Life is fantastic;to put it simply”you wouldn’t be dead for quids“.the word quid was a slang word for a british/aussie pound note.the brilliance of that expression has lived with me from when my POP/grandfather used to say to my father when they were enjoying life,Dave,you know what,you wouldn’t be bloody dead for quids son would yah???
And my father would say back to him,christ dad, I wish I had a QUID for everytime you said that one, geeze…this image is of my father…you are truly missed…
The word legend get’s thrown around a bit too much these day’s,but calling “TONY HUSSEIN HINDE” an legend is an understatement as he was the father of surfing in the maldives.that’s HONKY on your right and myself beside him,on our way to an amazing place he took me to on this great day,in his rubberducky.This place was a fair way from his Island,we weaved through a number of smaller atoll’s to get to his secret place,wow so beautiful,fish everywhere,fantastic stuff…
Back in the early 70’s Tony or “HONKY” as he is known to all his close friends from MAROUBRA and around the world was sailing with his best friend MARK(scano) SCANLON,both jumped on a sailing boat in GALLE,(pronounced “gaul”),colombo and were to sail to SOUTH AFRICA, but 2 days out of colombo they ran aground on a reef in the maldives in the middle of the night.
With nothing to do but wait until the morning or first light they were awakened by a group of MALDIVIAN local natives on outriggers or (donis)as they are called in the maldives, that were actually bodysurfing the waves on the surrounding reef near their boat and were rescued and taken onto land.
Honky who was so amazed by this place, surrounded by insane rideable reef breaks, decided to stay on and surf the local reefs.In this time Honky met up with this elderly local and his family,and in turn,spent the next 12 years or so with them,the elderly maldivian became like his second father.
From there he made his mark as a true surfing legend by opening up the first Island based surfcamp that was later on to be called ATOLL ADVENTURES…he in turn named all the most famous surfbreaks in his area.examples are:pasta point…sultan’s…honky’s…chickens…cola’s.jailhouse rights just to name a few…Pasta Point his private lefthander on the Island that he ran is such a fun wave,I remember the first time I ever surfed the place,feeling really keen to get out there as soon as I got off the boat,he pretty much begged me to sit around with him for a while,just to get the feel of the place, which I did,for he showed me everything from what rocks on the reef were the best one’s to stand on, to jump into the incoming set’s that were about to hit you bigtime,to the way the wave would double up on the inside part of Pasta Point,the way that when the tide changed, the rip that ran around the reef would differ in an heartbeat from pulling you backwards to taking you out in a matter of seconds,he had that place so wired it was greatknowledge to have.
myself,being a man who has plenty of respect for my elders,I took it all onboard with gratitude and from then on into my stay I was in control,well as best as HUEY would let me be that is,ha ha ha…because HUEY(the wave god) is a tough man to deal with from time to time,that’s for sure…
I remember one particular surf Honky and I had,it was at sultan’s,a beautiful righthander which is across the large channel from his Island.As if he was predicting the future,Honky said to me,we will go and surf sultans today from 12.00pm (when mostly everyone is on land or in there boats having a break,lunch,etc).he said Dicko, you will not believe what is going to happen at sultans today.,He had a huge cheeky smile on his face.So 12.00pm hits and we are over there and into it when pretty much like clock work the wind that was blowing just stopped completely,the waves were about 4 to 6 feet and absolutely perfect, barrelling and spitting.It was incredible,with just a few of us out their.So I take off on this wave half way out,my first wave and as I turn off the bottom to set my self up for the inside section,I just stood straight up in amazement,for looking down the line on this wave you could see on the face of the wave the reflection of the reef,fish,rocks, starfish, etc,mirrored on to the wall of the wave,it freaked me out,and I lost my equilibrium.It was just so strange and new to me.
Tony,who was watching me,cracked up,pissing himself laughing at me as I got sucked up and over the falls.We both paddled back out the back together and he explained to me to focus on the nose of my board and then you should be ok,so,next wave I did as he said,from then on for the next hour or so until the sun changed position we were getting Barrelled off our brains in a kaleidescope of colours spinning around our heads,I will never forget that surf,we were hooting and hollowing…2 big kids in a candy store,insane…
To go further into HONKY’S journey is in itself a book of hundred’s of pages as HONKY has lived a blessed life, in that he has lived his ULTIMATE DREAM ,and let’s face it,in this day and age,it’s pretty bloody hard to do that,as there alway’s seems to be something to mess your grand plan up. So peace to you my friend and what a pleasure it was to know you and spend great times with you in the maldives,so long buddy from your old mate,Dicko…
The Director will alway’s be here at PASTA POINT…
…TAKE IT AWAY “HONKY”…
this is a quote from the song,
Home At last,
from the album AJA,
from the band “STEELY DAN”
well the danger on the rock’s is surely passed
still I remain tied to the mast
could it be, that I have found my home at last
home at last
Donald Fagen/Walter Becker.
PLEASE NOTE:THIS IS A TRUE STORY…..
losing a real close friend is never easy,and losing him in very suspect circumstances is even worse, THIS IS A TRUE STORY…that happened to me a few years ago now,but I remember it like it was yesterday…My real close mate Tim Dunne had died some months earlier and on this particular day. I was thinking of him all day when it got to the stage when I just stopped work and put some music on that he used to enjoy.so I am having a few drinks at home on this particular day,listening to some fine music we both used to enjoy together when I had this intense feeling telling me to go up to the bar at the resort where I was living at the time…
Now where I used to live was a townhouse in a resort.Before I go on I should explain to you all, what the resort is like.as you enter the resort there is a lake that basically circles the whole resort and at the entrance to the resort there is an reception area,then near the entrance there is a lagoon off and below the restaurant/bar and you could walk down to a large pontoon where you can fish/have a drink as the sun goes down/rent a canoe or boat and have a paddle or just hang their and do absolutely nothing…so back to the story;
so with this very strong feeling I had,I walked up to the bar and bought a drink or 2 or 3 and as the sun was setting,on a perfectly clear night I wander down to the pontoon for a quiet 1 and reflect on the great times Dunny and I used to have in days gone by.I remember the night became so quiet you could here a pin drop,not many birds chirping,pretty much all you could here was the fish jumping around in the water.
6.30pm it was because I glanced down at my watch,sat down at the end of the pontoon and looked up at the sky,with the stars all starting to appear everywhere,then suddenly I see this moving object off into the distance and at first just thought it was a plane coming towards me, though the colour intrigues me and so I keep watching this as it slowly get’s closer,then as I begin to stand up,the night sky becomes this bright yellow,orange colour and you could actually see major sparks coming from it’s longish tale.it came from the northwest and just kept getting bigger and longer and visibly clearer,at this time you could imagine how I was feeling with my mate all around me on that day,I started yelling out GO DUNNY,you little BEAUTY.at the same time all the patrons at the resorts restaurant/bar all came out to witness this amazing spectacle with me.With everyone yelling and yahooing around me,the comet continued on into the night sky untill it finally disappeared over the horizon and then it was gone…to me it felt like It all happened in slow motion.beautiful.
In conclusion with all the terroism and chaos in the world these days it is easy to forget that we live in an absolutely fantastic world and that these special moments should never be taken for granted,but should be treasured for all and always…to TIM (dunny)Dunne,you are always with me buddy in fact I am going to have a nice glass of red for you right now mate and look out and into the stars on my verandah overlooking KIRRA BEACH and who knows, you might show yourself once again on a
…Comet over Australia…
p.s I welcome you all to reply to this true story…thank you.
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