New Year Plunge

Today I wriggled into my wetsuit and took my new kayak into the swamp for the annual “polar plunge”. Of course, I did it all wrong. First, I was wearing protection from the cold, and after I ditched that, I went in head first.

I did my first 2 jumps into the mud, wearing the neoprene suit, gloves and boots. In retrospect, I think I could have tolerated the cold without it, but it probably extended my play time. In the past, I’ve gotten hypothermia and it’s taken me a long time to warm up after I got cleaned up and into dry clothes. This time, my core temperature didn’t drop at all. Although the water was cold, I never felt like I was getting cold.

I guess I wanted something to make the trip more interesting, so I rigged a hip harness around my loins before I put on the wetsuit. The rope around and over my genitals gave me something to think about, as I moved around in the mud. I dragged my boat about half way to the place I selected for my “plunge”. That might be what got me warmed up, because it’s even more difficult navigating the mud when you’re covered in neoprene and wearing diving boots.

I managed to record most of my adventure, so I cut together a short video for you to check out. I hope you like it. I suppose I’ll have to put a longer version in my clip store at my first opportunity.