Paddle Out Honors Surf Legend Of Seal Beach

SEAL BEACH, CA — Rich Harbour was memorialized on Sunday in a way that honored a lifelong surfer and surfboard shaper: a paddle out by hundreds of surfers directly below the pier he loved.

Bystanders lined the pier as surfers— in small groups— took to the small surf Sunday morning. They formed their circle at the far reaches honoring both Harbour and Rockin' Fig, two surf legends lost to this area.

Harbour died on July 11 at the age of 77 in his Seal Beach home.

He was a longtime Seal Beach business owner, opening his storefront Main Street Surf in 1962. According to a report from the Orange County Register, this is one of the longest operating surf shops still in its original location in the world.

He is survived by his wife, Helen Harbour, who threw roses into the ocean in her husband's memory.