Polar Bear Plunge

Date: January 1, 2021

Location: Klode Beach

Swim Time: Noon

Bring  in the new year, and bid good riddance to 2020, as we polar bear plunge into the thrilling chilling waters of Klode Bay. Gather up for feats of strength, and  resolutions for the new year. Bring your favorite warm beverage\elixir of choice and warm mittens\socks.

Proclaim and plunge your grievances of 2020 to the rocks and back, if you dare, and repeat till victory is delared! So what  say ye, Arrr ya' in? See ya' therrrr if ya darrrr! :)

Icy rocks and sumptuous brownies

 Last swim:12-27-20

Next swim: 1-1-21 (12 noon), Happy New Year (and good riddance 2020)!!!

Water temp:35

Waves: about 3 feet with some significant rip tide

Air temp:40

Crew:Itch, Diablo, Brick, Rosie, Phil

Shore Support: Panini, Dragonfly Riffraff, Moondaug

Slippery when frozen, so careful getting in, and out. Five swimmers ventured into the lake and swam for about 40 minutes, with one sensible 10 minute swim. As they swam out from the usual south launch, rip-tide was experienced by some. Diablo's strategy was to wait for the third wave (the big one) and dive under and through. Others chose to swim through the rock piles and past the iced over rocks. Brrr.

As the swimmers were swimming, shore support enjoyed pleasant conversation and home made brownies, courtesy of Dragonfly Riffraff. I was lucky enough to score a brownie, that was originally intended for Showgirl. I pocketed it, to enjoy later, with some whipped cream.

The Airing of the Grievances

Last swim: 3 PM 12/23/20 

Air temp:57 

Water temp:30's 

Crew-Itch, maybe others earlier.

Next swims: Not sure, but some have posted, but there will of course be a New Years Day Plunge (Stay tuned).

The warm December weather made it a good day to go to the beach, so I headed there after work, hoping to find others with the same idea. Alas, not so many did I find, perhaps because of the short days now. 

Today is Festivus day, which got me thinking, so, let The Airing of the Grievance commence! 

Capt-Wont swim a straight line, and doesn't wear an eye patch. 

Diablo-Won't introduce me to his sister. 

Mr. Anonymous-is a quick leaver. 

Showgirl -Doesn't invite me to after swim coffee and her bling is rather more scarce these days. 

Itch-doesn't post swim reports. 

Kahuna-fails to address blatantly flagrant abuses to the high watermark access for free peoples, and wears a boring kilt. 

Tarzana-wont let me drink my beer. 

Bigshow-Where!?!??!!?

Sir James-Doesn't share cool underwater demolition toys, and wears obscenely colored speedos. 

Patriarch-is to kind to complain about.

Handy Man Hank-Still has not made portable beach sauna. 

Perhaps now is a good time to start ruminating about New Year resolutions as you prepare for the New Years Plunge.   

Before, during, and after

Next Swims: Saturday/Sunday at Noon, with random weekday swims

Friday:  6:30 a.m. usually

Last Swim: Wednesday 6:30am

Water Temp: mid 30's
Air Temp: 40's
Clarity: murky
Waves: like GLASS!

Kru: Lydia the Tatooed Lady, Showgirl, Dragonfly, Wim Hofers

Shore Support: Mr. Bubble

Before.  Photo Credit TTL

TattooLady is a consistent badass.  Here she is, swimming in 30-something water.... again.  

Yawn.

Dragonfly is a frequent strip'n'dip badass.  

Ho hum.  

I, on the other hand, am an intermittent badass.  I was kind of thinking that my swimming was over for the season, but in a surprise turn of events, today I had swimming mojo.  TTL and I made it to the sewerpipe and I think she went even further.  We both did some additional not-ready-to-get-out paddling around the rock piles.  

In the mean time, Dragonfly did a skin swim, which she later described as feeling like little knives stabbing her.  

Also the Wim Hofers did their Wim-Hoffer-y stuff.  It's kind of fun to observe them from a vantage point outside the rock piles.  

The incredibly flat water and the sunrise made it a spectacular swim.  

The still air and 40-something temp made changing not so terrible.  

