South Africa has lost another boatbuilding stalwart in David Abrahams, who passed away in early September following a short illness.
Abrahams was a Gauteng-based boat repair and manufacturing kingpin within the South African boating scene, working closely with other stalwarts of the trade such as Dickie Manten and Milton Coplan. Abrahams worked for Coplan at the well-known Heny Vink yard. Together they produced a veritable fleet of Van der Stadt monohulls, followed by the popular Ocean Spirit range.
“He was my second-in-command,” said Coplan of his colleague of over twenty years. “He was there already when I took over and he had already produced a lot of boats. He could do any task in boatbuilding.”
“He was also very open and very sociable. I worked alongside him in Walkerville for maybe twenty years. When I walked with him into town or to the shops, nobody greeted me, but everybody said hi to Dawie!” Coplan recalled with a smile. “He had an outgoing personality.”
In the twilight of his career Abrahams also dabbled in the mining industry, producing fiberglass casings for mining equipment. He also did boat repair work.
“He came to see me about nine months ago,” added Coplan. “He was in Cape Town a month ago but I missed him. I didn’t know he was ill.”
SABBEX’s, Vanessa Davidson first met David at the Walkerville yard. “Dawie was committed to skills development and upliftment in the boat building sector. I will miss his phone calls and his upbeat demeanour… he never let anything get him down, he seized every opportunity with both hands.”
News of his passing prompted an outpouring of tributes and condolences on social media, with many expressing their fondness for Dawie’s positive demeanor .
“This comes as such a shock — Dawie is one of the most kind hearted and honest men I know,” said Sebastian Sass in a Facebook post.
“Great man always smiles and happy child of God,” said another commentator.