Lou Boren

T Hall · Post by **T Hall** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 11:53 pm

I'm wondering if anyone else in the kneeboarding community remembers a kneelo named Lou Boren. He lived and surfed on the central coast of California. Truly a great ambassador of kneeboarding. Worked hard as a welder in Monterey and was one of the nicest guys that you could ever meet. Surfed all over the central coast and in Mexico. Unfortunately Lou met his fate while surfing a solo session at Asilomar beach in Pacific Grove in 1981. He got blindsided by a great white while surfing, and only his board washed in with an 18 inch wide bite completely missing from one side. The scientists that examined the board estimated that from the size of the tooth marks on the board the shark was in the 18 to 20 foot range an weighing an excess of two tons. Four days later his body was found not to far from the place where his board washed in and confirmed everybodys suspitions. I'm reminded of him every once in a while when I go into a local Monterey wetsuit shop where there is still a picture of him on the wall. Lou left alot of friends on the central coast and was well liked in the community. A ripping kneeboarder and nice guy he was eulogized in great fashion with a bon fire at Asilomar beach with tons of mates in attendance. Just wondering if anyone on ksusa remembers Lou.

Jimbo · Post by **Jimbo** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:00 am

I remember the incident. I had just surfed Asilomar the week before with a buddy and it kind of freaked me out. My buddy knew him and said he was a cool guy.

surfhorn · Post by **surfhorn** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:04 am

The kneeboard is in the collection of the Steinhart (sp) Aquarium in San Francisco. What I remember was that Boran was hit in the side, just under the shoulder......the typical kneeboarder position: arms forward on the board and just kicking.

southpeakbrad · Post by **southpeakbrad** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:23 am

Well, I never met Lou but the incident made an impression that I'll never forget. Maybe because he was a kneelo, but for sure because he was most unfortunate. Also, I was getting ready to move to the City for the first time out of SoCal and was intrigued/nervous about sharks. I have visited the area many times, most recently last May. Again, as I watched those surfing Asilomar/Spanish Bay I contemplated Lou.
Ultimately I'm thankful that attacks are very rare, giving many of us awesome memories, and those still in the triangle, daily water experiences in Cent/NoCal that nothing can compare to.

DarcyM · Post by **DarcyM** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 8:32 am

I remember the incident from the news at the time, and I was saddened and frightened by the tragic loss although I never knew Lou personally. What really made an impression on me was how some of the surfer mags played up the aspect of being a kneeboarder might have made him look more like a seal because of the flippers and the kicking, since sharks are attracted to disturbances in the water that might sound like an animal in distress. I've often gone to "stealth kicking" mode when you're way out there by yourself and your mind starts playing the theme from "Jaws". I remember the picture of the board with the giant bite out of the middle, very scary.

It was also sad because it was the first time in years that kneeboarding had been mentioned in any of the magazines.

surfhorn · Post by **surfhorn** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 9:40 am

I used to kid the standup guys in the water about KBers looking like bait.....as I slowlykicked and circled around the pack sitting on the peak. It made them very nervous - and kept their minds off of the next set.

BillL · Post by **BillL** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:48 pm

I grew up around the block from Lou in Torrance in the 60's and early 70's,his sister and mine were good friends.He was one of the cool older guys when I was a grom.There was a big pod of kneeboarders in the Southbay,due to the hollow shorebreak of the local beaches,thats how and why I got into kneeboarding. He was one of my earliest influences,I used to watch him shape his kneeboards in the garage.They were totally functional at the time,big round fishes with some great airbrushes,you know the 70's cosmic planetary kind of stuff,kind of what we're getting back into today.
Lou was your typical quiet unassuming nice guy, you would'nt of thought much of him until you heard some of his surf exploits,riding his bike on the train tracks from Jalama to get into the Ranch,midnight surfs in Palos Verdes and Rincon,he was hard core and I really looked up to him.He was always real nice to me and always answered my stupid questions about kneeboarding and making boards.I'll never forget the complement he gave me after surfing big Redondo Beach Breakwall when I was 16.
I'll never forget the night I was watching the evening news when they showed Lou's board with the big bite taken out of it.I was in college,my Grandfather just died,my girlfriend just dumped me and Lou was taken.It was the end of naive innocence for me. Lou loved to surf and surf alone when he could.I know he loved living in Monterrey surfing all the uncrowded spots at the time.He died doing what he loved best,not a bad way to go if you think about it.

surfhorn · Post by **surfhorn** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:55 pm

BillL - Thanx for the insite into Lou. Your local knowledge really put a face on Lou - made a real person of him, not just another SoCal South Bay surfer.

Life's lessons- big and small - really stick with us. By sharing our personal moments it helps everyone in the long run.

Thanx, again.

-Dan

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 3:58 pm

Thanks Bill! Great recollections.

southpeakbrad · Post by **southpeakbrad** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 3:59 pm

That "Guest" was me

....

dloughrey · Post by **dloughrey** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:00 pm

Lew and I were often the lone kneeriders at Fullers in the late 70's (after Bill Hartsell had left for the islands) I made the trek to Big Sur several times monthly to catch a good south swell and enjoyed watching Lew's deep bottom turns and laid back style. I learned of the tragic Asilomar incident while in college with 17 Mile Drive local, Royce Fraley.

I still think of Lew often and am still struck by the random loss of his life. Great memories and respect for his skill in the water remain.

Darin Loughrey

eqKneelo · Post by **eqKneelo** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 1:37 pm

I will never forget the morning I read in the paper about Lou Boren. I was a very young kneelo at the time, and it haunted me for some reason. I wrote a song about it called "Something Was Hunting"., and Sprocky and my band used open our shows with it more often than not. We never got a chance to record it "right", so I am hoping to get in the studio with this new band and record it, hopefully in time for SIMON's NSG'05 movie.
EQ

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:04 am

Hey EQ,
How you doing mate.
Im always open to your music & would love to keep intouch about any up coming recordings.
May I also say it was touching reading everyones posts about Lou!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:06 am

Sorry EQ,
The last post was from Sparrow.

Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

Lou Boren

Lou Boren

In memory of Lou

Lew Boren