Time for Something Cold!

Today was the first of many events that will take place over this, my Warrior Year. Associated with this year I have several resolutions that I have put in place that will prove me to be a person worthy of that title. One of these is to live in such a way that I will have cool stories for my grandchildren.

I have realized that the only way to have cool stories for my grandchildren is to have cool adventures. And the only way to have cool adventures is to find them and do them.

Cool adventure number 1: Maryland Polar Bear Plunge

For as long as I knew what it was I have wanted to participate in a polar bear plunge, only I had never gotten around to finding ans signing up for one until I started planning for my Warrior Year. Through my research of fun/crazy things to do I discovered the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge that is held every January at Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis, Maryland. All proceeds from this event go towards helping the Special Olympics. Awesome!

When I found this I thought it's a sweet event AND it helps a worthy cause! Let's go!

As I was preparing for this event I decided that it would be fun to look the part. (This was before I found out that dressing up in silly/crazy outfits is the order of the day for veterans of the Plunge.) I have always thought that the fleece ear hats were cute so for the Plunge I decided to make one. My first attempt was a sad, derpy failure, but my second try was much better.

I gave it eyes and a nose just for fun. :)

Since I had never been to a Plunge before I did not really know what to expect. Aunt Linda was a doll and came with me for moral support.

Due to the fact that the Plunge is held in January in the past the weather has been unpredictable. Two years ago it was held in the middle of the snowstorm that caused Snowmageddon 2010. Wow. I guess I still have good weather karma left over from my European trips with my mother because it was a beautiful day. It was sunny and a steamy 48 degrees. I didn't even need my coat but wore it because it was windy.

There were two plunges scheduled that day, one at 1:00 PM and the second at 3:00 PM. I did not realize how big of an event it was until I got there. There were thousands of people attending and more than half of them were jumping in with me. Thus the need for an organized set of times to plunge.

There were many brave souls that were tramping around the tents and booths wearing nothing but their swimsuits even before the first plunge was called. I was not quite that brave and only stripped down a few minutes before I joined the throng on the beach.

If you ignore the hat and the winter bare trees behind me you could easily believe that it was the middle of the summer. I tramped out into the middle of the huge crowd covering the beach wearing nothing but a swim suit and a rash-guard shirt. Many others wore less than I did, and a lot of women had nothing but bikini's on. Wow.

Only registered plungers were allowed on the beach as indicated by the blue wristbands and all spectators were kept back on the other side of a fence. Aunt Linda took possession of my bag and dry clothes and set up camp by the fence where I could find her later. Deep within the guts of the crowd where the wind was blocked it was almost warm. Although it was cold, I never felt the chill. Perhaps it was the excitement of the moment that warmed me.

I settled myself near a group of people that were kind enough to let me stow my towel by their pile of belongings so I could find it again when I came back. One of the women was even nice enough to offer to take a picture of me with my camera without me asking!

I was only on the beach for a few minutes when the air horn was blown and the plunge was on! Due to the size of the crowd it was less of a stampede and more of a general press towards the water, but once you reached the edge you ran in.

I took a video as I was tromping down into the water (attached at the bottom). In truth once water has reached a certain level of cold you can't really tell the difference between 50 degree water and 30 degree water. It's all COLD. On the Friday before I looked up the water temperature of the Chesapeake Bay so I had an idea what to expect. 40 degrees. When it's that cold your skin goes numb almost the same instant you touch the water. A few seconds later the cold pins-and-needles hit and that's all you feel for the rest of the time you're in the water. I wore my Vibram 5-Finger shoes and so I think I had an advantage of some of the others that went barefoot, though I couldn't feel my toes anymore less than ten seconds after I got in so I guess it wasn't much of an advantage. :)

There was a good deal of screaming and man-yelling going on while I was in the water. The whole time there is this general din of shouts and exclamations. It was rather hilarious to hear the men's voices go up an octave or two when they splashed in bellowing like a charging bull and then had the cold hit them hard.

To make sure that no one went too deep there was a ring of police officers and coast guard officials in dry suits standing in the water about 40 feet out. This limited the depth to about waist high. Most plungers dunked themselves beneath the water to get completely covered. I admit that I did dunk myself, but only to my neck because I didn't want to ruin my hat. (I know its a lame excuse, but I really like my hat!) Beyond the officers were several coast guard boats to make sure no one gets in trouble and behind them were two police helicopters running patrol along the beach. (You can see one of the 'copters in the picture above.)

I stayed in the water probably about 4 or 5 minutes before I trundled out again. I hopped up and down and squealed a bit just for the fun of it and eventually worked up the nerve to dunk myself. While it does not look like I did in the "after" picture I did in fact dip in the water up to my neck. The fabric of the rash-guard shirt I am wearing takes a second or two to soak in water and I was up and out again before it had the chance to fully darken with water.

In the summertime when you climb out of the water the wind often feels cold. Well at the Polar Bear Plunge the wind felt warm after being in the water. I was numb from the waist down and so could not feel if the air temperature anyway until I thawed out again.

There were some people who jumped in once, got out to dry off, then jumped in again. Thinking back I should have done that just to do it, but I wrapped up in my towel and walked back to the fence before I thought to do it. I got my bag from Aunt Linda and changed into dry clothes in the "Women Only" changing tent.

They had set up huge heaters along the walls of the tent so it was pleasantly warm inside. There were no curtains or dividers inside the tent and so it was a replay of all the days I had changing for gym class in middle and high school. I utilized the teeth-towel-hold technique I learned from high school swim team and thus avoided any naked exposure. :D

After changing we went to the Merchant's tent and got some food and a couple small souvenirs. I bought a neat polar bar charm necklace and a beautiful purple dream-catcher. It's hanging on my wall now and I love it!

Doing the Polar Bear Plunge was so much fun! I will totally do it again next year. Perhaps next time I can convince some others to come and TAKE THE PLUNGE with me.

Here is the video of my plunge into the Chesapeake Bay. Sorry its so bumpy, I forgot to keep track of where my camera was pointing for a lot of it so bear with me.