Over the past two years, a hardy group of NSPN members have gotten together for a cold water practice session on Easter morning. While it was short, they had great fun and promised to get together the following yeasr and make it an annual event. Thus began the Annual Easter Plunge.
This will be a combination discussion/paddle/cold water practice event. You’ll have the opportunity to review tips and techniques for dealing with cold weather and water, test out your gear while we do some rescues in cold water, and then do a short paddle and have lunch! LOTS of hypo kits and chocolate will be on hand and careful attention will be paid to all paddlers’ condition and well-being. Come join us for this CAM (Chocolate Adventure Model?) event.

You must bring the following:
- Food and a hot beverage
- Drysuit with proper footwear and appropriate under layers (if you don't have a drysuit, inquire about borrowing or renting)
- Neoprene cap or hood
- Neoprene gloves (bring poggies if you use them, but gloves are always recommended)
- Wool or fleece hat
- Wool or fleece gloves or mittens
- Down or synthetic jacket that fits over your PFD
If you have the following, you should also bring them:
- Storm cag
- Warm outer pant layer (worn at launch to unload and pack boat)
- Spare under-layers (in case your primary set gets wet)
- Padding to sit on (camp chair, carpet square, piece of foam, etc)

We recommend that everyone put together a hypo kit – see this post if you want more information on how to put one together: http://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/9825-hypo-kit/. Don’t feel overwhelmed by all the gear. The start of a good hypo kit is a thermos of hot tea/chocolate/soup/water and a warm jacket/blanket/tarp. Do you have any handwarmers/feet warmers from skiing? An old yoga mat is a great ground pad. A tent fly would work as a wind shelter. Don’t worry about packability if it’s just a day paddle – you have plenty of room in your boat on a day paddle. Put together what you can and we will compare different ideas.
If you would like to attend but don’t have a particular piece of gear or equipment, just let us know. We should have plenty of extra gear on hand from others to care for everyone. So bring your bunny ears (really!) and join us for some cold water fun! We will even have extra ears on hand for those who don't have them. Location and details to be determined, but will most likely be in MA north of Boston. Check the message board for details and to sign up.

Event details