New Year's Day Polar Plunge - Join Us!

 Last Swim/Dip: Saturday 7am - also probably Saturday noon

Next Swims: Sunday noon, Monday - NEW YEAR'S DAY - NOON

Water temp: 39

Air temp: Hi 20's

Water: Calm

Kru: Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Fyn-Fin

Tattooed Lady takes temp

Kayak with Christmas lights

TTL & Fin-Fyn set the bar high for sunrise badassery.

But you too, can be a badass - join the Klode Kru for the traditional thrills, chills, conviviality and kvetching at noon on New Year's Day.  Please note, this is a FREE celebration!  No tickets will be sold, or money change hands.  We will simply enjoy the gifts that Nature has provided.  You may bring your own portable sauna* but be prepared to share!

*Friday's outrage:  The OG Wim Hofer had erected a portable tent (similar to the ice fishing tents that pop up on the Summerfest Lagoon) with a chimney and sauna inside.  He was proposing to charge $250/hour for its use, and as we left the beach (no blog for Friday, sorry) we saw his group of about 8 people coming down the hill.  

I felt that this violated the spirit of the beach, and turned to the Kru's own legal eagle, Kahuna (Esq.) for an opinion.

His response:   "Fun law school exam hypothetical. My answer would be something like this. Bradford Beach is owned by the County. The owner permits others to be on its property. The owner has the authority to prohibit a wide variety of behaviors by users of the beach. So the sheriff could break up the sauna operation. But if a typical beach user uses physical force to move another (such as someone who has set up a sauna) out of the user's way, so that the user can access a portion of the beach, the user has probably committed the tort of assault, and the other would have a theoretical civil tort claim against the user, though he would have difficult time establishing damages. It similar to the hypothetical question I sometimes get about staking down a sheet in a park to watch fireworks, or blocking off space along a parade route."

I was not totally satisfied by this, as I felt it did not answer my question, which is this:  

Is not any beach goer free to wander onto ANY square footage within the public park? Regardless if a "sauna tent" has been erected over it?  

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Solstice Swim!

 Last Swim/Dip: Friday 7am

Next Swims: Sat/Sun noon (usually). Most Friday mornings.  Also, there will undoubtedly be a New Year's day plunge....noonish?

Water temp: Nobody took a temp, but likely low 40's

Air temp: Again, 40's, very little wind

Water: Kinds of murky, kind of stinky, with annoying waves

Kru: Showgirl, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Holly, Marion the Librarian, Dragonfly, Nahid, Rick from Boston, additional Wim Hofer

Shore/Coffee Support:  Suny Luna, Lt. MJ, A La Mode

What better way to welcome the light with a solstice (adjacent) swim?  "When was the solstice?" someone asked as we headed down the hill.

"Yesterday," someone replied.

I, super-nerd, piped in, "9:27 p.m. last night!"

This is relevant because a few minutes later, eager to voice my opinion as to where we should enter the water, I said, "I don't want to go over there (south of the south rocks) because it doesn't get dark fast enough."

Huh? was the general response.

Oh, no, I meant to say, "It doesn't get DEEP fast enough."- Dementia?

"You knew it started with the letter D....your brain just opened the wrong file drawer," supplied Showgirl helpfully.

But I had some sympathy for my brain for suggesting "Dark" as an alternative to deep....the Darkness of the Deep, the cold water immersion experience, the point of no return from which one returns transformed....like we were all now emerging from the Darkness into the Light of the New Year....and you just can't access all that staggering around knee-deep when you have a limited number of seconds to be in the water.

Today's dip, from the classic center of the beach, between the rockpiles, was very satisfying.  As I waded in, the waves began to hit higher and higher - hips, waist, chest - til my feet left the earth and I was magically afloat, aloft - swimming for the first time since I had my screws out!  

Since I knew I'd be in for only a minute or two, it definitely got deep fast enough.

TTL and Holly fully wetsuited up and frolicked and floated beyond the rocks.  Rick from Boston swam boldly out in skin, preparing for a Vermont swim in ice in February.  And Showgirl and Marion joined me in the dip. Nahid also dipped, along with her fellow Wim Hofer.

Welcome to the Light!

Cattle and Sheep DO Mix

 Last Swim/Dip: Friday 7am

Next Swims: Sat/Sun noon (usually). Most Friday mornings.  Also, there will undoubtedly be a New Year's day plunge.

Water temp: Nobody took a temp, but likely low 40's

Air temp: 40F, very little wind

Water: Crystal clear with the slightest of slow swells

Kru: Mermaid Princess, Ala Mode, Showgirl, Carie, Nahid

Shore Support:   Dragonfly

Beach magic.

So it used to be that the cold water immersion folks (aka the Wim Hoffers) would gather at the middle-to-northerly  side of the beach, and the swimmers would gather at the middle-to-southerly side, with very little interaction.

Little by little, inroads were made.  

Smiles and nods occurred, temperatures were exchanged, and water conditions were discussed.  At some point actual conversation commenced.  We started to know some names.

And then, one momentous day, Mermaid Princess crossed over.  

She opened the door, and now, in this cold season, there is probably more dipping/Wim-Hoffing than actual swimming.  (Though please also see the bottom pic...)

Before

During

After

Lest you worry that no swimming is occurring, the below pic is from last Friday, where Holly and Lydia the Tattoo'd Lady swam almost to the chairs:

Snow Swims Begin

Next Swims: weekends usually around noon, weather dependent, post if inquiring

Last swims: Thanksgiving swim and Sunday 11/26/23

Air temps: 50's and low 30's

Water Temps: mid 40's and low 40's

Waves: not much but interesting contours

Clarity: Clear as a bell and cold as hell

Kru: Thanksgiving-Sandy, Brick, Rosie early shift. Itch, Icedaug. And Diablo late shift.

Sunday crew-Itch, Diablo, Brick, Icedaug

Some swam earlier on Thanksgiving so they would still have enough time to give the bird to their family, friends, and guests. Others came and went at a more leisurely pace in prepartion of their fests. All enjoyed and were refreshed.

Sunday was our first snow swim of the season! The talk around the cooler on Sunday was of saunas and Hoffers (said with a Seinfeld sneer). Evidently Mr. A has been seduced by these Hoffers who allegedly now posses a sauna. Which could explain his less frequent sightings lately. And now Diablo seems to be lured by their siren songs. Stay tuned.

So naturally we began to brain storm how we could procure a sauna. One idea was to use existing tepe like structure on beach, drape it with something and make fire. Googling I have discovered one can rent a portable sauna for about $500/hour. Unfortunately lacking the funds, or a treasurer, this seems about as likely as prying Patriarch out of retirement to pimp him out for $100 dollar swims. Or, maybe all the little buttercups can just toughen up? Any ideas are free to post.

We are still looking for Rosies replacemet as she relocates to strange waters in the east. Description as follows;

If you like cold wild swimming

And sliding playing iceberging tag

If you're not into Hoffing

If you have half a brain

If you like swimming in the full moon

In the warm summer lake

Then I'm the one that you've looked for

Swim with me and escape.