Sad but lovely, reads like an obituary but very well done and sympathetic. It gave a picture of who Shep was and a little into the surfing community. It would also make a great opening scene for a story about surfing, his children, or his life.

This evening at 6pm in Newport, RI, at the popular Ruggles/Marines surfing location, there is a "Paddle-Out" scheduled for our brother, Patrick "Shep" Martin in honor of the 'final wave' that he surfed there last Thursday, May 10, 2012. Shep was out with the Water Brothers surf gang at 6pm catching a few waves when his comrades noticed that he might be in distress. They swam to him immediately and found Shep face-down in the water. Shep was taken directly into the shore by his close friends and given CPR while 911 was summoned. Shep, 58 years old, died @ the scene. Apparent heart attack. He was gone. Shep was the sixth of nine children born to Irish Catholic parents in Newport. His wake was attended by over 500 people in the course of 3 hours. The Water Brothers, fellow surfers and lifelong friends carried him in and out for the funeral. The “Paddle-Out” is a posthumous ceremony of numerous surfers who honor a fallen friend by paddling-out on their boards, allowing the first decent wave to unfold with no surfers riding it. That wave is reserved for the honoree, tonight for Shep, followed by each individual surfer taking his or her own wave into shore to wish farewell to their friend. A Shep paddle-out is also scheduled today in San Diego, where Shep lived for over 30 years, as well as in Hawaii and Australia. Way to go, Shep!