Thursday afternoon

Thursday presented yet another day of light air. The RC postponed us ashore at 10:45, and then sent us out at 11:45. John decided to go for a haircut (not sure where this occurred, or why it couldn't wait until Monday, or why he even attempted a haircut and a beard trimming without being able to speak a word of English). I frantically called his mobile and he scurried back. We ended up making it to the course with about 20 minutes to spare. We're actually sailing about a mile from the club, which is technically too close to shore according to the class rules, but this is Italy, and complaints generally go unheard.

Anyways, we arrived out there only for the AP to go back up. We bobbed around for about 1.75 hours before the RC sent us back in. Once there, I joined an adhoc game of cricket on the beach being played by a few Aussies. As it turns out, taking a baseball stance and swinging like it was baseball worked out pretty well. I tried bowling (pitching with a straight elbow) and that worked alright, though I certainly felt some strain on my shoulder. I hope to heal in time for next year's company softball season. We were ashore for about 40 minutes before the RC finally cancelled sailing for the rest of the day.

John and I dropped the sails and finished washing everything off. I changed, hopped on my back, and rode into Mondello proper. I found a nice little ceramic shop to purchase some shot glasses for coworkers and gifts for the lovely roommates. Hopefully they'll like them.

We're back now at the club, waiting for the pasta appetizer (in 10 minutes, I hope). Following that is the Annual General Meeting of the 505 class. The last one I attended was back in Santa Cruz in 2004. Hopefully it'll be interesting. It's unlikely there'll be any major debates / discussions (like on carbon masts), but we'll see.

Dinner tonight is either going to be at the pier restaurant ("The Charleston", which sounds like some kind of old man's club where you go drink Scotch with your bond trading friends from West Egg) or the restaurant where I had the tasty grilled squids. I'll let you know how it goes.