Getting used to surfing reef

So, for the surfers out there that can surf tropical reef with success and ease, I applaud and envy you because I'm really bad at it, right now. Yesterday, our afternoon/evening session to Beng Beng was a little lower tide but small waves; chest high and pretty clean, but really fun...cleaner, faster and more surfable than any similar sized day back home. The first wave I took off on was one of the smaller ones of the session and I never should have gone. After the take off I turned and the wave just shut down and closed out on me and I bailed out the back but it was too late. The wave kept pushing me in and I couldn't stop or slow down and found myself standing on dry reef. The good news was it wasn't a living reef and had a lot of algae and such on it so it wasn't really gnarly but it was gnarly enough. My legs, feet and hands got chewed up but nothing serious; just a bunch of little annoying cuts. So we came back and I bathed in bactine and put liquid bandage on the really annoying ones in high-traffic zones, licked my wounds, had some dinner and crashed. All in all a fun 1st day at the resort. Today should be better as I got my licks in yesterday and I'm getting accustomed to surfing reefs and I plan on surfing something other than a thruster like the fish or Bonzer. The waves we are surfing today are pretty fat and break pretty easily and the size is good at probably 4-5' and I think if I had a little more foam under me I could get in a bit easier and not have to worry about scrapping for the waves and getting caught inside. Good times...

I'll hopefully be taking some photos today and uploading them a little later, mainly of the spots Beng Beng and Pitstops where we are going today which are gorgeous. Unfortunately it's really dry here and when it's dry the Indonesians burn their rubbish like trash and dead trees and such and so the entire region is blanketed in smoke giving the sky a hazy appearance. It's good and it's bad. Good because the sun isn't beating down on us and it can even feel a bit chilly with the strong winds out in the water but bad because photo opportunities aren't that plentiful or rather not as beautiful as they could be. So, that's why I'm a bit slow in posting photos of the area as we hope for some rain to clean up the sky and maybe a wind shift to help out the surf. The surf is still "crappy" which is to say 4-5' on the sets and kind of choppy because of the strong South winds which show no signs of changing for a few days, at least. But the shape is great and the rides are fun...when you're not getting caught inside and standing on dry reef :)