. It's a hoot! I have had my picture taken with a LOT of ghosts. Anyway, a few years ago, Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel came to St. Augustine to film ghosts at the fort here in town, The Castillo de San Marcos, which is one of the oldest masonry structures on the continent of North America, and one of the oldest monuments in the National Park Service system. As you may know, Zak Bagans and his crew of ghost hunters like to lock themselves in haunted buildings at night and try to film and record ghosts, so that's what they were doing at the Castillo. Before they get locked in a building, they like to interview local people to learn what ghosts to look for. So the company we work for, A Ghostly Experience (www.aghostlyexperience.com), called a bunch of us guides one morning and asked if we could go to the Castillo to interview with Zak. Three of us ended up on TV--me, Karen who talked about "bones" in the Castillo, and Cal who had a really remarkable ghost photo that was taken there at the Castillo just a few months before. I carry a copy of that photo in my costume bag to show to guests on the tours sometimes.

So, if ever you see that episode of Ghost Adventures appear on TV (it gets rebroadcast from time to time), about 7 or 8 minutes into the program, look for the handsome guy in a light blue shirt and khaki pants telling Zak the "Osceola" story--that's me!

By the way, don't pay too much attention to the history that Zak presents in the program--he got it totally screwed up!

And, by the way again, St. Augustine is a really historic town, a great place to live. It is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement on the continent of North America. We predate Jamestown, VA, by 42 years, and Plymouth Plantation by 55 years. There were grandchildren being born here in St. Augustine by the time Jamestown was founded. Beginning this year, we have a series of annual celebrations going on:

2012 -1812: The 200th birthday of the Spanish Constitution, founded in part on principles of the American Constitution, and precursor to a number of other European constitutions. We have in our town square the only known monument to the Spanish Constitution outside of Spain. It was recently digitized so that a copy could be made back in Spain.

2013 - 1513: The 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida by Juan Ponce de Leon. We have many descendents by the name of Ponce who still live here, including the owners of the ghost tour company we work for.

2014 - 1964: The 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King came to St. Augustine to champion civil rights, and by which he got himself arrested and thrown into the local jail. While he was here, President Johnson signed into law the the Civil Rights Act.

2015 - 1565: The 450th birthday of the founding of St. Augustine by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. This will be the ultimate party year. The celebrations have already begun. We have a great re-enactor who plays Pedro de Mendez whom we have seen perform a number of times.

So, if you have any inclination to choose a place for a vacation, consider St. Augustine--get your bones to St. Augustine, it's a great joint! Come on a ghost tour with A Ghostly Experience. Arliss and I are usually on duty on Tuesday and Friday nights, 8:00 pm, at the top of St. George St.

I get asked a lot why we started doing ghost tours. It was because of my cancer--stage 3 colon cancer in early 2004. My business did not suffer too much at first, but soon the money stopped coming in, and we needed a little extra cash, but we also wanted to work nights. My wife, by the way, is novelist Arliss Ryan (www.arlissryan.com). She was between books. So we saw this ad in the newspaper for ghost guides, and we applied and started working for A Ghostly Experience. We had to get city licenses, make our costumes, and also learn the stories--all based on history and local legend--we don't make up stories, and we don't make up the ghosts--they come and go at their own will. Pretty soon, however, my work came back like gangbusters, and Arliss has had two more novels published, but we were having such a hoot that we decided to keep it up. The money is good and it keeps us out on the town rather that stuck at home watching TV.

Don't forget about ProBoat radio next week, Tuesday, 11:30 AM EDT.

Eric

 

- Ghost Adventures - Castillo de San Marcos - featuring ES

There you go Eric . . . . .

Cheers,
Angel

 

Thanks--that's such a hoot!

 

Thanks Angel-thats great!

 

Eric Sponberg on ProBoat Radio February 26, 2013

Update: Next Tuesday, ProBoat Radio will broadcast a new interview I taped with them yesterday on the S Number. If you would like to tune in at 11:30 AM EST, here is the link: http://www.proboat.com/talk-radio.html.

See you there!

Eric

 

Thanks for updating when you are going to be on. Please continue doing so. I will tune in for sure.