The sea was as choppy as I've ever seen her - a strong South-West wind was running cross to the South-East swell, so the waves were coming in very short cross-grained sets that were near impossible to grab.

I found myself constantly in the washing-machine, there was no clear zone to go catch my breath and find a good one. I was also trying a short-board I hadn't ridden before, and the lack of wax (a kickplate instead) was a bad idea, it kept squirting out from under my chest like a giant bar of soap.

Basically I managed nothing other than one good wave, except I didn't even stand up on that. I did see some pelicans very aggressive fishing not 20 feet away from me though. The final straw - when I was standing in the shallows talking to my next-door neighbor about my frustration, a wave flat-out slapped me in the nuts.

Even so, it was a good day in the surf. Even a bad day on the ocean is still better than a day anywhere else.