Mark Healey is a relatively quiet guy. He’s not much for self-promotion, although he certainly does it when he needs to. For the most part, though, he lets his actions do the talking, and his actions speak very, very loudly. And on March 25, when a late-season swell hit Pipe, those actions were shouting at an ear-splitting volume.
“We finally got a Pipe day,” Healey said. “There are a couple of second reefers. It’s been such a slow winter for Pipeline. I think I’ve only surfed it twice this whole winter. We got this late season swell; there are a couple of bombs, and I’m going to finally get to use this 8’1″.”
It was strangely empty, despite the fact that the waves were pumping. When Healey first stepped onto the sand, in fact, he appears to be the only one on the beach. The lineup looked almost empty, too.
“Where is everyone?” he asked. “It’s real west… some bombs. It’s wild out there!”
Healey excels more than most when the waves get to a point most would prefer to avoid. Take, for example, that wave at Puerto Escondido back in 2015. He’s well-known for quietly paddling out when things are huge, and his latest Strike Mission proves he’s still got it.
