Big, heaving ocean this morning after all night northeast wind.  This is March; it might stay relatively warm, but it’s going to rough us up a little in the process.  A little light rain before dawn this morning as front passed through.  Not enough to do the garden any good.  Setting out tomato plants today.

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We have decided it’s time to put in a shuffleboard court out front.  There should be just enough room, even with having to compensate for the slope a little.  For the uninitiated, uninformed, or just plain slow, Shuffleboard is a very high level skill game played on a concrete slab, 52 feet long by 6 feet wide, called a court, where players at opposite ends push discs with a sort of stick into triangular, numbered zones, while at the same time attempting to dislodge your opponent’s discs.  At one time, every motel in the state of Florida had a shuffleboard court, or two.  We aim to bring that back, at least here in our little slice of Skinny Island.  I am one of three or four shuffleboard masters still living, having honed my skill at the game at world-class venues like Pass-a-Grille and Indian Rocks Beach while still a child.

Shuffleboard can be played during daylight hours, of course, but that is not recommended. That would be a misuse of both daylight and the essence of the game of shuffleboard.  No, shuffleboard is designed to be played when the sun goes down, preferably on the hottest night one can conjure, while simultaneously nursing a moderate to severe sunburn, and a series of Mojitos.  Poor lighting is also a necessity, something dim and diffuse emanating from a nearby wall supplementing the single cones containing 60 watt bulbs situated on shaky poles at either end of the court.  A bench for player’s rest should also be positioned at either end, preferably with a painted coffee can somehow attached to act as an ashtray.  There are rules concerned with the actually playing of the game, but they are of lesser importance than those enumerated above.

The actual construction of a court is not without problems, however.  To build one of the proper length, width, and thickness out of Portland Cement would run about $8000.  We will be entertaining alternative methods, probably something along the lines of plywood on pressure-treated 2x6s, and that covered with an inch or two of Portland; or maybe the whole thing out of wood.  A sufficient layer of paint should leave it smooth enough.  The goal is to bring it down to the $150 – $200 range.  We’re not looking for the thing to last into the next century, we just need to be able to slide the puck.  Check back for updates.  I’m on it.