Querencia

Noah Herrera

Surfing Querencia

A Querencia is when you’re in a place that you feel most powerful and comfortable. My Querencia is when I’m surfing. When I’m in the water, I feel powerful and in control. When the water is clear, I can see the bottom and I know where I am. As I paddle over the water, I see fish jumping out of the water and fish surrounding the kelp drifting with the current.


I see the swells coming in to the beach and forming in to waves. When the right one comes I paddle with all my effort and lean into the swell. Before the wave even breaks I stand up and feel the bumpy wax on my feet. When the water is clear I look right through the face of the wave and see other surfers behind me as I do a bottom turn.

Once the wave breaks I get down low and look behind me and watch it break over the tail of my board. I feel the water rushing through my fingers as I stick my hand into the water to slow my self down to ride the tube but it’s too small and the water splashes on to my back. I turn up to the top of the wave when I’m going too slow to get a boost of speed. It helps me get further away form the white-wash and I can do a quick turn and bounce off the white wash. Once the wave stars to die down or close out I do a sharp turn and do one of my favorite parts about surfing, launching over the lip and do a flip over the top.

Even though I got hit in the face and sliced my cheek open by my fin, I like surfing too much to be afraid to surf again. I understand that the ocean is powerful and I’m aware of the things that it can do.