Taking the Plunge

I don’t like the cold. In fact, I hate it. You would think that having grown up in New England I would be ok with it – but when the warm sun is on my face, and it’s 80 degrees, I don’t care if I ever see another snow flake as long as I live. So I was surprised as anyone when I decided to jump in the freezing Atlantic on January 1st.

Lauren mentioned the Barnstable Fire Department was sponsoring a polar plunge to benefit the Glenna Kohl Fund. We thought it would be a cool thing to go watch and then blog about. Then the thought occurred to me – I’m always a spectator at these kinds of things, and to properly blog about it I would have to actually DO it. I was surprised at how quickly I came to this conclusion, and even more surprised when I didn’t back out 15 seconds after saying I would do it. I seemed determined. Lauren’s reaction was “Who are you??”. I guess I thought thousands of people do this every year, why not me?

Every year - for 12 years now - the Barnstable Fire Department sponsors “The New Years Day Swim” benefitting a different cause each time. This year it was the Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope. The non-profit fund helps raise awareness about the dangers of melanoma, created in memory of Glenna Kohl – a Barnstable High graduate who was a lifeguard. (For more information, or to make a donation, please visit: http://www.glennasfund.org/)

It was New Years Eve when Lauren planted this idea in my head. My sister and brother-in-law, Penny and Ian, were staying over and weren’t quite sure what to make of the situation. Seriously out of character for me. Lauren asked me every hour – are you still going to do it? “So far” I said. Any more than a day before the event and I would have surely talked myself out of it. At some point during the evening, Penny and Ian warmed up to the idea, too. We needed someone to shoot video and take pictures, so Lauren sacrificed having this unique experience in order to document the three of us. She was quite pleased with her decision.

On the morning of New Years day, after sleeping off our holiday cheer, we were all still committed to this crazy idea. We gathered some towels, a blanket, a defibrillator and dry shorts, had a delicious breakfast and headed out to Millway Beach at Barnstable Harbor.
Because of a shortage of parking there was a shuttle from the 6A Fire Department down to the harbor. We got there early and were the only people on the bus for this trip. When we got there we were surprised at how few people were there. There was still an hour until the actual plunge so we milled about listening to music and looking at some crazy outfits people were wearing.

There was a snack truck, raffle tickets and a t-shirt booth all to raise money for the chosen cause. An ambulance and fire truck stood by in the unlikely event that someone suffered a heat stroke.
Ten minutes before the countdown we made our way down the beach to stake our claim, and gradually – oh so gradually – disrobe. By this time there were at least 300 people on the narrow beach, the majority of which intended to get wet. The rest were moral support standing by with dry towels and cameras. By the time we were down to just shorts, there was no turning back. We just waited for the countdown.

After a barely audible countdown from the DJ table in the parking lot, the beach was still occupied by several hundred people. After more rousing by the DJ/pirate a new countdown was started. A loud cheer signified GO! I saw Ian bolt – Penny took off, and I did a Fred Flintstone running in place before any forward motion took over. By the time I got 20 feet out, Ian already submerged and was on his way back in. Penny sat down right in front of me, and I just paused in waist deep water and watched the madness of everyone splashing around. It was so crazy; Lauren had a hard time keeping the camera steady! I told Penny and Ian that it didn’t count if you didn’t go under. That’s not entirely true, but I suppose I was trying to motivate myself as much as them. They had fulfilled my made up regulation, so as I faced the beach fully intending to run back in – I dove in the 3 feet of water, scraped the bottom, popped up and gracefully sprinted back in. (Ed. note: Check out the video to see what Jeff thinks is graceful!) It was so cold, it felt like fire.

A dry towel never felt so good. We were all shaking like nervous poodles but as soon as we dried off, it seemed actually warmer than it was before we jumped in. It was quite comfortable in fact. The only discomfort was numb toes (and purple knees, which wasn’t uncomfortable – it just looked weird). We got out of our wet clothes and into dry clothes right on the beach.

When we got home, Lauren heated some towels in the dryer and draped them over our shoulders. Then we wrapped ourselves in Snuggies and had soup. The cold aint so bad: as long as there’s hot soup, a Slanket, and a pretty girl to hold you afterward.

So here’s to diving outside your comfort zone in 2010. The polar plunge was an exhilarating experience, although I’m not sure if I ever have to do it again. If I am so compelled next year maybe I can talk Lauren into it. In the comment section maybe you can persuade her! We are hoping to do more out-of-the-box stuff this year to blog about – if you can think of any, let us know!

Happy New Year and stay warm!