 Secrets of Spanish Florida uncovers stories of America's past that never made it into the textbooks. WJCT is proud to feature additional local stories from Florida's history. My name is Michael Yuzema and I am a direct descendant of the first Menorchans that came to St. Augustine in 1768. Menorchans were net makers. They brought that skill with them from from Menorca and basically I learned it from watching my father and I couldn't have been probably eight or nine years old when I started learning how to tie the knots and I don't recall getting a lot of tutoring from him but I probably picked this stuff up by myself. Yeah I've been making that since the late 1940s. I have five generation grandfathers that the fifth generation grandfather was on the boat that came to St. Augustine that brought that skill with him and it was passed down you know from from father to son, father to son right on down to to now. I think it is important to try to keep it. I'm struggling to keep this art. It's an art is what it is now it's become an art. It's gone from a necessity to an art. As it stands now it's very little interest in making a net by hand. I can say that I struggled with keeping people interested in it and you would be surprised how many people I talked to in the different places that I go. You ask them did they have any idea that cast nets were once made by hand and people 15 60 years old had no idea. That's why I like to try to keep it you know going as long as I can. Funding for this program was provided in part by the Last Inker Family Foundation the Ha family foundation weaver family foundation fund through the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida and the Joy McCann Foundation. Funding for Secrets of the Dead is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you.