The recent run of swell on the Gold Coast has brought incredible run of waves to the Superbank. It goes without saying that the crowds have come too. Dean “Dingo” Morrison, as usual, has been in the thick of it, snavelling the best tubes, but also been vocal in his opinions on the crowds. In an Instagram post which drew over 300 comments he was forthright in condemning the behaviour of visiting surfers. Also in a recent video Dingo is showing fading another surfer in the pit, before going on to log about 25 seconds of sand speckled tube time. Tracks caught up with Dingo to talk about the swell, and the crowds that have come with it.
Tracks: One of the waves of the swell showed you fading a guy in the pit. What was happening there?
Dingo: I thought he was going left (laughs). Or maybe he had a GoPro on and wanted to do a follow cam shot. It was all planned mate (laughs again).
In all seriousness though, you have been vocal about the crowds, how do you read the situation?
The crowds are as thick as ever and are bloody horrible. There is no etiquette, there is no rules and it’s kinda of sad when you see guys that have lived here there whole lives and they are getting paddled around and can’t get a wave. They aren’t given any respect and it’s a free for all.
But you still manage to claim your share?
Look I’m fine, ’cause I’m young and I’m fit and I can keep up with the pack, but when you get a bit older it’s much harder. And there’s guys like Rabbit and a few of the older guys who are getting constantly snaked and it’s not something that you like to see happening at your local break. You grew up there, you live there and you’d like to go out and surf with the pack and know that you can look after each other.
And now that’s difficult?
It’s almost impossible. At most places that’s the way it works, but not here, despite our history and great surf community and to be honest it is totally out of control. I’ve heard people telling respected locals to fuck off and if you did that anywhere else in the world, be it Brazil or Hawaii or anywhere really, it wouldn’t be tolerated. There’d be repercussions, but here we have to suck it up. And there’s guys that say, ‘Well I’m just here to catch a few waves,’ or, ‘I moved here six months ago,’ and that’s fair enough, but I say, ‘Well I wouldn’t go to your local break and start snaking the local older guys and think I’d get away with it.’
What’s the solution?
Mate, I don’t know what the solution is. Look violence obviously isn’t the answer and never will be. It’s also difficult because of the sheer numbers and the fact that the line-up is so big. It’s a unique situation, but one where the locals have been marginalised. Look I tell you what, if everyone wants to come here and go the lefts it’s all sweet. Maybe that’s the solution (laughs again). If you come up here, all the lefts are yours, you can have ’em, problem solved.
And how has the swell been in general?
It’s been super consistent. It hasn’t been an epic strong groomed clean swell, because the cyclone has been just off the coast, but it has had its moments where the right sections have hit the right part of the bank. And I have heard of a few guys here for the contest saying they have had best the waves of their lives, so that says something.
And what about Kirra, is it coming back?
Kirra has improved since they put the groynes back. I mean compared to the old days, it’s not quite there yet, these days would have been average or a little above average, so there’s a way to go, but the bank looks really good. Maybe with a bigger south swell it could really turn on. One of the big differences is that now you can paddle against the rip, where as when the groynes weren’t there, the rip was so strong it was just little sections, almost like a beach break. So fingers crossed we’ll see Kirra return.
Well cheers Dingo thanks for your time.
No worries Mondy, and come up for a surf, there’s a few lefts that have your name written all over them.
