>>Man, 60, pulled from Lake Worth Inlet was once famous surfer.

By SONJA ISGER, JASON SCHULTZ and ELIOT KLEINBERG

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The body of homeless man who was described by friends and family as one of the best local surfers years ago was pulled this morning from the Lake Worth Inlet.

"Mike Bowe was a very good hot dogger. He was considered one of the top five local surfers in the '60s," said Fred Salmon, head of the Palm Beach County Surfing History Project.

The U.S. Coast Guard found 60-year-old Michael Ray Bowe near Peanut Island after local boaters called authorities.

An autopsy has been done and no foul play is suspected, but detectives are awaiting toxicology results to determine the cause of death, the Palm Beach County sheriff's office said in a release.

Bowe was wearing swimming trunks when he was found, the sheriff's office said.

Salmon, also a surfer and a lifelong friend of Bowe, said family members told him Bowe had been living on Peanut Island and using a dingy to paddle back and forth between the island and the shore. The dingy needed repairs, and Bowe may have been trying to swim back to the island from the mainland, Salmon said.

Growing up in the 1960s, Bowe surfed on a longboard around Riviera Beach, Salmon said. He competed and won surfing events up and down the East Coast. But Salmon said Bowe's life took a turn after he got into a car accident on Interstate 95, and he had struggled with drugs and alcohol for the rest of his life after it.

"The late '60s claimed Mike," Salmon said. "The late '60s and early '70s took a lot of people down that road."

According to jail records, Bowe was arrested at least 19 times since 1977, mostly for disorderly intoxication or trespassing.

Records show he also spent time in state prison for convictions on charges that included grand theft auto and burglary.

Salmon said the last time he talked to Bowe was a few months ago. He said that once Bowe got arrested the first time it was hard for him to stay out of jail from then on. But Salmon said he still liked to remember the way his friend was when they were kids on the waves together.

"Back in the 60s he was a great surfer and he wasn't that bad of a guy," Salmon said.<<



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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

thats crazy really sad but would make a good book....

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baser

Damn....guess that's who they kept talking about on the Buzz. RIP

He was a legend in the 60's surf community. I believe he's the second from the right in the front of this shot:



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"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

I'd seen him loading his dingy at the marina.

Tough looking salt!

The dingy too!!

MamaG , nice pic! I am pretty sure that is him in the green shirt. Also Doug Soverel looking stylish in the "Jail House" striped Tee. Phil Flournoy in the red and gold baggies, and is that Hunter Joslin in the Maroon? Were we ever THAT young? Where did you get the pic?

Mike was actually from the Riviera Beach area if my mind serves me right. Same with Soverel and Flournoy. Eddie McCoy (second from left in the rear) and his future wife
(the only gal in the shot) were the Lake Worth crew in that shot.

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flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

Mike Bowe was from Riviera Beach, and was a "Conch", families that came from the Bahamas to fish out of the Palm Beach Inlet. He surfed "The Ship" , a WWII Liberty ship that washed ashore in 1965 during a hurricane. He was a style master through out the longboard/V-bottom/shortboard evolutionary period 1966-1970. No matter what happened to him in his life, he was a great surfer. ALOHA Mike Bowe!

Interesting story, thanks. Rest In Peace Dude.

Saw it on the local (ch 29) news last night. Sad story.

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flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

MICHAEL RAY BOWE,PRO SURFER
Posted 9/12/2009 2:55 PM EDT on CBS12.com
9/13/2009

THIS IS MY ATTEMPT,WITH A HEAVY HEART,TO TELL A STORY ABOUT MIKE BOWE OR "BOWE"
AS I KNEW HIM IN THE LATE 1960'S.I JUST WAUNTED THE SURFING COMMUNITY IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, TO KNEW THE GOOD ABOUT MIKE,NOT THE WAY HE DIED! ITS YOUR HISTORY! HE WAS
SPECIAL ON A SURF BOARD!
MICHAEL RAY BOWE "BOWE"

HE ROSE FROM THE FISHING DOCKS & ICE HOUSE IN RIVIERA BEACH FLA,TOO STRUGGLE IN A WORKING CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD IN LAKE PARK FLA.LIFE WASN'T EASY!

