The New Year will start with a splash on the North Olympic Peninsula, with at least four options for those hardy enough to begin 2013 with a chilly “polar bear plunge.”
The National Weather Service has forecast temperatures of about 32 degrees Tuesday morning, with fog, a north wind of up to 15 mph in some areas, and water temperatures of about 47 degrees in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and attached bays and harbors.
“It’s going to be cold,” promised June Williams, organizer and founder of the Neah Bay Polar Bear Plunge.
If past years are any indication, the swimmers have many different styles of entering the water. Some get it over quickly by running right in (and right out), while others prolong the agony. Then there are the true polar bears, who splash and frolic and seem to enjoy the cold water.
The best part is seeing the costumes many participants show up in — and of course their entertaining reactions to the shock of the dip.
Port Angeles
More than 100 swimmers, including a few dogs, are expected at Hollywood Beach, where the 25th Annual Port Angeles Polar Bear Plunge will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The event typically features a beach bonfire, and plunge participants bring towels, warm robes and costumes.
This year, however, the event also will include a chance to help out a worthy cause.
According to Dan Weldon, a plunge organizer, a benefit refreshment table will be set up near the beach.
He said that Hospice of Clallam County volunteers will be serving hot chocolate, coffee and pastries — and will take donations in exchange.
Several sponsors — Safeway, Albertsons, Costco, Starbucks and Walmart — provided the refreshments.
To earn their participant certificate — another new touch this year — swimmers will make a run from the beach, go into the water, and return to the beach under the watch of volunteer kayakers from Olympic Peninsula Paddlers Club, who monitor the swimmers.
Some Port Angeles plunge participants, however, have been known to make as many as four trips into the water before making their way to the warming fires on the beach.
Neah Bay
The 11th Annual Neah Bay Polar Bear Plunge will begin at 10 a.m. behind the Neah Bay Senior Center, 341 Bay View Ave.
There are post-plunge get-togethers planned for participants, with hot soup and other warming events to get the blood flowing again, said June Williams, organizer of the plunge there.
Lake Pleasant plunge for Forks, Beaver
Sonja Hirsch, founder of the Lake Pleasant Polar Bear Plunge, believes that jumping into the chilly waters of the lake is a good way to start the new year.
Plunge participants splash in at 10 a.m. at Lake Pleasant Community Beach County Park, 10 miles north of Forks, in the Beaver community.
This year’s plunge is not expected to be as cold as the 2009 plunge, when participants had to walk through several inches of snow to get to the lake and slosh through the half-frozen, slushy ice-covered lake.
Hirsch said she doesn’t exactly recall why she and a friend decided to make the jump eight years ago, but it had something to do with bringing luck for the new year.
“We felt that if we didn’t do it then, something wouldn’t happen for the rest of the year,” she said.
Now living in Seattle, Hirsch said she will be back for this year’s Plunge, after missing the 2012 event.
Nordland
No wet suits will be allowed in the New Year’s Day leap into the water of Mystery Bay, according to Tom Rose, owner of the Nordland Store at Mystery Bay, which hosts the annual event.
The 19th Annual Nordland Polar Bear Dip at Mystery Bay will take place at noon Sunday at the Nordland Store dock, at 7180 Flagler Road.
More than 200 participated last January, jumping a few at a time from the dock.
Rose recommends clown-inspired costumes this year.
The theme is in in memory of clown and comedian J.P. Patches (Seattle entertainer Chris Wedes), who died July 22 at the age of 84, he said.
The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for dippers to warm up and get hot chocolate. They can also get a hat or towel there commemorating the event.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
