Jumping into the ocean all year must be good for the soul

My son signed up to do Special Olympics Delaware’s annual Polar Bear Plunge this year. Ultimately, the plunge was canceled, but plunge packets were still handed out, so I took him down to the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center to get his.

The doors to the convention center opened at 4 p.m., but we were in town early, so we walked down to the beach. It was a beautiful day. I wasn’t surprised to see small groups of people doing their own plunges.

As we were walking, I decided to speak with a man I had seen wheeling down a younger man before he headed into the ocean. I figured he was a plunger celebrating with his special needs child. I was right about the familial relationship, but I was wrong about why the dad was plunging.

Peter Kraft said he and his family had just moved to the area to help take care of aging parents with dementia. He said he’s been jumping into the ocean pretty much every weekend since moving here, and he also likes to take cold showers for the health benefits. It’s all about the heart and it helps with circulation, he said.

“I do it for two minutes, counting down,” said Peter.

Peter was with his son Maxent, a 24-year-old with Angelman syndrome, which is a rare neurogenetic disorder. The water was much too cold for Maxent, but Peter said he gets out there in the summer.

“I’ll take him out when I can, but sometimes I’ll slip out before everyone is awake, because it’s some me time,” said Peter.

A few days later, I was down at the Indian River Inlet getting photos for a story when I came across Kyle and Scott Atwell, 40-year-old twins who grew up in Montgomery County, Md. They were in their cold-water wet suits, getting ready to head out. The only thing showing was their faces.

I asked if they always go out when the water is near freezing. They were both quick to say, “Yes.” They went on to explain how they both have jobs on Maryland’s western shore, but make the commute so they hit the water year-round.

I can spend hours in warm water, and I’ve done a few plunges over the years, but generally speaking, jumping into cold water isn’t something I do. However, maybe it should be, because Peter, Maxent, Kyle and Scott all had huge smiles on their faces while I was talking with them. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. 

Always impressed with the energy water has

The day before the recent storm dropped nearly 2 feet of wet snow on the Cape Region, the family and I went down to the Indian River Inlet to walk on the beach.

Our walks on the beach always start with a scan of the surroundings from the top of the dune. A few hundred yards to the north, I could see something sitting up on the sand. As we meandered in that direction, it became clear the object was a large red buoy. Upon further examination, we saw the buoy was attached to four cinder blocks via a 20-foot-long chain. At the time, after kicking it around a bit, we talked among ourselves about the type of energy it would have taken to move the buoy from wherever it came.

Fast forward 11 days later, and I was back at the inlet to get photos for the same story as referenced before. Even when I’m working, a trip to the beach starts with a what’s-washed-up scan. 

To my surprise, the buoy – identifiable by a worn sticker near the top – was still around, but it was now sitting on top of the north jetty. I hit pause on getting the photos I needed for my story and went to check it out. This time around, the cinder blocks and chain were gone.

The placement of the buoy on the jetty is nearly perfect, so maybe it was put there by humans. The reason we scan for things on the beach is because we bring that stuff home if it’s interesting, but I wasn’t moving that thing by myself. Instead, I envisioned the storm pulling the buoy back out to sea, only to have the cinder blocks get wedged into the jetty, where it thrashed for days before the chain broke and it settled nicely on top of the boulder.

Joke of the Week

There will be hundreds of handbell musicians and enthusiasts in Rehoboth Beach this weekend for the Handbell Musicians of America Area 3’s annual Beach Festival. Area 3 represents Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. This is the first time Rehoboth has hosted the event, but it’s the 66th year for the gathering. I thought I’d welcome the handbell musicians to the community with a joke. I will say, there are a surprising number to choose from. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: What do you call a solo handbell ringer in a little boat?

A: One ring-a-dinghy.