I don't know when the tradition of the memorial paddleout started, but it's a lovely way for friends and family to honor the memory of someone special. And Stuart Lough was very special indeed.

Stuart's paddleout was held at 6th Street, Hermosa Beach on the 29th of October 2005. At the same time, I held a solo paddleout for Stuart at Matapouri Beach, here in New Zealand. Photos follow.

October 29, 2005

The day was perfection, considering the reason for the gathering. The sun was shining and it might as well have been high summer. We all met at Bill and Kathy Rowe’s house on the Strand, which they graciously opened for our coming together. 

Sadly, Bill was unable to attend, as he had been hospitalized the night before for a staph infection. He practically had to be put in restraints to keep him from being among his surfing buddies at this memorial. His heart was most definitely there.

We all walked out to the sand and gathered together for a few moments of prayers and remembrances. Everyone who either surfed or swam out took an orchid and Jennifer and Scott took a small handful of their Dad’s ashes to scatter. Everyone formed a circle and shared some thought or memory of Stuart and then splashed some of his beloved ocean heavenward for him. To use a Scottish expression, I know he would have been “Fair pleased”. I've also attached the flyer that we handed out that day. It has a very good and fairly recent photo of Stuart, his Ford woody, a daffodil (his favorite) and an appropriate cartoon he drew for me some years ago. Use it if you wish.

Life goes on, and now, the presence of that absence is everywhere. Life goes on but it sure isn’t the fun it used to be.

- Sandy Lough

(From left to right) Front row: Di Ann Eastman (sitting next to basket), Sandy Lough (in sunglasses), Ethan Faneuff (youngest grandson)

"... as you may know, stuart's best friend back in the day was a guy named ray moselle. ray & his brother richard made boards in a little shop on jefferson & culver from 1957-64, maybe a thousand boards total (they're the "r&r moselle" in yr site's woody photo!) ... did stuart have a moselle board when u knew him? i'm told he had a bing, a yater spoon and a moselle; he loaned the moselle to a guy who never returned it, and it was lost ... anyways, when jennifer & i met over 20 yrs ago, ray moselle would join the family for sundays at the beach in redondo, and i heard all of the old south bay surfing stories - how ray used to make boards etc (we have some t-shirts w/the moselle logo they made up for kicks just a few yrs ago) ... but in all that time the only moselle boards still in existence that anyone knew of were the 3 richard kept for his sons and an un-surfed one ray still has up in his garage ... at the memorial service i was talking to some of the old-timers who showed up (willie roe, bill perkinson, jeep) and again, nobody had any moselles left. so i searched on the net, and damned if i didnt find ONE - and only one - and it was in hermosa beach! so i emailed & foned the guy a few times, we dickered a bit, and i went down there sunday and bought it. i wanted to have one in the family again, it's a part of our history." - Mike Faneuff (Stuart's son-in-law)

Ray Moselle, Mike Faneuff with Mike's "new" old classic R&R Moselle surfboard

While Stuart's paddle-out was taking place  at 6th Street in Hermosa Beach I had my own paddleout down at this end of the pool down in Matapouri Bay. 

I'd fashioned a little board out of wood (not the one shown in the photo - that's a modern day replica of the original Makaha skateboard - but around the same size) and I took it out in the water and sent it out to sea with some bright yellow orchids and a note saying:

CLICK HERE FOR STUART'S TRIBUTE

CLICK HERE FOR STUART'S EULOGY