Desert Drain Pipes: Dino Adrian

Video by Tom Jennings
Music: Southern Sky by Boy & Bear

Dino Adrian is a tubepig of the highest, and best, order. He lives in West Oz, has grown up there and knows it as well as someone who’s spent their years there could possibly know it. And it’s not just geographical knowledge, and hunches about spots that’ll be on that always turn out to be true. It’s also the waves – some of the hardest in the world to surf, depending on what spots you stumble on. Dino’s had some bad luck where his health’s concerned over the last two years, which was real poorly timed with a financial crash in the surfing industry. So, suffice to say he’s trying to get his name back on the radar. This clip, filmed over a stint in one of West Oz’s finest areas, is the first, and best, step towards his rebirth, which he’ll experience to the sound of Stab‘s applause…

Stab: Paint me a picture around the clip.
It’s up in the north west. Most crew will know where, but I won’t name the wave (laughs). I actually had this trip booked in, I booked this little campsite in a few months ago with my girl and Jay Davies and his girl and some other friends. We just happened to rock up straight into a swell. For the whole two weeks it was just flawless, one of the best run of waves I’ve ever had up there. I usually go up there every year, but that trip was… it just kept rolling, nothing too big but just perfect six-foot days. We scored. Tom Jennings was actually on the way up just to see his parents, and he saw the swell and decided to swing in and shoot for a few days. He ended up staying for 10 days cause the waves were just relentless. We lucked out! So stoked Tom was there, he’s so good at filming from the water.

Camp vibes up there, huh? The spots like that in WA are pretty spread apart. That particular place is probably the most popular, just because of the quality of the waves there. I’ve actually got a caravan there, I leave it there all year round. It’s a big old work size camping trailer, I ripped everything out and just have beds in there. That particular spot is special to me, I try to get there every year. You just pull the caravan down, set up and perch there for weeks. It’s an amazing setup.

WA waves aren’t like other waves, are they? They’re really intense waves; you’ve gotta be on your game. That left is hectic but you can get the ride of your life out there. It’s as thrilling as it gets. You can get perfect lefts like Desert Point, but it’s so perfect and well lined-up, whereas the waves up in north west WA have boils and bubbles and more things to negotiate. Especially when you’re in the barrel, it’s so exciting, you can be pulling into it and while you’re in the barrel, you’re looking down the line and you can see the bubbles. You go, Ok, I’ve gotta get low over this one, or try and get out before the next one comes… it’s a wild ride, but the most thrilling ride of your life because there’s so much going in.

What are your tips for backside tuberiding in WA?
It’s hard, you’ve just gotta sit there and assess it. They’re not the sort of waves you can take off further down the line on. With a couple of those waves, you’ve gotta be right on the bubble to get in the spot. Again, it’s not like Deserts or somewhere where you can pick em up halfway down the line. With these sort of waves, you’ve gotta be on the bubble and get behind the first section to really get the good one. Most people don’t realise, that’s probably the easiest place to take off, even though it’s the most intimidating. But if you can get into that section before the bubble, that’s the spot. If you can commit and sit yourself deep, that’s the key.

Tell me about keeping sponsors happy in 2014 as a freesurfer.
I had a shocker run the last couple of years. July 2012, my back locked up – I had a bulging disk. I ended up having to have an operation and I was out for about eight months. I was doing pretty good up until then. So after the eight months, I got over it and got back in it, and within the first month of surfing again, my first serious surf back in, I was at a local beachie, and it was solid six foot. I got pitched on one, landed on my shoulder and broke my clavicle. Thanks to injuries, I’ve pretty much missed the last two winters. The trip I just did is the first time I’ve been able to get back up there in the last two years, so it was pretty special.
I don’t know if it’s a mixture of me being out for so long or all the companies not doing so great in the surf industry, I mean, a lot of people are finding it tough these days… I had a pretty big cut in my contract. But I don’t want to give up at all. I love the lifestyle of chasing the surf, I live in one of the most special places in the world to do that. I get so spoilt for waves. And having grown up here I know where to be for swells. I’m still lucky enough to have the support of RVCA and Matt Manners surfboards. But it’s hard after having been out for so long. But I feel like I’m back now, and hopefully this clip puts me back on the map a bit. I’m going to start shooting a lot more with Tom Jennings. – Elliot Struck