Over lunch (which was fucking delicious, by the way) we were put into new groups, which was totally fine with me. Although I enjoyed surfing with my company-mates in the first session, they were also some of the best surfers at the pool, which meant they were less likely to fall, which meant I was less likely to catch any scraps. In the wave pool, you want to be paired with the worst surfers possible as to bolster your wave count. This is not so unlike ocean surfing, when you really think about it.

Plus it was nice to get away from Ashton. That bastard.

By sheer force of will I was able to convince my group that I should get the first wave of the session, despite being the youngest and least accomplished media member of the bunch. On top of getting that first-wave cleanness, the wavepool operator bumped the settings up from CT-2 to CT-1, which essentially made the wave steeper and faster than in our first session, all of which led to the longest, roundest tube I would get all day and then another great left on the way back. With those rides under my belt, I was able to surf the remainder of the session with a lightness of mind, body, and spirit. This may or may not have had something to do with the six total waves I caught.

That’s right folks, I was the new Ashton. And damn did it feel good!

I spent the day’s final session, which featured Morgan, Shinya, Warshaw and a few others, on the back of the jetski. This is a heavy call, but I might have had just as much fun riding shotgun and filming my pals as I did surfing the waves myself. There’s something truly exciting about calling out sections and seeing others' stoked expressions after a good ride. Though he wasn’t there at the time, I could feel Raimana’s presence riding along with me.

If I had to pick a highlight, it was probably watching Matt Warshaw get what he referred to as his “first barrel in seven years”. Not his best barrel; his first barrel in seven years. And considering how he rode the thing, with his clean shimmy-step and knock-kneed stance, you’d think the old man had just hopped off a plane from Salina Cruz.