MOTHER OCEAN,HONED & LET SHINE, A RISING STAR.HE HAD FOUND HIS TRUE CALLING.
A SMALL WAVE PRO SURFER,IN ANY CONDITIONS ON ANY BEACH.

THE MIDDLE TO THE END OF THE 60'S ,PALM BEACH COUNTY SAW AN EXPLOSION OF SURFERS
ENTERING THE SPORT,AT THE NORTH END OF RIVIERA BCH, THIS WAS THE "SHIP"AMARYLLIS & SOUTH OF THE "SHIP" WAS THE PUMP HOUSE.THESE WERE WHERE MIKE BOWE PAID HIS DUES & REFINED HIS CRAFT,TO BECOME A SMALL WAVE "NOSE RIDING"HOTDOGGING SURFER.

HE WAS A RISING STAR,WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPOSURE,IN THE NATIONAL SPOT LIGHT,WHEN MIKE
ENTERED A CONTEST,HE WOULD WIN OR PLACE IN THE TOP 3, ANY BREAK,BEACH OR CONDITIONS. THIS WAS "BOWE" IN THE LATE 60'S .

HE SURFED AS FAR SOUTH AS BOYNTON,LAKE WORTH PIER,UP THE COAST TO NEW PORT NEWS RI.HIS MAIN SPOTS WERE THE "SHIP"& "THE PUMP HOUSE "IN RIVIERA BCH.WE ALSO LOVED TO
SURF THE LAKE WORTH PIER,FLAG POLE IN PALM BCH.RESOURCES WERE SLIM,FOR A WHILE.

MIKE BOWE,@ THE TIME, BELONGED TO "POSSUMS REEF SURF CLUB RIVIERA BEACH FLA."
MIKE GOT HIS 1ST RIDE @ HOLMESY SURFBOARDS,JUNO BCH FLA & JOINED KIM NELSON
ON THE HOLMESY TEAM,IN THOSE DAYS THIS WAS A VERY BIG DEAL. BILL HOLMES GAVE
BOWE HIS 1ST TEAM RIDE.
HIS 2ND RIDE WAS ON BUNGER SURFBOARDS,BAYSHORE,LONG ISLAND NY. MIKE JOINED A 6 MEMBER SURF TEAM,WHERE SOME SAID HE WAS "THE TEAM" HE WON EVERY CONTEST HE
ENTERED ON LONG ISLAND,& PLACED "1ST ALL PRO" IN NEW PORT NEWS,RI.SUMMER OF 69.

WHEN HE WAS IN THE WATER THERE WAS NO DOUBT "WHO THE MAN WAS" STRANGERS WOULD
SAY "WHO IS THAT "..........."THATS MIKE BOWE" HE'S FROM SOUTH FLA,"DAMM HE'S GOOD"!
I KNOW THIS TO BE ACCURATE,I WAS THERE!

"BOWE'S SHOWMANSHIP,WAS SUCH,THAT HE WAS ALWAYS SURROUNDED WITH ,PRO'S,CHICKS
"KOOKS",PRSC NEWBEES",PHOTOGRAPHERS,NOVICES,BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR STATURE,OR PECKING ORDER IN THE SURFING COMMUNITY, MIKE WOULD ALWAYS MAKE TIME TO YOU,SAY HELLO,SHOOT THE BREEZE WITH YOU! HE WAS APPROACHABLE,"HE WAS NEVER TOO GOOD"

I WAS ONE OF THOSE THAT CALLED HIM FRIEND.WE GREW UP IN THE SAME SMALL TOWN,WE
WERE,SURFMATES,PRSC MEMBERS,BESTMANS,SHARK ATTACK SURVIVORS,DIRT BIKE BUDDIES,BUT ON THE BEACH,OUR SURFING ABILITIES WERE, WORLDS APART."HE WAS THE BEST"
I'LL ONLY REMEMBER HIM ,THE WAY HE WAS,SURFING IN THE LATE 60'S!

"BOWE" BE AT PEACE NOW",ENDLESS,GLASSY TUBES! TOES ON THE NOSE,
CARVING YOUR WAY THRU ETERNITY"
GOD SPEED OLD FRIEND,SAVE A SPOT IN THE LINE UP FOR ME,I'LL BE LOOKING FOR YOU!
MIKE FRANTZ

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flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss