Butch and Jennifer Ringelspaugh

EPOCH Stories

History EN ↓ 3 episodes

Maritime disasters, shipwrecks, and survivor stories at sea.

Author

Butch and Jennifer Ringelspaugh

Episodes

"The Boat's Gone"-Into The Eye-Surviving Hurricane Ian-Part 2 08.05.2026 1:19:27

In Part 2 of this incredible survival story, David’s worst fears become reality. After leaving Venice, Florida to escape Hurricane Ian, David believed he was heading away from danger. Instead, the storm shifted south — placing him directly in the path of the eyewall near Captiva Island. Alone aboard his DeFever Trawler, conditions rapidly deteriorated. His cell phone was nearly dead. The generato...

Into the Eye: Surviving Hurricane Ian on a DeFever Trawler-Part 1 (The Full Story) 04.05.2026 1:14:26

When Hurricane Ian approached Florida, this captain made a decision that nearly cost him his life. When the storm was forecast to hit Tampa Bay, this Venice Florida couple was forced to evacuate their DeFever Trawler from their marina. What happened next turned in to a life-or-death fight for survival. In this episode, we get their backstory, how they got in to boating, what led them to a DeFever...

One of America's Most Horrific Shipwrecks: SS Larchmont (1907) 12.03.2026 1:14:36

In this episode of Epoch Stories , co-hosts Butch Ringelspaugh and Jennifer Ringelspaugh dive into one of the most chilling maritime disasters in American history — the Steamship Larchmont Disaster . On the bitterly cold and windy night of February 11, 1907, the steamship SS Larchmont was traveling from Providence , Rhode Island to New York City with hundreds of passengers on board. Near Block Isl...