How a brush with death changed him, and why since then he may be the hardest working surfer in San D

I’ve known Derek Dunfee for a long time. I’ve always appreciated his attitude and determination. I was excited when SurfShot approached me about doing an interview with Derek because he’s lived an exciting life chock-full of wild experiences, and he’s done it all relatively under the radar. He’s a humble and respectful person, on top of being a really amazing surfer. I sat down with Derek before he left for the Nixon Surf Challenge in San Sebastian, Spain, to uncover the underground life of one of San Diego’s top talents.

I remember when you were younger you became really sick and almost died, tell me about that?
When I was 17 I traveled to Indonesia. It was my first international trip and I ended up traveling by myself to meet a couple local pro surfers. I stayed there for about a month-and-a-half and I came back for a few days and ended up driving down to Scorpion Bay in Mexico. When I was there I ended up getting really bad migraine headaches and ended up feeling sicker than I’ve ever felt in my life. I had to leave the trip early but the people who I was with didn’t want to leave because they thought I was just dehydrated, so I ended up hitching a ride with a random guy and coming home early. When I came home I immediately went to the hospital and I spent probably two weeks in the hospital. It took a couple weeks to figure out what I had because I had traveled to Indonesia and Mexico, and they weren’t sure what I got or where I got it. I couldn’t sit in a lighted room, watch TV or listen to the radio for two months because I had such bad migraine headaches. I lost probably 30 pounds and I really didn’t have much weight to lose, so I was really skinny. I eventually found out that I had dengue fever, which I got from somewhere in Indonesia, probably Sumbawa or Lombok, and there’s a delay in the onset of symptoms, which is why I ended up getting sick in Mexico. I ended up getting spinal meningitis and encephilitus also. Dengue fever is the virus that caused the viral spinal meningitis and I probably got encephilitus from the same mosquito that had dengue. It causes your brain and spinal cord to swell and so I thought I was going to lose some of my vision and hearing because I was having problems for like two months and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get them back. It really changed my outlook on life because I was in bed for two months and could barely think.
If you would have come back a day or two later the doctors said that you probably would have died, right? So how did coming so close to death change you?
Yeah, the doctors said that if I had come any later and stayed in Mexico I probably would’ve died or lost my vision or hearing. When your body temperature is that high you become prone to paralysis and other sicknesses. I just felt really fortunate to be healthy again and I felt like I took for granted some stuff, like my family and friends, and just traveling and going places. I really wanted to pursue what I wanted to do with my life instead of waiting. I wanted to start living my life the way that I wanted to instead of waiting on my sponsors to send me on trips and waiting for people to do shit for me. I knew where I wanted to go, places like Australia, Hawaii, and Puerto Escondido. I’ve always enjoyed getting barreled and surfing big waves so I wanted to pursue that instead of contests. I used to freak out in contests ‘cause I swear I lost first round in every NSSA and I wanted to break my board in half.  It frustrated me so much that I just wanted to travel more and enjoy life more rather than sit around and wait for someone to help me out.
After you recovered you were able to take advantage of an opportunity that came up with Jon Roseman, and you became a Tavarua boatman for a while. How was that experience?
I grew up knowing Jon Roseman from La Jolla. He is actually a partial owner of Tavarua and I grew up knowing a lot of the boatmen and a lot of the guys. A lot of the boatmen were guys that I looked up to.  They were more rugged and went out there to surf for six months at a time, and that was one of the main goals for me growing up. I just kept hounding Jon Roseman and bugging him and I ended up taking my EMT before I got hired because I just wanted it so bad. So he ended up letting me come out during my senior year of high school, after I was sick, and that was one of the first times that I traveled. It was just the best experience of my life almost. Working out there and meeting so many different people and surfing Cloudbreak just opened me up so much to new people because 30 new people come every week. When I work out there I’m also a lifeguard, so I’m responsible for a lot of people. It helped me grow up a lot more and made me more confident in the water. I wasn’t only looking out for myself, I was looking after other people, which has helped at home when dealing with people.
What was one of your more influential encounters with a surfer at Tavarua?
