French Teacher Marcel Losier:

I was surfing in Santa Cruz at this surf spot named “Privates.” So at this place, you need a special card to get in, but instead I kind of forced the door open and snuck in with a friend. It was only the two of us surfing at that spot, and my friend was a bit further out in the water than me. He kept moving his arms and gesturing, but I thought he was just goofing around, trying to be silly. He paddled out, caught a wave and then was gone.

I paddled up and went to the take off where I was waiting for a wave and all of a sudden something hit my board underwater and I fell off the board, freaking out. “Oh my god!” I really thought that was it. The one thing you read about shark attacks. It’s quiet time, in the morning and it comes all of a sudden with no warning. I thought it was a shark for sure.

Finally, its head popped up and it was a seal who wanted to play with me. The seal never it let go, he kept on following me and it seemed like he was trying to play tag. I guess he wanted to play with me because earlier the same thing had happened to my friend. The seal was following me, and I had to paddle back to the beach because he wouldn’t leave me alone. Then, on the beach this dog started chasing me, bit me on the ankle and made two holes in my suit. So I figured it was bad karma to break into the surf spot. All this time my friend was floating there in the waves laughing. Needless to say I never went back to that surf spot. They say the locals are pretty aggressive.

English teacher Julie Munger: I love surfing because it is so exciting, and I can be alone but stimulated on all sides by the movements in the water, the fresh salty smell, the spray, the changing light, the sky.

Munger: I started surfing when I lived on Oahu in the early 1990s. An inspiring female surfer named Rell Sunn lived there at the time, and her attitude and generous spirit really permeated that surf break.

Munger: There are a lot great places to surf on the California Central Coast.Now I surf close to where I live in Santa Cruz, and I especially like Sunset State Beach because the breaks are near the shore and I can combine surfing with spending time with my husband and kids.