The Sponge Industry: Related Maritime Traditions
Boats
During the first half of the 20th century, hundreds of boats based on the achtarmas style sponge boat (a sub-type of the trechantiri) common in the Dodecanese islands were built by Greeks from Tarpon Springs to Apalachicola. Third generation master sponge boat builder George Saroukos last builder of traditional Greek sponge boats in this hemisphere. In his native Kalymnos, Saroukos learned to build boats without using printed plans, and he continued after arriving in Tarpon Springs in the late 1970s. He also made 17 dinghies in the style of sponge hooking boats that are used for the cross-diving competition during Epiphany.
Diving Helmets
Until the late 1950s to early 1960s, sponge divers wore a heavy canvas and rubber suit topped with a helmet made from copper, brass and plate glass. Helmet makers, such as Antonios Avgerinos and Antonios Lerios, supplied the needs of the divers. As a child, Nicholas Toth visited the machine shop of his grandfather Lerios, and gradually absorbed his knowledge about helmet making and other maritime hardware. Today he is the sole practitioner of this tradition, and received a National Heritage Fellowship for his exceptional work.
Model Boats
In their leisure time, the men who built or worked on the sponge boats sometimes make elaborate model boats to delight their families or friends. Most models are exact replicas, produced in much the same way as real boats. The artists create almost everything on board, including blocks, brackets, lanterns, and many other items, because there are few such miniature parts. They often paint the models like working sponge boats: white with a few red, black and/or yellow horizontal stripes along the sides, or with a black base and Greek blue trim.
In 1937, George Coutroulis and his son Christ Coutroulis built the Fannie C. Angeli with pine and cypress. They fitted it with the latest devices of the sponge industry, including diesel power and an air compressor. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.
A boat yard is in foreground, and the sponge fleet is in the distance in this image from March 1932. Among Tarpon Springs boat yards were those of the Kaminis, Sarris, Arfaras, and Macrenaris families. Photo by Burgert Brothers; Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.
Employees with Greek sponge boats on ways, Tarpon Springs, 1942. Photo by Joseph Janney Steinmetz, 1905-1985. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
Originally named the Apalachicola, the Aegean Isles is displayed in the Sponge Exchange. It was built in Apalachicola in the late 1920s by Nick Anargiou, a master boat builder from Halki, for Captain James Tsalichis of Tarpon Springs. It was later sold to Miltiadis Galanos in the 1940s, and briefly served as a rescue boat during World War II. 2005. Photo by Tina Bucuvalas/Florida Folklife Program.
George Saroukos comes from generations of master boat builders. 2009. Photo by Tina Bucuvalas/Florida Folklife Program/Department of State.
Stamas Boat Company employees make recreational boats on March 21, 1967. Peter and Nicholas Stamas first learned wooden boat building from Greek craftsmen as boys. Today, Stamas is one of the oldest family owned and operated boat companies in the nation. Photo by Flash Jarocki; Tampa Tribune.
Antonios Avgerinos (1860-1930) was an innovating helmet maker from Symi who studied helmet making in France and established a business on Aegina. Invited to train helmet makers and other craftsmen in Tarpon Springs in 1911, the Balkan wars and World War I prevented him from returning to Greece. Courtesy of Irene Giannaras Garner.
Diving helmet makers Antonios Lerios and grandson Nicholas Toth both excelled at their craft, producing innovative and elegant helmets. 1987. Courtesy of Florida State Archives/Florida Folklife Program.
Nicholas Toth making glass retainer and leather rings for diving helmet, May 14, 2010. Photo by Tina Bucuvalas.
Costa John Tsataros (1926-2001) made model boats after working in the sponge industry. City of Tarpon Springs.
Steve Stavrakis with model sponge boat. Stavrakis learned to make model boats from his great-uncle Nick Anargiou, a master boat builder and model boat maker from Halki. 2003. Photo by Bud Lee. Courtesy of the University of Central Florida.