Just surfed lanis and had my first true run-in with the reef. Waves were head high to a couple feet overhead and were bumpy, but it seemed like the direction was pretty good for lanis. On my 3rd or 4th wave I'm surfing down the line, backside. The wave is about 2 feet overhead. The section in front of me suddenly jacks up and gets vertical. I guess maybe the wave in front already drew a bunch of water off the reef, not leaving much for this one. If I straightened out I would get crunched, so I tried to kick up over the lip and over the back of the wave, but it was too late. The wave took me over the falls. I got the normal pounding which wasn't that bad, but after two seconds of that it seemed like another cycle started. Don't know, maybe I got curled over again. Right in the middle of that second churning, SMACK!!! I hit the reef hard. It shocked me as I never hit it out there. I was surprised how shallow it got. Luckily it was my ankle and knee that hit and not my head. I pushed off the bottom and grabbed my board, heading in right away as I was in mucho pain. I expected to see blood streaming down my legs but saw nothing - thankfully the reef at lanis ain't sharp. I escaped with only a bruised ankle bone and a bruised knee... until I sat down in my car and realized my ass was killing me - it was all scraped up. Just call me Colonel Sore Ass.

Anyone on the board wear a helmet? I've owned one for awhile but never put it on. I don't care about the vanity of it - I'm not 16 anymore and besides any remaining vanity left my body once I got married. I'm just reluctant to have some uncomfortable thing on my head, muffling my hearing etc. I wonder how used to it you can get. It coulda just as easily been my head that hit today... makes you think.

- schlumpf