NORDLAND — Attendance at the 21st annual Mystery Bay Polar Bear Plunge on Thursday will depend on the temperature — whether it’s cold or even colder.
“The water is always cold but when it’s windy it’s worse,” said Nordland General Store owner Tom Rose, who began and organizes the event.
People will start gathering at the beach across from the store 7180 Flagler Road at about 11 a.m. with the plunge commencing at noon.
Attendance ranges from 100 to 200 people each year although accurate numbers aren’t always available.
Depending on the crowd, the whole thing could be over in about 20 minutes.
After it thins out, there have been known to be some courageous souls who will take a dip au naturel, but the last time that occurred in was in 2011.
“Sometimes people both want to do it and don’t want to do it so they make bets with their friends and say ‘I’ll go if you will,’” Rose said.
“Everyone who has done it has enjoyed it, I think.
“They always come out with a smile on their face and it’s a feeling you just can’t explain.”
Rose has participated in every plunge except for last year which he sat it out because of his health.
Rose has not decided whether he will participate this year, he said Tuesday.
The number of jumpers is often exceeded by onlookers.
Nordland Store employee John Malcomson will be on hand to serve beer and coffee and stage-manage the musicians, who will be playing from the store’s porch throughout the event.
Malcomson jumped once.
“I did it at the millennium because the world was going to end anyway,” he said.
“It takes you by surprise when you hit the water,” he said.
“You know it’s going to be cold but you aren’t prepared for how cold.”
Malcomson said there is a safety net for participants in that personnel from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, the Coast Guard and Vessel Assist usually attend, “although we have been lucky and there has never been any trouble,” he said.
Malcomson said that “only a few” people have signed up for this year’s plunge but most people decide to participate at the last minute.
Those taking the plunge are required to sign in for safety purposes but some of the names, such as “Mickey Mouse,” aren’t verifiable.
The jumpers range from children to senior citizens.
In 2014, one participant was 7.
Hayden Sawyer, a Chimacum Elementary School student, didn’t make a big deal about it.
He slipped quietly into the water and swam about 50 feet from the edge of the dock to the shore.
“I always love water and I love swimming,” he said after emerging from water that he characterized as “freezing,” although the water temperature is generally in the 40s.
People come from throughout the region to participate, with some former residents using it as a reason to return home.
“This is a good way to wash away all of the impurities of the past year and start anew,” said Josh Herrington in 2012,
Herrington grew up on Marrowstone Island but now lives in Singapore, where he works in the oil and gas industry.
Several participants have said that the cold dip on New Year’s Day is a great way to start the year, washing away the old and submerging themselves in new possibilities.
“You start the year like this and it has to get better,” Marrowstone Island resident Mitch Brennan said in 2011.
Attendees can park along Flagler Road although they may have to walk a short distance to get to the action.
Other polar bear dips on the North Olympic Peninsula will take place at Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles, which will be followed by a beach bonfire, and at Lake Pleasant in Forks.
Both begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Also taking place is a plunge at Neah Bay. That will begin at noon on Bayview Avenue near the senior citizens’ building.
For more information call 360-457-8133 in Port Angeles, 360-374-9258 in Forks, 360-640-9943 in Neah Bay or 360-385-0777 Marrowstone.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