The hot-snaps did their share for each of us as well.

Mr. Bubble put in a surprise guest appearance and put his bare feet in the water, confirming that indeed, it is cold.

During. Photo credit, Mr. Bubble

After. 

If it quacks like a duck...

Next Swims: Saturday/Sunday at Noon, with random weekday swims

Friday:  6:30 a.m. usually

Last Swim: Sunday noon

Water Temp: 37.3
Air Temp: 40ish
Clarity: murky
Waves: slow rollers

Kru: Lydia the Tatooed Lady, Itch, Rosie, Brick, Blake, Diablo, Icedaug (skin!), Showgirl... sort of

I don't have much to say about Sunday's swim because it wasn't much of a swim for me-- I may have hit my cold water boundary.  I got in, paddled around a bit within the rockpiles, and returned to shore.  

Everyone else headed north, and did real swims.

As you see from the photo, it was a typical December day.  That's right, swimming in December.  So big kudos and huzzah's to all amazing badasses who went for an actual swim.

Icedaug enters the near-freezing water.

Oh yeah, per Kahuna, the mystery objects in the lake on Friday must have been duck hunters.

Endless Summer?

Next Swims: Saturday/Sunday at Noon, with random weekday swims

Friday:  6:30 a.m.

Last Swim: Friday 7am

Water Temp: 38? 39? THAT'S RIGHT, we're in the 30's now.  TTL took the temp but I forgot the exact number
Air Temp: 35
Clarity: ?? It looked clear from shore
Waves: like glass

Kru: Lydia the Tatooed Lady, AlaMode, Dragonfly (strip 'n' dip), Wim Hofers

Shore Support:  Linda the Lamprey, Showgirl, Mermaid Princess

All Hail the TattooLady!

Yep, it's December FOURTH and we're still swimming.  And by "we" I don't mean "me," at least not today.  

TattooLady and AlaMode did a leisurely paddle around the rockpile, and then TTL did more swimming north. So impressive.  

Meanwhile, Dragonfly did a strip 'n' dip.

While TTL was out past the north rockpile, a small boat went speeding past Klode.  She said she saw a fish leap out of the water, so perhaps there's some good fishing to be done?  There were also some mysterious things out there that were too far to identify.  Kayakers (that didn't go anywhere) or a pair of really big birds, plus a flock of smaller birds?  A mystery, to be sure.

AlaMode impressed us with pushups and core work that she did to warm up post-swim, and TTL's post swim accomplishment was to prevent her gear from freezing to the metal wall.

There was also evidence on the beach of some really big waves.  Plus a dead frog carcass.

TTL with the boat in the background.

Other beautiful pics from the morning:

TTL's triumphant return.

Dragonfly goes in for the strip 'n' dip

Here's a tiny video that I accidentally took:

One Crazy Lady

 Next Swims: Saturday/Sunday at Noon

Friday:  6:30 a.m.

Last Swim: Wednesday at sunrise

Water Temp: low 40s - TTL estimate
Air Temp: 28 degrees Allen Bradley thermometer
Clarity: ??
Waves: Big ones

Kru: Lydia the Tatooed Lady

Shore Support:  Linda the Lamprey, Showgirl on bicycle, Dragonfly, Wim Hofers (they did immerse too)

Gorgeous nearly-full moon floating among the trees to the west. Very brisk breeze, churning dark waves, intimidating, yes.  But one major badass suited up in neoprene and boldly ventured forth.  TTL did sensibly stay in sight of shore between the rocks, but was clearly enjoying bobbing in the sizeable waves.  She looked a lot more comfortable than did the Wim Hofers.  I got a great photo of her emerging, silhouetted against the sunrise.

First photo is Linda The Lamprey on the left and TTL on right.  Third photo shows Wim Hofers in the foreground and TTL and her pink barbie near the rocks.

I asked TTL whether any of her friends who swam with her back in August might be coming down in the near future.  "No," she said, "we just have one crazy lady!"

When TTL shared that she was frozen to the iron barrier, I knew I had to blog.  She reported her barbie and her wetsuit also froze during the changing process.

Last photo, courtesy of TTL