Surfers have a custom called a paddle-out, as a way to say goodbye when someone has passed. It’s a subcultural tradition many decades old in which friends and family paddle out into the ocean, a place that gives them comfort, share memories and look to find some closure in celebrating the life of the fellow waverider.

On Sunday, much of the New Jersey surfing community paddled out to say goodbye not to a person, but to a 60-year institution of Long Beach Island – Brighton Beach Surf Shop.