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2 Super Rare Vintage Surfboards, Jack O'Neill and Rick Noe - $1,000 (Pleasanton)
256 CANYON WOODS WAY APT B
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$1000 per board
Signed Noe Board
Neil Pearlberg, The Perfect Write: Buck Noe”s life, boards steeped in Santa Cruz tradition
By Santa Cruz Sentinel
UPDATED: September 11, 2018 at 12:00 AM PDT
A major brick in the foundation of Santa Cruz surfing lore was laid in 1966.
That”s when Laura Powers, a former U.S. women”s surfing champion, began working at the Haut surf shop as a glosser, pin striper and resin artist. She was the first female to do so in the industry of surfboard manufacturing.
There, on the corner of Swift Street and Delaware Avenue, she met, fell in love with and, in 1976, married Rick “Kong” Noe, king of the Westside, who too worked for Doug Haut as a surfboard shaper. In 1980, she delivered their only child, Buck Noe.
The proud parents just wanted their son to be a good boy. With those kinds of bloodlines, though, Buck could hardly help becoming one of the preeminent surfboard shapers in Santa Cruz County.
Buck”s playgrounds as a young boy were the shaping bays at the Haut shop and the Pacific Ocean a few hundred yards down from their Swift Street home. Buck grew up a fair-haired kid with a constantly sunburned nose, and sand between his toes and surfboard dust in his hair.
“Buck was a really good kid and an excellent student; both Rick and I were always extremely proud of him,” said Powers, who lives in Hawaii. “I constantly reminded him to stay humble, grateful and thankful and never get too prideful, as arrogance in the surf industry, I have seen, was a recipe for disaster and ultimately failure.”
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I visited Buck Noe at his surf shop on Delaware Avenue, the very building in which his father shaped for Haut for so many years. We grabbed a couple of old chairs and sat in the sun, and he told his story. He spoke of his first memories of his proud dad pushing him into the waves on a longboard at Cowell”s, his days at Gault, Branciforte and Harbor High schools, and life in the Haut surf shop.
The conversation went in many directions, but always circled back around to those who molded this young man: his parents. He is proud of his mom”s accomplishments and guidance, and tearful over the loss of his father in 2004, whom Buck, at the tender age of 10, learned to take care of after a freak surfing accident.
“There is a piece of my father in every board that I make, and I still hear his instructions that he shared with me that went along with every tool that belonged to him that I still use to this day,” Buck said, glancing back at his shop. “Every Noe board produced, whether for a professional or an amateur, is ingrained with the knowledge and teachings of both my parents and countless others within our industry who have helped me along the way. I am grateful to so many.”
For professional surfer and Santa Cruz native Anthony Ruffo, that local history made it only natural for him to surf a Noe board.
“I have surfed the Kong”s boards since I was a teenager. He just had the uncanny knack to shape the bottom of the board, like no one else — his 6-[foot]-6 was insane,” he said. “When Buck Noe followed in his father”s footsteps, it was only natural for me go back to him, knowing that I was not only supporting an incredible local craftsman, but also with the knowledge that I could collaborate with him to make the exact board I needed. And most importantly to me was that I proudly rode each board knowing it was steeped in family tradition.”
For Buck, the intermingling of the surf industry and the sport has become a catch-22. On one side of the coin, he is a small business owner in a competitive society, battling it out with so many other local and national surfboard manufacturers. He has shown no fear in using what he calls “blatant self-promotion,” yet the competition remains fierce to maintain each and every client. On the other side of the coin, Buck the surfer now has to face a crowded lineup. He harkens back to the days when young surfers had to “earn their stripes” before others in the lineup allowed them access to The Point or Steamer Lane.
“Not as a matter of selfishness, but as a matter of safety, with so many people vying for each wave, I cannot believe that there are not more accidents that occur out there,” he said. “There must be something in the water keeping everyone safe.”
After our interview concluded, I thought I might ask Doug Haut, one of Buck”s role models who runs his surf shop just a few feet away — in the same building as Buck”s — his impression of the shaping up-and-comer.
“I have known Buck for 30 years, ever since the day he was born,” Haut said, “and after his dad passed away, I kind of adopted him. And only once in a while was I required to point him in the right direction.
“Overall I have to say that he is doing an excellent job, and I am extremely proud of him.”
Every day while pregnant, Powers said she would walk along West Cliff Drive with her little dog Courageous and pray that her future son would stay clear of drugs and alcohol and not in get into trouble. Those prayers were certainly heard. Buck Noe turned out to be even more: a caring son, an ambassador of his sport, a talented shaper and, like mom wanted, a good kid.
Neil Pearlberg”s surfing column, “The Perfect Write,” appears every other Sunday in the Sentinel. Send him column ideas and feedback at show contact info .
Originally Published: July 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM PDT
Signed Oneill Board
Legends: JACK O'NEILL
Jack O’Neill was born in Denver, Colorado in 1923. He lived in Southern California and Oregon before moving to San Francisco in 1949 to pursue a degree in liberal arts. A bodysurfer since the late ‘30s, his move to the Bay Area and its cold water was inspiration enough to begin the experiments that led to O’Neill Wetsuits and the modern wetsuit. Well-known Santa Cruz local and big wave surfer Peter Mel once described O’Neill as “the man who brought comfort to cold-water surfing.”
Known simply as “Surf Shop”, Jack opened his first surf retail location in San Francisco in 1952. Within months, he had produced his first prototype wetsuits, which weren’t much more than vests with pieces of neoprene sewn in. O’Neill Wetsuits – a leading manufacturer of wetsuits and sportswear, was born.
Jack opened a second surf shop in 1959 – this time in Santa Cruz – and O’Neill’s wetsuit business continued to prosper. By 1970, the company had produced the first fullsuit for the surf market, introducing a new level of warmth and comfort to the sport.
In 1971, O’Neill lost sight in his left eye while testing another innovative surf product he was developing – the surf leash. Ironically, Jack’s son Pat had been credited with inventing the leash only a year before. The distinctive patch Jack wore over his eye since the accident became his signature; it would even become a feature of the O’Neill company logo. As Peter Mel once said, Jack “had a great distinctive voice. And of course, the eye patch. He wore it well.”
O’Neill stepped down as CEO of is company in 1985, with son Pat taking the helm. Jack remained active both with the company and in the water for many years to come. Mel described O’Neill as “an amazing guy. An innovator, with contributions as significant as anyone in our industry.” And in 1999, Surfer Magazine named him one of the “25 Most Influential Surfers of the Century.” Thank you, Jack, for all you did for surfing…