Polar Bear Plunge!

Polar Bear Clubs are made up of people who jump into the water during the coldest months of winter, typically Jan. 1st. Where I grew up (Huntsville, Alabama) has a very active Polar Bear Club that jumps in the freezing North Alabama waters every January 1st. As a child, I remember seeing their billboard advertisements and wishing I could do a polar bear jump. I love cold water and I think a jump would be refreshing. Unfortunately, I was never near a "Polar Bear Club" until I moved to Yokosuka.

Once I knew Yokosuka had a Polar Bear Club, I knew I had to make the jump into the marina on Yokosuka Naval Base. I was the third person to sign up for the challenge. Eventually a few of my derby sisters agreed to make the jump with me. New Year's day greeted us with 45 degrees and sunshine. As we headed out to the pier, we kept psyching ourselves up with talk of how cold the water was going to be and how cold we were going to become.

We decided to all hold hands and scream, "One, two, three, SUSHI ROLLERS!" the "sushi rollers" being said as we jumped into the water. Yes, the water was cold, but it was so refreshing. Somehow, I jumped nearest the exit stairs, but I am a slow swimmer so my derby friends were clawing their way past me in an attempt to get out of the water as fast as possible.

We ended up making the jump twice and earning our double D's for double dip. On a "scroll" we got to sign before jumping into the water, we placed two large D's by our names. It was a wonderful way to bring in the New Year. Enjoy the pictures!

Can you spot me?

SUSHI ROLLERS!

My pictures are a bit out of sequence, but this was prior to the first jump.

Second jump!

After everything was done. Brrrr.

Launching off the pier on the first jump.