Mark is the creator of STORMSURF. I only realized this a couple of years ago but I guess it started back in 1998. He lived here believe it or not back in the early 90's and was a Snug Harbor resident with the likes of Rick "The Model" Martell.

(These are memories not facts so here ya go) Mark was the first guy that I ever met who had a quiver of surfboards. Most of my neighbors were capable surfers with one board as the "NORM". Longboards were just coming back into the fray. His quiver was all matching Ocean Image surfboards, shaped by Haney, Pointy and they went from 6' up to 9 something.(at least 12 boards) This guy loved big waves and I thought he was nuts. The problem was if you met him you realized that he was a very pragmatic person. He always got out and he always got a bomb. You could tell it was an itch that he needed to scratch.

He also was our "go to" forecast guy. I think he may have worked at the cape.These were the days of "tropical updates on the 48" and the Surfline WaveFax.

Looking back now it all makes sense as he was never that pumped on our waves. He is the real deal. Top level forecaster, Big wave charger, and good dude. Please add accordingly. WWW>STORMSURF.COM

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www.happyponysurf.com

Marks local roots go WAY farther back then the 1990s , he was a local back at the Apollo Building aka Islander Hut in the early 1970s . The local church on 1st st South has a dedicated " Sponsler Hall " from the 1960s .

Mark and I worked together in the early days of Shuttle. He went to Hawaii mainly so he could surf Waimea. (I think it was in '82. I went in '83 and he had been back a year or so.) After he got back, he had a small party so he could show his videos. George Drasich narrated. I kind of lost track of him when I went over to the Cape side in '89, but there was a passing mention of him in Surfer's Journal in an article on Maverick's in which he was referred to as "Maverick's local Mark Sponsler". Makes sense as I had heard he had transferred to Sunnyvale with Lockheed and I knew he loved the big ones. Small guy, but big balls. Good guy, too.

His brother Steve is also a great guy, and friend from WAY back in Freedom 7 / RJHS / CBHS days

Luv stormsurf.

http://www.stormsurf.com

SMF : Freedom 7 ----Remember how cool the principle Bob Fritz was ? When ever there was a rocket launch he would dismiss the classes and let us all go outside to watch !

BOB FRITZ- He would eat in the cereal club with us at Roosevelt. He took me and my friends all to Pizza Hut one Friday. He said you didnt have to do anything special to get to go eat Pizza The Best!


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www.happyponysurf.com

possibly THE coolest principal....& also one of the coolest Bob's ever a role model! he took us on Operation Stretch on Ski Island. remermber that??.. Hank Hartrich wasn't bad, too!

Edited: 02/02/2023 at 11:07 AM by StirfryMcflurry

JK & SMF : Bob was indeed a shining example of what an excellent educator can be . His , ever so easy re pore and ability to dialogue with his students on their level ( Like eating breakfast with the Cereal Club ) was totally unique . Pretty damn cool that all Three of us have such fond memories of the man !

Edited: 02/02/2023 at 05:51 PM by JOESTRUMMER

he's probly a main contributor as to why we all ended up so we are all lucky /blessed

Edited: 02/02/2023 at 11:33 AM by StirfryMcflurry

Love Stormsurf . Makes Surfline even more useless than it already is. Cool to hear a local guy is behind it.

Sure miss Islander Hut. I could always talk my dad into driving me over from MI to surf there. He could enjoy a couple and the beach scenery while I surfed.

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"If I say it's safe to surf this beach, captain, then it's safe to surf this beach!"