by Justine Chang, staff writer

Imagine sitting on a surfboard floating on refreshing, ocean water on a warm, summer day and being surrounded by friends.

A sense of calm and happiness overflows the mind and reality ceases to exist.

These are the feelings that juniors Adam Kimmel and Chris Fernainy get whenever they are in the ocean getting ready to ride the waves.

“You feel more in touch with the ocean,” says Fernainy. “It’s hard to explain. Looking at the water under your board, under your feet like gliding above the water makes you feel like you’re walking on water.”

Both started surfing in Southern California at a young age, but have different stories to tell.

Kimmel was 11 years old when he found himself being interested in surfing on his own. Learning to surf was difficult at first,but he got the hang of it after about two years.

“At first I thought that it was really hard,” said Kimmel.  “But then when I got my board and started going a lot, I caught on and it started getting easier.”

Before he starts to surf, he sits on his board for about 20 minutes to look at the ocean and the different sets of waves, allowing him to connect with the ocean.

One of Kimmel’s most memorable moments while surfing was at Newport Beach when he first started surfing. While he and friends were playing in the water, a pod of dolphins swam under them.

His friends also have fond memories of surfing together.

“From the few times I’ve surfed with Adam, I’ve noticed that he tends to wink at every attractive girl he sees as he’s shooting the tube,” said junior Charlie Perschau.

But there were also times when he learned that he should be extremely cautious in the water.

Once he fell off of his board and hit his head on a reef.  He realized that surfing could be seriously dangerous and that carefulness is essential in order to make sure that he doesn’t become injured.

Unlike Kimmel, Fernainy was 10 years old when his dad got him to like surfing at the Doheny State Beach.

“My dad and his friends,  grew up in Southern California, and so they did it ever since elementary school,” said Fernainy. “I wanted to follow what he did and I enjoyed it.”

Surfing runs in Fernainy’s family, and his dad has passed the ocean life onto his son.

“I have always tried to share my love and respect for the ocean with him and I hope that will stay with him through life,” said Chris’s father, Fred Fernainy.

It wasn’t very hard for him to learn how to surf because he already knew how to boogie board and skimboard.

Chris Fernainy’s most memorable experience with surfing left him shaken. One day when he was done surfing, he arrived at a cliff and saw a few paramedics surrounding another surfer who had cut his forehead while surfing.

“It scared me for a little bit,” said Chris Fernainy.

After seeing this, he was paranoid about going back to the waves, but he calmed his shaky nerves, and started to surf once again.

Chris Fernainy and Kimmel’s favorite surfing spots to hit throughout the year are San Francisco, Half Moon Bay,and Santa Cruz. At times surfing may seem like just fun and games, but there are important life lessons that can be learned.

“At first, it was more of like a perseverance thing, just to keep trying because I wasn’t getting it,” said Kimmel. “When I kept trying and persevering, I learned it.”