David Lilienfeld - A life to celebrate Memorial Paddle

While I did not know David very well, we certainly spent some time together in the Llandudno line up over the years. He always struck me as such a happy guy and the stoke for riding waves literally beamed out of him.  As wave riders in South Africa, we all know the risk we take surfing these beautiful waves, yet it still shocks us to our core when one of our own is taken from us. While many will use this to blame the sharks, we have to all honestly accept that we are in their world and this will not change. Instead we must all celebrate the life that was taken from us to early and keep loving the sport and the family that the ocean has given us.  It makes me so proud to be part of the waterman fraternity in Cape Town when I see how many people came out to the paddle out at Camps Bay on Saturday, for David's Memorial. Bodyboarders, surfers, swimmers and even the odd SUP. This is what it means to be a family of ocean users and in a way it is sad that a tragic event like this is what it takes to bring us all together. So honor David and the many other wave riders we have lost by keeping the stoke, respecting your fellow wave riders and making the most of our incredible oceans and the waves we love! We are all children of the waves.

RIP David - May you ride the endless wave of perfection in the afterlife!