RIP Buck Noe

[Drunk Monk]

Like I said, this week is a beyotch.

Our street has no parking signs all over it for the week. We moved our cars dutifully. I’ll be in svale all week so that’ll alleviate the crunch. We saw a car get towed this morning. Not sure who’s it was…

Of course, no construction has happened yet.

But now, as I was changing my laundry I heard ‘This is the Santa Cruz police. Come out with your hands up!’ They’re raiding my neighbor Buck’s place again. I count 6 cops, two with assault rifles covering the flanks. There’s squad cars up and down the street (in the no parking zone) with lights flashing. The cops were at the open door for a while but now they’ve all gone inside.

I feel for Buck. He’s a good guy, industrious, an amazing gardener. He does have a drinking problem but that’s been under control lately, since his gf and son left. He has tenants in the granny unit on his property that have not paid rent since the pandemic began. But Buck has always been cool with me, friendly and supportive. We have another neighbor who is crippled from birth - no muscle mass - Buck helps out a lot there moving him (they asked me to do it once but I wasn’t strong enough - he’s heavy, maybe 200 lbs and fragile so I didn’t want to risk it). Anyway, if I didn’t have enough distractions…

Whatever happened at Buck’s, it’s bad. They’ve cordoned off the yard with police tape and are questioning all the neighbors. I just spoke to a detective. It’s an ongoing investigation so they could not reveal details.

And it was Buck’s car that was towed. I’m still watching to see if a coroner comes.

The last time I spoke to Buck was Saturday. I was coming back from Kung Fu and we crossed paths in front of our homes. He asked me if I needed eggs. I said no because he just gave me 14 - my usual dozen plus 2 extra. He told me that Chelsea planned to take the chickens and ducks (I usually got a few duck eggs too) and he was thinking of getting his own chickens because they had built an efficient coop and he found it easy to maintain. He was in good spirits - at least it seemed so - how did I know he was going through so much?

I’d witnessed him when he hit rock bottom. He sat with me in our veranda and we talked. I remember when he passed out in the gutter in front of his house. We became closer during the pandemic because we both lost our jobs. I talked to Chelsea a lot too but we stopped corresponding when she moved out with their boy, Reef. They were a sweet Cruz family when times were good - young, strong, beautiful. But there was that dark side when Buck would drink and rampage.

I will sorely miss him. We weren’t that close but always friendly, always greeting each other warmly when he wasn't binging. And he seemed to have gotten control of that lately. He seemed healthier in the last few months, throwing himself into his yard work. 

I spent a lot of today working on my mom’s stuff - finding documents, talking to caregivers, insurance, etc. Buck’s drama, plus the Roe v Wade news, on top of that made today so soul crushing. 

And now the cops just pulled out. They left the light on at Buck’s…

Did Buck take his own life? That's what I gather but it's a bit unclear. Sad either way. I just heard on my podcast that Naomi Judd also took her life.

The details are unclear but that’s what we’re guessing. The detective couldn’t tell me anything because it’s an ongoing investigation but our lot neighbor got more info somehow. He talked to the detective later in the day so perhaps they were loosening their restriction. He didn’t know details, just that he was gone. We’ll watch the crime reports and news for more.

With our new carpet, Stacy rearranged the front of our living room with a sofa, chair and tables, and now it’s a lovely place to sit, read, or chat… with a commanding view of Buck’s house. That’s going to be weird for a while.

I've been in Svale since Buck's passing, tuned in my mom, as you all know, plus distracting myself with two trips to SF for Lorde and Dr. Strange. 

When I came home just now, a small altar has been set up in front of his place. Matt's ex Jenn was in the yard, tending to the garden. She does that in our yard too (Matt is in the granny unit behind ours on the lot). I saw Ethan, who lives right next door to us, and Jenn and I called out to him, but he had his eyes down and didn't acknowledge us, so we left him to his space (he's been in this hood forever too). 

I found this:

Buck Noe Death, Obituary, Santa Cruz, Buck Noe Has Passed Away

[b]Buck Noe Death – Obituary Is Not Available: Buck Noe [/b]has suddenly passed away. Praying for his family, friends, community, and everyone else affected by this tragedy. His death was confirmed online by [b]Jan E. Schwartz[/b].
Jan E. Schwartz wrote ‘[i]‘The North Coast Kiters community is sending out a big shout for Buck Noe, shaper, surfer, father, kitesurfer. So sad you went to heaven so soon this past Monday, May 2, 2022. We love you for the shapes you produced and sold to our community customized and colorful. Surfing in heaven, you’ll be okay. We pray. This week’s North Coast Kiters page is dedicated to you and your achievements with the kiting community.”[/i]

Buck was a kiteboard maker. Kiteboards are special surf boards used for surfers who hang on to kites. It's a huge pastime just north of Santa Cruz at Waddell Beach. Blows my mind to watch - you need to command the waves and the winds to do it and some of those boarder get like 50 ft up when they launch off a wave. Crazy. 

Buck's one-man company was Noe. He inherited it from his dad, who founded the company. Rick Noe was a legendary SC surfer, known as the Mayor of Steamer Lane, a major surf spo. I'm not sure what happened with Rick but Buck often said he didn't want to be like him.

HANGING OUT WITH NOE SURFBOARDS
By Sean McLean on February 8, 2015 in Galleries, Surfing Photos
Rain showed up and it meant business after taking January off. What do I do when the weather turns soggy? I make some phone calls. Saturday I got to spend a little time with Buck Noe of Noe Surfboards and we shot what was going on around his shop. It was everything you would expect and hope for from a one-man operation here in Santa Cruz: small, crammed, gritty and above all busy. I did my best to keep from being too distracting — after all the man’s got a business to run and orders to fill right?
While we were there Matt brought his son, Shane by to replace a board he broke recently. Shane was surfing in Half Moon Bay. He snapped off the front by duck diving and smacking into the sand below. A great board now two great conversation pieces. They talked out front about what the right thing to do what and how Buck could help in a way that worked for everybody. Grom needs a board, shop need to make rent. They worked it out and everybody was happy.
I asked Buck if there was something he really wanted to get across during our session. What story would he want to tell? After a thoughtful pause he said simply “Buy local.” When you order a custom board from a big company you talk to somebody who just takes orders. Here you talk to him and they find what’s right for you. What your needs are, what your style is. Then he starts seriously looking at the blanks and a plan forms. More thickness here, lighter over here, yeah more foam here would help that shoulder problem he’s got — easier to paddle for longer.
This was a guy making functional art. I can’t wait to do this again.

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Noe went under from the pandemic. Buck and I commiserated about losing our jobs many times in 2020. He found some farming work for a while to tide him over. When his gf Chelsea left, we talked a few times, with me trying to console him. He was a mess. He loved his young son Reef so much. I was a friend of Chelsea's too but I haven't spoken to her since she left (that was a few months ago). 

My hood is grieving. I'll add to Buck's altar soon, and burn some sage bundles that I've been saving.