Tim Thompson, 61, doesn’t need water to sail. He’s sailing the streets and parking lots of Naples to keep active during the pandemic.
“I am immune-suppressed so I am looking to do things closer to home,” Thompson began.
After months of feeling cooped up with little to do, Thompson pulled out his 5-foot-7-inch Hamboard, essentially a surfboard on wheels, and purchased a colorful sail and now zips around town sail skating.
“Even at 61 there is no reason not to work on your balance and skills,” he said. “I’ve had a double hip replacement, and it doesn’t hold me back at all.”
Thompson grew up near Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he spent his time surfing and windsurfing, so balance and working with the wind is nothing new.
“In the ’80s I had four sailboards,” he said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I think I will put a sail on this.’ I grew up surfing and windsurfing.”
He uses those skills to succeed on his new sailing adventure. On a hot afternoon Thompson, wearing a yellow shirt that reads “Surf Therapy,” picked up his lime green, orange, bright blue and clear colored sail, stepped on his board and let the wind propel him around a local parking lot.
“This is so relaxing. This is just fun,” he said as he whizzed by.
Thompson got his sail from a company called WindSkate. He said it can be used with a skateboard, roller blades, snowboards, ice skates or even on a paddle board.
“Out in California, it is really big,” he said.
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Jamie Budge, in California, is the founder and creator of WindSkate.
“I invented this 43 years ago,” he said. “It is one of the best known secrets. Everybody that tries it, loves it. We sell it all over the world, yet it has not caught on like wildfire.”
Thompson has ulcerative colitis. He said the drugs he needs are strong and suppress his immune system so he does not feel safe going places where he can come into contact with other people. Even the beach is frightening for him.
“It is scary right now,” he said. “We are getting to be the epicenter of everything.”
He had been riding his bicycle a bit, but wanted something more.
“I pulled out my skateboard,” he said. “It was just sort of sitting in the garage.”
That was just the beginning.
His sail arrived two weeks ago and he set out to master his new sport. He ordered a 6-foot-6-inch Hamboard, giving him another board for sail skating. When there is little or no wind, Thompson uses a Kahuna Stick like a paddle to propel him.
Thompson also has an electric skateboard that he enjoys. He’s waiting for his newest toy to arrive: an off-road electric skateboard with 4×4 wheels that he can use in the grass and dirt.
He said people are often surprised when they see him enjoying his new sport.
“As I was first on my skateboard, I had a neighbor and he said, ‘Tim, I can’t believe you still skateboard,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I still ride a bike too, a lot of people my age still roller blade.’ It is all about the balance and it is good core exercise.”
Budge said it is a great sport for this time of isolation.
“It is outdoors and in fresh air,” he said. “So many people are out of work and so many people who have wanted to try that, now have the time to try it. For people who have been putting it off. This is the time.”
He said it’s not too hard to learn.
“When we are in the beach parking lots in Santa Monica I yell at people for the first three to five minutes and then something clicks in and they just go,” Budge said. “You are going the minute you pick up the sail.
“After that, like any other sport, you keep improving. You keep having more fun with it. I love to do this. I have a band of enthusiasts around the world.”
Thompson chooses empty parking lots around Collier County for his sport. He also practices on the streets of his community. He often makes videos of his sail skating adventures and posts them on Facebook.
“It is a nice feel of freedom and it is just fun,” he said. “It is so basic just cruising along and letting the wind push you. It is pretty relaxing. As long as this COVID goes on, I am getting exercise.”
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