Surf on, Wavy Davy

Janet Carr

March 3

I wrote about my friend and former colleague a number of years back. Here is the article.

On Monday evening the sad news reached me that David had passed away earlier in the day. I was in shock. He was 55. He died of a probable heart attack while in the lineup waiting for a wave.

The outpouring of grief and condolences was immense. From former journalist colleagues, from people he had taught to surf, from local townspeople he had helped, from the international surfing community (he and his sons were national champions, and both his father and grandfather surfed).

I grew up around surfers in Port Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and Jeffreys Bay (the second best surf spot in the world, and famous for its supertubes) and learned very young that it is not just a sport. It is a lifestyle, a religion, an ethos. It's not what you do, it's who you are. I envied all the surfers who lived in their vans and moved around the country doing odd jobs to fund their dream. They dressed and spoke and lived in a certain way.

I worked with Dave when he was a journalist. He was always laid back and in surf shorts. His speech was littered with surf terms. He was unapologetically laid back. He put his all into journalism, but gave it up and followed his dream. He built a totally recycled house on stilts in an ancient dune forest in the tiny fishing town of Port Alfred, and started a surf school. Here is an interview about his home and his school.

He loved what he was doing. He worked hard for transformation in surfing - changing surfing from a traditional white space into a more diverse sport. He adopted stray animals (one of his dogs was called Dog Marley, which I loved), started projects during covid to get food parcels to poverty stricken people who were affected by the lockdown. Unable to work in the casual sector (washing cars, mowing lawns, carrying baskets at the supermarket), they were not helped by the government and were in dire straits.

I grew up around surfers, spending weekends on the beach and holidays by the sea.

One good thing (if there can be one) is that David died doing what he loved. His last post on Facebook (hours before he died) was this one.