It doesn’t happen often, but it did in August: Albert Sirois lost a tennis match.

Sirois, 80, of East Boothbay lost in the quarterfinals of the United Shoe Super Slams tournament held in Beverly, Massachusetts in the New England Regional Tennis Association 80 and over division.

He previously reached a final and the semifinals in his previous tournaments held throughout New England.

Sirois was ranked as high as No. 5 in his division this year, but the loss dropped him to No. 7 in the regional rankings.

Tennis is one of many activities the former Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant chief instrument engineer of the generator project does to stay active.

Besides tennis, Sirois is involved with sailing and amateur radio. He credits a lifelong dedication to staying physically fit for the abundance of energy he has in his golden years.

“I was trained to stay in good shape,” Sirois said. “My dad was the physical director of the Salem, Massachusetts YMCA. So that’s how I was brought up.”

Besides playing senior tournaments, Sirois plays in United States Tennis Association league play. He plays both singles and doubles for his 3.5 team based out of the Midcoast Racquet Club in Rockport. His team nearly qualified this year for the national tournament. Sirois played No. 1 singles for his team and lost a pivotal singles match to a 45-year-old Connecticut opponent. 

For Sirois, playing a younger opponent is a common occurrence in USTA League play. It seems the octogenarian, who turns 81 this month, is usually the oldest competitor on the court during his 3.5 team’s matches.

“I’m always at least 20 years older than anyone else,” Sirois said. “But I’m used to it. The toughest part is that my opponent is usually faster than me.”

Sirois keeps his game sharp by playing three times a week whether its singles or doubles. He also teaches the game.

Sirois began giving lesson in 1957 while he serving in the United States Navy. Over the years, he has taught the game on local public courts, at Boothbay Region YMCA, and  Ocean Point Casino in East Boothbay.

Sirois, a Massachusetts native, came to in Maine in 1961. The 1955 Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate found work right out of college. He worked as a Third Mate aboard ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 1958, Sirois was drafted.

“I got my draft notice while I was in Hong Kong and headed back to Massachusetts for my induction,” Sirois said. “I served on the USS Ticonderoga in the South China Sea where we transported ammunition from the Philippines to South Korea.”

He remained in the United States Naval Reserve after completed his two years of required active service.

In 1961, he returned home and looked for work. He found a job as a manufacturer’s representative for a Connecticut firm. The job sent him to central Maine where he provided products to the state’s pulp and paper engineers. He moved to Lewiston and lived there for several years.

But he yearned to live in a community with “deep waters.” This inspired him to make East Boothbay his family’s home instead of a weekend getaway.

What Sirois loves most about East Boothbay is the proximity to the ocean. He is an avid sailor who loves spending time on the seas. His love of sailing has no bounds. He is just as apt to sail on a bright sunny day in August, as he is on an overcast Christmas Day voyage.

“I got salt water in my veins,” he said. “I’m ready to go out for a sail right now. I think I enjoy cold weather sailing because it reminds me of my youth. Those days — back in Marblehead, Massachusetts, sailing in the harbor — I remember racing in some pretty cold weather.”

Sailing and tennis are two of his hobbies he shares with his wife of 12 years, Shirley Sirois. The two were high school classmates who reconnected in 2001 at their 50th reunion.

The Sirois’ were both widowed, and found out they both had a lot in common. Shirley Sirois said she enjoys sailing with her husband and watching him play tennis.

“It’s really great being on the water with Al. Sailing is so quiet and peaceful,” she said. “I enjoy watching him play tennis, too. Especially when he is whacking the ball and getting really pumped up. That’s how I know he is winning.”

The third of Sirois’ hobbies is amateur radio. In the Navy, he worked a short wave radio as a MARS (military affiliated radio station) operator. He decided to apply for a civilian license in 1993. Civilian amateur radio operators are better known as “Hams.”

Sirois is able to communicate with other operators all over the world using the universal short wave radio language of continuous wave.

On Veterans Day, Sirois joined other ham operators in a simulated emergency testing exercise for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“It was a two day period of passing traffic and practicing different modes of communications,” he said. “This type of testing prepares Homeland Security to be prepared in case another 9-11 occurs.”

It seems there is never a dull day for Al Sirois, whether its crushing forehand on the tennis court, out on a wintry sail in the Atlantic or talking to a fellow ham operator in the Ukraine about world events.