PORT MORIEN, N.S. — The quiet Cape Breton fishing village of Port Morien unofficially became an international port of celebration on New Year’s Day as hundreds gathered to usher in 2020 at the community’s annual polar bear dip.
About 75 brave and daring souls took to the frosty waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, while about 250 more watched from the beach and the bluffs overlooking the sheltered harbour.
Among those on hand to ring in the new year with the exhilarating, if not a bit chilly, endeavour was a large contingent of international students who came from places such as Vietnam, Thailand, India, China and Japan.
IFrame
“It was so much fun, it was fantastic and it was not very cold,” said Viett Ho, although his opinion of the water was not shared by all of his peers.Daisy Vo, who was wrapped in two towels following her quick dip, was adamant that her countryman was erroneous in his judgment:
“He’s wrong — it’s cold, it’s freezing.”
For once, Mother Nature was on the side of the adventurous as the dip-time air temperature was around 5 C, while the water temperature, according to Cape Breton Regional Police Service divers who were in the water making sure everyone who went in made is safely back to shore, was about 0 C.
This year’s Port Morien dip was the eighth annual in what is quickly becoming an increasingly popular Cape Breton New Year’s activity.
The event began with organizers, participants, spectators and spotters gathering at the local Royal Canadian Legion. After a briefing from organizers, those registered for the chilly plunge were led to the nearby shoreline by bagpiper Mike Campbell.
Then came that memory-making moment when organizing committee member Myrna Murphy gave the anxious polar dippers the word to hit the water!
And off they went jumping into the unforgiving chill of the bay before just as quickly finding their way back to shore and the comfort of a dry towel.
For the record, the last person out of the water this year was New Zealand native Regan Parker, who has been living in Cape Breton for eight years.
“Nah, it wasn’t cold at all — you get used to it after a bit,” he said as he returned to the beach accompanied by the pair of police divers.
One person who did not make it in was 91-year-old Earl Stevens, who took in the spectacle with Iris, his wife of 69 years.
“But I’m thinking about going in it next year when we celebrate our 70th wedding anniversary,” quipped the life-long resident of Louisbourg, who was on hand to support granddaughter Deanna Murphy, who was home from St. John’s, N.L., for the holidays.
This year’s polar dip also served as a fundraiser with money raised divided equally between the local legion and Hospice Cape Breton. The amount raised this year was not immediately available, but more than $37,000 had been raised over the previous seven years.
Following the dip, participants and spectators made their way back to the legion where those who took the icy plunge warmed up with good cheer and refreshments.