Clay Marzo makes no bones about the fact that he’s a private person. He’s not a guy who wants to be in the spotlight. Clay’s talent, though, makes the ones pointing those lights direct them at him. A quick story about the man that I like to remember:
A few years ago, I was in Portugal. Clay was there too, along with his partner Leilani (who also filmed the video you see above), and we went to Supertubos because it was going to be good. Really good. Now, I’d never seen Supertubos before, and I had some vague idea that I would like to surf it. When we arrived before dawn, a chilly breeze was whistling offshore. The rising sun was beginning to paint the eastern horizon with indigo and a watery orange. A few others were there with us — Mikey February, Ace Buchan, Nic von Rupp, and Jeje Vidal — and as we made our way to the sand it was clear that the waves were all-time. Way too all-time for me. It was huge. “It looks like second reef Pipe,” said Mikey February in his quiet, lilting South African accent.
Mikey, Ace, and the rest of the guys raced out to the lineup, but Clay sat quietly by himself hidden by the scaffolding set up for the upcoming WSL event there. I thought maybe he was nervous because it was so big. I thought maybe he didn’t want to paddle out because he hates wetsuits and the water was cold. It wasn’t those things, though. It was the fact that, even though he’s one of the best, most creative surfers in the world, there were too many cameras on the beach. He was uncomfortable with the eyes that would inevitably be on him. He did eventually paddle out. He proceeded to surf the way only Clay can surf, but it took him some time to work up the nerve.
I love that about Clay. He’s human and he’s not afraid to let it be known when he’s uncomfortable. If Clay never had a camera pointed at him in his life, he’d be just fine with it. If no one knew how good he is at surfing, he’d still be surfing as much as possible. He doesn’t surf for anyone but himself. He just so happens to be in a position where he’s so good at it that he’s able to make a living doing it, and to make a living doing it, he needs people to see him doing it.
For a long time, he didn’t post all that regularly to social media. There was — still is, really — a serious dearth of Clay Marzo clips, but the ones that he did release were so good that it made it that much better when something hit YouTube. It’s the scarcity principle, only it’s not related to economics.
The things Clay Marzo can do on a surfboard almost defy belief. A regular session for him looks like a highlight reel of some of the best surfers in the world. In the three minute clip here, he puts his talent on full display.
