At sea and Pollygogs!

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Day .......13??? I think ....



day at sea- edited to add pollygog ceremony.



We have had a brilliant day at sea today.... I forgot the clocks went back an hour and was up at 5am wondering what to do with myself because Dave was still asleep. So...... I went upstairs to play some basketball alone but, of course, at 5:30 in the morning there was already a bloody pickle ball player there practicing serving....on his own.



So I grabbed a basketball and started shooting hoops on the opposite end of the court to him. We didn’t say much to each other for the first few minutes but we did allow each other space to play. I got bored shooting on my own and so I sat down to watch pickle ball man serving to himself. Once he saw me watching he yelled



“YOU SHOULD PLAY PICKLE BALL!”



I assume he thought that i was either deaf or not English.... I said ok... go on then and there my lesson began. Russ, that was shouty man’s name, screamed at me and used elaborate hand gestures to explain that:-



‘YOU SERVE UNDER ARM NOT....NOT NOT...OVER ARM!!”



Got it Russ.... under arm.



“YOU HAVE TO SHOUT THE SCORE BEFORE YOU SERVE!! SO IN DOUBLES ITS ZERO ZERO TWO AS THE FIRST TO SERVE IS NUMBER TWO!!”



Nope, you lost me....



“YOU HOLD THE PADDLE LIKE IN TENNIS!!

(followed by an elaborate visual lesson on how to hold a racket.)



Got it....I’ve played tennis.



“OKAY SO LETS PLAY....YOU UNDERSTAND???”



sure.... hit ball over net, it has to bounce after a serve and return...don’t enter the kitchen and volley...and try to keep track of the nuts scoring system.



“OKAY, SO LETS WARM UP”



Dude...it’s bloody 80 degrees in the shade. I don’t need to warm up....



Then followed a period of tapping the ball over the net to each other with Russ screaming at me like a really enthusiastic coach. Once I got used to him, I quite liked him. He’s just one of those people who shouts... and he’s passionate about pickle ball.



I played some games with Russ and then doubles with other members as they arrived.... by 8am I was just soaked with sweat and ready to give up but Russ insisted



“BEST WAY TO LEARN IS TO KEEP PLAYING....YOU STAY IN!!”



Dave came up at the point when I got my first chance to sit out. I could barely speak I was so hot and exhausted lol. Then Russ taught Dave the basic rules and he played a doubles game too. Dave, as with all sports, was instantly good at the game and won his first match.



Eventually I got to play doubles with Dave and we promptly beat our teachers. They are a lot older than us but we still high fived....they have been playing years!!



Ultimately, we love the game. Complete and utter converts here and we are glad we made friends with the pickle ball crew too. I’m looking forward to our next games.



After several hours of hitting a ball over a net in blazing sunshine, David and I headed to the outdoor pool.... bliss. It was perfect in temperature and we stayed in for hours.



We watched the pollygog ceremony but didn’t actively take part because it involved wearing a toga and smashing raw eggs over your head. Not fun in this heat! A pollygog is someone who is crossing the equator for the first time.



We did get cool

Certificates though!



Afternoon trivia was better and we came close again. We were on our own until I saw a poor man get kicked off a team because they HAD invited him to play but then realised their regular member turned up late..... you can only have six on a team. Rather than turn the late comer away, they kicked the poor invitee off.



I said come join us and he did. We beat the team that kicked him off....that was the important thing.



It was formal night again and we both dressed up.

Dinner was really good and no more choking incidents.



Tomorrow we are in Costa Rica Puntarenus and have a tour booked to a coffee plantation in the highlands.



Should be fun!

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