Mark Foo at Kaiser’s on the South Shore of Oahu in August 1974.
Mark had lived in Hawaii a few years earlier but his family moved to Washington, DC which probably drove Mark crazy. Somehow Mark made his way to the coast of Maryland/Delaware in the summer of ‘73. A group of Pensacola guys befriended him, and Mark ended up moving to Pensacola where he attended Gulf Breeze High School for the ‘73/‘74 school year. I think he really enjoyed his year and a half on the gulf coast. He was VERY MUCH into surfing. Steve Davis drove Mark back to his family in DC the summer of ‘74. He then moved back to Hawaii with his mom. At that time he wasn’t necessarily a big wave rider, but he eventually became one of the most famous big wave riders in the world (he was a great self promoter!). Unfortunately he died pursuing his passion – at Mavericks, on Dec. 23rd, 1994.
Steve Davis believes Mark is riding a T&C swallowtail in this photo. Mark is in a great position on the wave, but the guy behind him, not so much.
Dave Skelton, who took the photo, submitted it to Surfer Magazine. At this point no one at the magazines would have known much about Mark, other than a photo or two that were published of him surfing Pensacola in the previous year.