Friends and family of Vetea Cowan paddled out in canoes Thursday to scatter his ashes off Kaimana Beach, where the 47-year-old Honolulu man from Tahiti body-surfed nearly every day for three years.

Cowan’s death last month came as a shock to friends, who say he was extremely fit because he was a runner and practiced yoga, as well as body-surfed.

“There’s a lot of fit people, but no one looked fitter than him,” said Henry Sadovsky, a regular Kaimana Beach swimmer who befriended Cowan. “He was just full of life.”

Cowan was pulled out of the water June 25 by swimmer Ethan Lombard and another man. Lombard said he performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a few chest compressions before off-duty lifeguards and fire personnel started CPR. Cowan was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he died.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office found his death was caused by accidental drowning, with other significant conditions being coronary artery disease and blunt force head trauma.

Cousin Ian Metzker said Cowan, born in Papeete, was a finish carpenter by trade.

“He was someone who challenged himself all the time. … He wanted to be really excellent. He made everybody feel better around him. … He encouraged everyone in a real quiet way just by the way he was. He made me better. I felt better by just being around him,” said Jane Mastro, a beach regular.

Cowan is survived by wife Hillary Juliette-Cowan, daughters Motuhana and Oriata, brother Alfred and sisters Lara and Betty.