Two weeks ago Dunedin surfer Jamie Civil died while surfing at Aramoana.
Last weekend, surfers in the area honoured him with a 'paddle out' - a traditional surfer farewell.
It is the ultimate sign of respect for a man who showed true mana out in the waves.
Jamie liked to surf the biggest waves you'll ever catch in New Zealand off the Catlins, just south of Dunedin.
It's believed he died out in the water during a standard surf after being knocked out by his surfboard.
The Project's Patrick Gower spoke with his proud sister and fellow surfer, Tash, about this humble legend known for his fearlessness. She described him as a dedicated surfer.
"The amount of trips he did himself, down to his favourite spot, takes like an hour-and-a-half to get there, but he would go by himself after work and then drive all the way home, he was fully dedicated to just nailing that wave."
Tash said her brother was an underground charger because of how good at surfing he was.
"Someone who is that bloody good but is never gonna tell everybody about it. He is just going to do his thing for the love of it. Not for the accolades or anything like that."
Tash said that when surfing barrels, Jamie would always come up with a smile on his face, even when he was knocked over.
"He would sometimes get bounced off the bottom, come up with a smile on his face and get picked up and have another go."
The day he died, Tash was nearby but never got to say goodbye. Lifeguards tried CPR and even a defibrillator, but Jamie was gone. Tash saw people gather on the beach and knew her brother wasn't going to make it.
"I didn't see him at first, I just saw people on the beach and I just knew from there that he was gone so I just went and lay with him."
Jamie spoke with NZ Surf Journal just weeks before he passed about being a dad and teaching his family how to surf.
"Beach days with the sunshade and the family these two, they are going to be learning to surf."
Tash said her brother was an incredible surfer but an even better dad.
"Oh he did so much for them, it was amazing to see him as a dad like he's the man at surfing but man was he the man at being a dad."
Tash said the surfing community will remember him as "a humble, generous, kind, charger - hahaha a barrel hunter".
Tributes to the devoted dad have been laid out at Aramoana, but it is at sea where he really has respect. Tash wants everyone to know how great of a guy Jamie really was.
"We just wanna put him out there and say 'look at this guy, look at what he's able to do' and I think secretly he'll be stoked."
