Discussion on Winter Hoffman Island Swim - Part II

C,

I know you were very kind to me in response to the incident I had as a child jumping into freezing water. You took the time to explain to someone you have never met what probably happened, and that swimming in a group is a way of keeping an eye on each other. I am writing to say that I'm relieved you decided not to do this swim, and not knowing you, didn't think it was appropriate to suggest or urge that you hold off for warmer waters. That is where my hopes were as I was concerned for your safety, and I am glad there were others to voice theirs who know you better. In the meantime, I give my full support for your ironman training and hope one day we can meet in Coney Island.

Naama

[Original Message]
From: C
To: Capri
Cc: <pk;
Subject: Re: Hoffman Island Swim

Greetings All;

For those who are wondering, I did not do my test swim this morning. A number of factors converged to make today an untenable option (weather, work, family, etc.).

Several people have also been expressing concern about my wisdom and/or sanity in pursuing my present course of action. I have decided to take these dear friend's advice and somewhat modify my endeavor.

Capri - If your Polar Bear colleagues would have me join them in a full wetsuit, etc., I would like to join you the next time you guys head to the water. This way I will at least be with other people when I take to the surf.My window of opportunity for doing a winter attempt is closing. It will be soon that I need to start heat acclimating for Ironman Arizona. If I can't do the test swim this weekend and make a Hoffman Island attempt within the first weekend in February, I am afraid I will have to forego visiting the seals and make the attempt after the spring thaw.C --

--- Original Message -----
From: "C
To: "
Cc: <pk;
Subject: Re: Hoffman Island Swim

Hi C, You are a driven wildman ... After the swim yesterday, I rinsed my booties and left them outside to drip dry. When I picked them up 1/2 hour later they were frozen solid. During the swim - which was a short 5 minute dip because the water temp. was 39 degrees - my feet were ok thanks to the booties, but I lost all feeling in my hands. I'll bring and wear my cold water diving gloves next Sunday. You are pushing the limits attempting the Hoffman Island swim at this time ... You would get more takers if you tried the swim at the end of March or April. The water temperature is still dropping - hits bottom in February.

Capri

-------------------
on 1/15/05 12:46, wrote:
Charles-

You are a wild man

Go For It!

BTW What Time?
Robert

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 06:34:49 -0500 "C writes:

Everyone -
I will be conducting my test swim Monday morning. Tim is kayaking with his friends from the Boat House in Manhattan and aims to meet me there. Do I have any other takers? The day promises to be invigorating!

Carpe la mer!

C

----- Original Message -----
From: "teri To: <pk Cc: <bb; <c
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 2:38 PM
Subject: Re: Hoffman Island Swim
C

I am interested, and the swim sounds pretty good too. Where will this beer drinking be?

Robert
On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 14:22:57 -0500 "Paul writes:

C,

I'm interested in meeting with you but Friday doies not work... let me know when you meet again....

Paul

Discussion on Winter Hoffman Island Swim - Part I

From: "Tim " To:

C,

I was promising everyone there would be rectal probes, at least one guytold me "no rectal probes, no kayak" but I'll see what I can do.
Sounds like fun in the snow with the polar bears let me know how it turnsout.

Enjoy,
Tim...
-------------------------------
My Dear Friends,

Once again I would like to thank everyone for the concern shown towards my well being. I appreciate all of the words of caution. Please be aware, that while I have two small children waiting for their daddy to return home at the end of the day, I will by no means jeopardize my life in an attempt to visit some seals living on Hoffman Island.

Yes, the swim I propose to do is similar to ones done by Lynne Cox. However, unlike her, I would be doing the swim in a thick wetsuit and without a team of doctors slowing me down to take measurements from rectal probes, heart rate monitors and other such gadgets.

Before I will even consider an attempt, I will practice swimming in my proposed gear in Coney Island while remaining only a few feet from shore. This way if I get too cold, I can simply walk to my car and drive to the hospital.

Lastly, any test swim, and/or the actual swim, will only be done provided that the air temperature is warmer than the water and it is a relatively calm, sunny day. Judging by the recent weather and my upcoming date with IMAZ, it looks like my desire to make this winter swim will be thwarted. But who knows? Maybe the stars will all align and I will have a marvelous time. If not, I will be no means disappointed, as I look forward to making a summer attempt with my caring friends.
C

----- Original Message -----
From:

Given the water temperature and the distance, this swim is almost equivalent to one of Lynne Cox's swims. Think about all of the precautions she would take if she were doing it: a small flotilla of support vessels, divers ready to pull her out of the water at a moment's notice, doctors monitoring her vital signs with internal temperature and heart rate monitors. If she needed to stop, she'd be out of the water and getting medical treatment in minutes. If you found yourself going into hypothermia half a mile from shore, how long would it take you to get to a doctor, even assuming that the kayaker could get you to shore before you went into cardiac arrest?

If you don't want to do this swim in the spring because of the triathlon season, why not just wait till next fall? Pick a nice day in October when the water is in the high 50's. You might even get some people to join you.

-----Original Message-----
From: bb Of Peter
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 7:22 PM
To: BB Subject: Re: Collective conscience

Consider your wife and children. The hell with us, except in so far as you recognize that we are also a little crazy and some more then others push boundaries.

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: c
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 14:04:11 -0500

Hey Everyone -

As a result of the recent Polar Bear New Year's Day swim, I connected with Tim Gamble, a kayaker extraordinaire and willing escort to swimmers venturing forth into our local waters.

Tim has offered to escort a group of swimmers to Hoffman Island a small island off of Staten Island. Tim has kayaked there numerous times and tells me that a population of seals hangs out there during the winter. The sight of this sounds quite intriguing to me and I am wondering if one of you feels the same.

We are going to meet this Friday at 5:30pm to go over the logistics of this swim and perhaps down a few beers. If you are interested, please let me know. If you are unable to attend, but are interested, let me know and I will keep you in the loop.

Of course, due to the water temperature, I would do this swim in a wetsuit. I will also do a training swim in Coney Island to see how long I can stand the cold with the wetsuit. The last thing I want is to make it to Hoffman, and then be too cold to make it back home.

C