Pounding surf ‘good as it gets’
Waves good today before subsiding
THE surf on the Gold Coast is absolutely cooking.
“It’s the best it’s been in years, it’s as good as it gets,” said pro surfer Dean Harrington who was towed into some of the biggest waves to roll through Kirra yesterday by his mate, 2012 world champion Joel Parkinson.
The monster 3m waves have been whipped up by Tropical Cyclone Gita which is out in the Coral Sea and now tracking towards New Zealand.
Boardriders have the rest of today to make the most of the waves before they drop off drastically from tomorrow, according to forecasters.
Top surfers like Parkinson, Taj Burrow and Dean Morrison as well as movie star Chris Hemsworth were spotted yesterday among the crowds who made the most of the best cyclone swell in two years to hit the Gold Coast.
“Normally half the swells around here fizzle out but this one ... we had half an idea it was going to be this good today so me and Joel (Parkinson) got up early and locked into a few good ones,” said Harrington, a frontman for Gold Coast clothing brand The Mad Hueys.
It’s the first time Harrington has been able to surf solid waves since breaking his ankle in Japan more than a year ago.
“This is my first swell back in over a year so I was pumped to get back out there, I was frothing,” Harrington said.
“It was good to be out there with all my mates.”
And there was plenty of people to share waves with as hundreds of boardriders descended on the Coolangatta pointbreaks with most locations across the Gold Coast unrideable due to the powerful easterly swell.
Jetskis were deployed in droves allowing surfers to battle the strong northerly sweep just offshore.
As many as 16 jetskis were spotted off Kirra Point yesterday with many more towing into waves off the Tweed River, Currumbin, Burleigh and South Stradbroke Island.
Despite many surfers paddling elbow to elbow at times, Harrington said the crowds weren’t too bad by Gold Coast standards.
Many top local surfers were away competing at the Australian Boardriders Battle in Newcastle.
“It was actually pretty mellow because everyone was down in Newcastle, so it was good for a change,” he said. “There were still a billion people out, but it was still good for the Gold Coast.”
Most of the surfers out were there for one thing: massive barrels.
“I don’t know how to describe it, you just lock into (the wave at Kirra) and once you’re there you just stay there,” Harrington said. “And hopefully travel through it, you pass a few people who yell banter and abuse at you, it’s a good feeling.”
Coastalwatch chief forecaster Ben Macartney said the big surf was expected to decline from today to a more manageable 1m expected on Wednesday.
Although it might take Harrington a little while to get out of bed today after he got pummelled in a few wipe-outs for the first time in a while.
“I’m washed up, I got a few waves and I copped a few floggings as well – I’ve got a dad bod,” Harrington said.