Christmas Day. Sunny, windless and relatively warm – warm enough that I pulled my hood off and didn’t mind when a wave knocked me under. Uncrowded enough to remind me that Camel Rock can be fun. Swell running about 6 at 14, little too much out of the west to be ideal – sets would often close out instead of peel – but glassy and no lack of fun inside lefts and rights. Nick, his buddy and I spent an hour in the water and would’ve stayed longer if I hadn’t had a Christmas dinner to attend to. In addition to general enjoyment, Nick and I both ended up with one of those near-transcendent waves, the ones that make you so happy you bothered, what with the driving and the neoprene and all.

‘Twas a Merry Christmas indeed.