Dick Catri, the Duke Kahanamoku of East Coast Surfing, has died

[Atman]

Legend of East Coast surfing, hall of famer. Another big loss for the Florida/East Coast surfing community.

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/sports/surfing/2017/05/15/surfing-legend-dick-catri-dies/101709268/

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Affectionately known as the true "Old Man and the Sea," world-class surfer, fisherman and charter boat captain Dick Catri once joked that he didn't actually invent surfing. But he was close.

A pioneer in the sport, an original inductee into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame and a 1966 inductee into the International Hall of Fame, the Melbourne Beach resident passed away Monday morning from complications of several recent strokes.
"He had been fighting a lot of things," said Cocoa Beach's Sean Slater. "I think it was a matter of when. It's a shame. A lot of things to be thankful for."

Catri had previously battled skin cancer, had lupus and had an angioplasty.

Born in 1938 in Carteret, New Jersey, Catri not only was the first East Coast surfer to prove he could surf the giant waves in Hawaii (he placed second in the 1967 Duke Kahanamoku Classic at Sunset Beach), but he also put together one of the finest surf teams in the country and brought international stars to his pro events at Sebastian Inlet. For more than three decades, he and partner John Griffin also operated the Easter Surf Fest in Cocoa Beach.

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[FLSurfer]

1. RIP Captain. Thanks for all the stories.