Matt Soergel

Feb 3, 2025 | jacksonville.com | Matt Soergel

Matt SoergelJacksonville Florida Times-UnionAs an eager young surfer, Erick van Malssen was transfixed by the surfing magazines’ glossy depictions of adventurers boating to remote tropical islands, where they would ride pristine blue waves with almost no one else around. One day, he said ... But unlike many of the others who made that vow, van Malssen actually went ahead and did it.

Jan 29, 2025 | jacksonville.com | Matt Soergel

Matt SoergelJacksonville Florida Times-Union(EDITOR'S NOTE: Bill Longenecker, who for more than 40 years has faithfully given regular surf reports over the phone to Jacksonville surfers, is stepping down from that job. With online surf reports and surf cams, the need for phone reports has gone way down, and he said he's told Sunrise Surf Shop, which sponsors the reports, that Friday will be his last day.

Jan 21, 2025 | jacksonville.com | Matt Soergel

As this week's winter storm descends on Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, bringing with it the potential for icy roads and even sleet and snow, many people have been looking at 1989, the last time the area saw any real amount of snow. But how about 90 years before that? That was 1899, when what became known as "the Great Arctic Outbreak" brought Jacksonville its biggest snowstorm in recorded history: 1.9 inches on Feb. 13.

Jan 7, 2025 | news.yahoo.com | Matt Soergel

FERNANDINA BEACH — The Amelia Island Lighthouse, Florida's oldest, is just 67 feet tall, far shorter than most of the state's major lighthouses. But it gains in stature by its position atop the island's highest point, a bluff 60 feet above sea level and three-quarters of a mile from the ocean. It's been a constant in the life of Tom Sintes, 67, who, wearing a crisp blue U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary uniform, is one of the volunteers who watch over the tower and provide tours and stories to visitors.

Dec 6, 2024 | yahoo.com | Matt Soergel

Editor's note: This story was originally published June 20, 2019. The wind gusted sideways and rain lashed down as the Delta passenger jet carrying Seaman 1st Class Herbert Joseph Poindexter Jr. drew close to his hometown of Jacksonville, from which the sailor had left in 1936, looking for new opportunities and new horizons in a world wracked by the Great Depression. The storm then paused, though black clouds lowered and loomed just to the west of Jacksonville International Airport.