Well that was cold...

Steve and I and 5 other friends participated in a Polar Plunge on Saturday.  It wasn't for any cause or to raise money, it was a random student activity and about 33 people showed up to jump into Auke Bay and get a t-shirt to prove it.  And yes, you had to jump to get the shirt.  There were three rescue personnel in the water (in dry suits) while groups of 5-10 jumped at a time.  They were very thorough - counting the number in each group as we shivered on the pier (air temp was actually pretty warm, about 40F, a bit of a breeze though), just to make sure we all made it out of the water.  We had to jump off the side of the pier then swim back up the boat launch ramp to get out.  It seemed like a long ways to swim, but it was probably less than 50 feet.  I don't know the exact water temperature, but it was probably 34-38 degrees.  We counted to three and jumped in.  Steve said he was dreading it and was the last to jump, knowing it would be painfully cold.  I didn't think it through at all, in the back of my head I sort of figured it would be cold, but hadn't really thought about what that would mean.  I think I was unprepared for just how cold it would be and how much that shock would hamper my brain from thinking clearly.

In hindsight, I'm glad we did it, because practically speaking, I know now how I'd react if I ever fell overboard into icy cold water, and it's not good!  First, shock:  COLD!  gasping for air and swallowing a mouthfull of seawater, then surprise at the fact that it was salty, that surprise sticks in my head.  Duh, it's salty, it's the ocean.  Again, I think my failure to think it all through was bad.  Then we had to swim, which seemed unduly difficult and my arms didn't want to respond to my brain saying 'move!'.  The guys in the dry suits at some point said "Ok, swim up the ramp!" I definitely needed that prompt to remember what I was supposed to do.  I was sort of flailing along until Steve came past me on my right and seeing him made something click and I started swimming for real.  Everything was numb as we all made it out of the water, the sharp crushed shells and rocks littering the pier no longer hurt my feet, they were too numb to feel anything.  I remember thinking that that was nice (not feeling anything on my feet), because it had really hurt to walk barefoot down the pier over all the sharp things.  Oddly, I never got goose bumps.  I wonder if you can be too cold to get them?  We took really hot showered back home, but it took me a couple of hours to really warm up again.  I'd do it again.  I wish we had a video of it, because what was only seconds in real time felt like minutes in my head! 

Us, pre-jump.  We look like drowned rats in the 'after' pictures, so I'm not going to post them!