Welcome banquet in North Bay.
On the ice before the Pro North Bay tournament, the women's world curling championship is a huge event for the city of 54,000. Everyone wants to be there, so it's no surprise that more than four hundred volunteers take care of the participants. In talking to locals, we learned that over seven hundred people will be in attendance at the evening banquet, and to accommodate the event, the ice at the local six-lane curling (and tennis) club has been melted and the area has been adapted for the purpose of a lavish banquet. Before the evening programme, however, we had to sort out the missing accreditations and, most importantly, to greet Eva in the morning, who had arrived late in the evening of the previous day after a harrowing journey. From 14:00 we practiced pre-tournament in the new format of five teams on four lanes. Jamie Bourassa had told me before practice that he thought the ice was ok, a little slower at the start but that was understandable. The ice is really good, the speed is around fourteen, the swing is around five feet. We know it's going to develop and we're counting on reading it. Next on the track, the Olympic champion from Sochi, along with Lawes, who also won gold in Korea. The company here is truly extraordinary. Many of the teams have world titles, Olympic medals, European medals, World Junior gold, etc. There is a lot to look forward to as the ice and stones will allow for some nice curling. We had lunch at Green Papaya and dinner was of course part of the evening program. We have a "full house" tomorrow. It's sold out, over five thousand spectators will be rooting for Canada against our national team. Starting at two local time.