The Spearboard monopoly

  • Knowledge should be earned.


    i very much agree, but do not lose sight of the fact that not all knowledge is learned by doing..the elders and experienced ones in a given tribe are a resource who should not be overlooked. to have a community that is not about fostering knowledge is a shame, we cannot forget that we are here to learn and teach ultimately....and enjoy that fine bikini thread





    a MUCH wiser man once said,


    "learn from the mistakes of others...you will not live long enough to make them all yourself"

    i like to spear fish


  • So true. The sharing of some knowledge requires that trust be established. Some knowledge should be shared as part of a long term education that progresses through achievement of incremental goals and trust building. In short, don't give out information to unknown or untrusted people.


    Isn't that quote by Eleanor Roosevelt?

    Edited once, last by ladvr ().

  • Most of you know me from Spearboard. I was recently banned for speaking out for what a piece of crap Tony Grogan is. I just want to share my story with you.


    Some may know that me and Dan have had our differences but that is in the past.


    A few months ago, Tony Grogan asked that I repair his Caterpillar engine in his boat. It would not start. I did about $1000 worth of work on it and got it running. I wrote the invoice up for $700, discounting my travel time. We were going to trade work for labor.


    After work was competed, I informed him that the engine needed about $2500 worth of maintenance, due to his neglect and that the $700 invoice amount was the most I could spend towards any advertising on Spearbored. He was very upset and told me I'm a quiter. He also told me that since it was a "trade", that the value of said trade was less than if I had paid cash for the sponsorship.


    I told him to pay me in cash for my work and then I would give it back to him in cash for a cash payment. We got into an argument that resulted in the end of our friendship. I have all the emails back and forth between us.


    Eventually, jfjf got involved and convinced that piece of shit to give me full dollar on the advertising. Once he conceeded, I told him to keep his advertising. That I did not want it and to also keep the $700, since he obviously needed it more than me.



    The kicker of the story is that he really has no scruples or integrity. In business or elsewhere. I dove with him on various occasions and he is the kind of guy that will take fish out of season and I have proof. He shot a 50lb Warsaw Grouper one day, in state waters when season was closed. Then he erased the tracks in the plotter to cover up. He did not post a pic of his fish untill after grouper season opened again. I have pics of his fish. Sad thing is that his daughter was onboard with us that day.


    That is how he operartes. Its all about self glory and promotion.


    He is an old fag. He is pretty strange in person as well. No personality whatsoever. I had the feeling of being used to drive his boat since he could not find anyone to do it. No wonder he is single, what woman would be able to put up with a wierdo like him, I have no idea.


    Thats my story.


    Lee

  • That sucks ass Lee :(, sorry to hear you lost out on all that.


    BTW Mike Im sure you also know but one of the other shitty parts about sb is you cannot go back and erase posts once it's been up for a while, I think it's so the post counts stay up.

  • Welcome Lee, nice to have you here...very sorry you had that shitty experience.


    but please, dont belittle anyone, be they Fag, douschebag or POS, by comparing them to the Grogan....hahaha he is in a class by himself

    i like to spear fish

  • I heard about extortion and misdealings with other sponsors but did not believe it until it happened to me.


    Thanks for the kind words but I dont deserve them. My own stupidity.


    I just want to bring some info to others so it does not happen to them.


    This is the grouper that was shot out of season in state waters on March 26.




    This is the engine I worked on:


  • Ok, disregard last post. I found the fish. It's funny that he shot it in march and posted it in June , three months later.


    Trip Report A Father's Day Dive Trip to be Remembered Forever! - Spearboard Spearfishing Community


    He also mentions that it was shot in state waters, so perhaps we were in fed waters. Got to check the distance and coordinates. I'm not to uppity on the regs. I do know that he asked me to not mention it and deleted his gps footprints.


    Where's the Grogan hyperlink btw? :)

  • I talked to Lee about this situation, here's my take on the grogan's modus operandi. Lee/bulit7 has been a member of SB for 4 years. During this time he always had a signature with a link to his business website Atlantic Offshore Yacht Services, nothing to do with spearfishing directly and so no cause for concern for anyone who's paying for advertising on SB. When the grogan needed his boat repaired he wanted to save some cash and barter for advertising on SB. For $700 worth of work Lee was offered to put a link to his business in his signature on SB, and his user name in blue colored letters. "But" you say "Lee already has a link in his signature so what's the point?" The point is that the grogan now informs Lee that having a link in his signature was against SB policy, and it's only now after contributing to the grogan directly that the link is officially allowed in the signature. So in essence the grogan reimbursed Lee for his work with a user name in blue letters.


    I checked SB, Bulit7 is no longer in blue letters and there's no avatar and no signature. It doesn't however say banned, which means the grogan wants to make him disappear without anyone noticing.

  • what really gets me is that I considered him a friend. I would have never compromised a friendship over money. My wife tells me I'm naive and gullible .


    Tony Grogan: I know you come here and lurk. You told me so. I hope it was worthed to you. People like you disgust me. You represent a lot of what is wrong with this world we live in. Cheers dirtbag!

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