Plunging For St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner.  What are your plans?  St Paddy’s Day is always a fun event here in town.  There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make the festivities happen.  One of the most important elements is fundraising and sponsors. 

Last weekend while reading the Scituate Mariner I saw an advertisement for the Scituate St. Patrick’s Day Plunge.  For a twenty dollar donation to go towards the parade you met all the other brave souls who decided to do this crazy event on Saturday 3//12 at noon on Peggoty Beach.  You also got a pretty cool beach towel as a souvenir/participation award.  Fun!

In the past I have always admired those who did such off-season plunges.  I rarely go into the ocean in the summer unless it’s like bath water, which as you know is rare here in New England. When I read about this event last Friday evening I told myself, “ I am going to do this”.  I woke up to snow on the ground on Saturday.  Buuurrrrrrr.  Not that I expected it to be 70 degrees and sunny…but snow was not what I had in mind.  However, I did it.  The whistle blew, I ran as fast as I could into the roaring waves, and plunged into the ocean. 

 As soon as I came up from underwater I ran back to shore!  At this point my legs were close to numb and the sand was ice cold. 

 If you ever decide to do an off season plunge my best tips are:

1.   Don’t over think it in advance, just dive in.

2.    Bring a bath robe for before and after and warm up my repeating “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” (It will make you feel tough)

3.   Bring flip flops

4.   Be prepared to have a ton of sand in your bathing suit, hair, and ears even though you were only in the water for about 5 seconds.

5.    Bring  a loved one to cheer you on and take photos.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!