Since sailing a boat on longer occupies my body and mind 24/7, I am taking up a new sport. It is called Pickleball. You can google it, wikepedia it, read about it, or join this fast growing adaptation of tennis, ping pong and bandmitton.

Pickle-Ball2_smallFriend, Rena and I have formed the first ever Everglades City Pickleball League. The first thing I noticed when I joined the Marco Island YMCA Pickleball group is how beginners and even intermediates complain about the wind. Ay, that beautiful phenomenon. While ritualizing the serve, I take a deep breath, feel the air on my cheek, watch a stray hair breeze across my face, then decide how hard, how soft and which angle to compensate for the holy balls trajectory.

Watching the whiffle ball sail off my paddle then over the net hopefully landing at the feet of my opponent’s back hand side, I revel in my years at sea. Now rather than sail across the water’s surface I sail across a paved court with a tiller of a different sort in my hand. Always looking where I want my vessel to go.

For more information about Pickleball send me a note:  sailorhiker@gmail.com