I met Zach Wormhoudt when he was out in Tavarua, and he’s a legendary Santa Cruz/Mavericks surfer. I met him when he had just won his big wave paddle award and he is the nicest, most humble guy. The waves got pretty big and he just gave me confidence saying, “I know you can come up and surf Mavericks,” and I asked him a million questions about Mavericks, big waves, and what kind of equipment I needed. That was one really beneficial aspect of working out there because he really pushed me to get a big board because he saw me get some barrels at Cloudbreak. He ended up saying that next winter I should go up and surf Mavericks. He’s so respectful and he’s really quiet but he charges so hard, which I really respect, and he ended up calling me and that was the first time I ended up surfing up there. Mavericks is probably the most humbling wave I’ve ever surfed and he is so confident out there. His approach taught me more about big waves. I’m so scared out there but I just felt that it was progressive in my surfing career, and it really helped me out even though I’m still scared shitless of surfing it.
Do you train for big waves?  What can you do to develop your lungs enough to withstand a really long hold down?
I try to train a lot. Surfing consistently plays a big role in it. I could train a lot, but just being in tune with surfing is a huge part of it and just to know I’m surfing consistently. I also swim a couple times a week in a local pool. I like riding my bike a lot. Swimming helps with holding my breath and bike riding is good for cardio. I’ve also been training Jiu Jitsu at the Pacific Beach Fight Center for three or four years and that’s helped me because there are other surfers that do it there, and we all push each other. I try not to make being in good shape such a seasonal thing. Instead of just doing it for the winter, I try to keep it up year round.  
How important is going to Hawaii in your life and in the lives of aspiring San Diego surfers who want to become professionals?
I’ve been going to Hawaii a lot since I was pretty young.  I’ve been surfing for Volcom for probably like 10 years and I went over and stayed at one of the first Volcom houses when I was 13 or 14.  I really love Hawaii because it’s got such big waves and consistent swells, but a lot of people don’t like it because it gets so crowded and the localism is strong. But I think it’s important for the young kids to go over there because it can push them to surf bigger waves and the level of surfing at Pipeline and Sunset is so high; it’s incredible to watch the locals. Even though it’s crowded I think there should be localism out there. I’ve seen a lot of fights and I think it’s important to have out there because people could easily die if people were snaking one another. Those guys do a good job of keeping the spot regulated and making sure nobody gets hurt. I’ve had my run-ins with different locals at different places that I’ve gone and I try to be respectful and humble. I don’t get it when people from other places are really arrogant and try to snake locals and be really aggressive. I think etiquette is important in any lineup. Try to know all the guys and know who’s who. I think if you do make an impact in Hawaii and get a good barrel or surf really well, then you can have an impact on pro surfing.
Who inspires you in San Diego and makes you want to surf and continue surfing for a long time?
In San Diego there are a group of surfers, whether in LJ or PB, that I look up to in surfing. Like Joe Roper, he used to charge really hard in Hawaii. Guys like Johnny Jacobs, Jason Weatherley, Justin Poston, Travis Molina, Richard Kenvin, Henry Hunt, and Saxon Boucher. There are a lot of kids who surf really good in San Diego and who I have a lot of respect for like Nick Jiampa, Ian Rotgans, Joel Tudor, and a lot of guys who I surf with a lot. Marco Wolfinger is a kid who isn’t sponsored but probably gets more barreled than a lot of guys in San Diego. Also the Duponts and Jojo Roper.  There is also this super grom who rips and does huge airs named CJ Watkins, he’s from Mission Beach, but I just hope he doesn’t get side tracked by the partying scene in San Diego. In big waves Brian Conley surfs really well, Brad Gerlach is amazing, and Garth Engelhorn and Toby Cunningham both charge hard at Todos.
What are your plans for the future?
I’ve been saving up my money and I want to get a jet ski finally. I’ll be following the winter swells and not just going to Hawaii. If I see a big swell that will hit there, then I’ll go there, but if it’s going to be big in California and is going to miss Hawaii then I want to stay around here.
Do you want to end by thanking anyone who has supported you?
I just wanted to thank my sponsors: Volcom, Etnies, Sector Nine, Stu Kenson at Kane Garden Surfboards, Nixon, Mitch's Surf Shop, Destination Surf, and Joe Roper’s ding repair. And thanks to my Mom, Dad, Jax, family, everyone from LJ, and thank you Nick for helping a brotha out. Also Jon Roseman, Mikey Guarino, Evan Slater, Zack Wormhoudt and all the crazy Mav's guys… Brandon Lillard, everyone in Puerto Escondido, my brother Taylor for the portraits, my beautiful girlfriend Briana Gamboa… The Darkside, Anthony Ghiglia, Kaiborg, the Pipeline Posse and the Wolfpack for letting me surf their waves in Hawaii, and everyone at SurfShot Magazine for giving me a chance.