Boxing Day Dip - Redcar 2012

I took the lad down to watch the dip this morning. Not a bad turn out, seen better, but not too bad.

Here we can see the back of some chap's head, and to the far right of the shot one spectator seems to be under the illusion that a brolly is enough to fend off the sea.



Here we can see the new off shore wind farm that is half built and behind schedule. On the horizon we can also see a ship.



Here we can just make out the headland that is sunderland on the horizon on the left side of the pic.



Well somebody has to make sure that no harm comes to anybody. Well done those volunteers



All done for the dippers. Time to pack away.







Spectators on the slipway are clearly not necessarily thinking anything like "That tractor is powerful enough to wade into the sea until its practically submerged, and pluck a sizeable boat out, and is therefore more than powerful enough to squish us if we don't get out of its way".



The building just poking into view on the left edge is a new development called the Hub, part of Redcar's multi million quid seafront redevelopment. It used to be an amusement arcade. The strange looking building that looks like a helter skelter on the right is a controversial development, which was originally called The Vertical Pier, until the council finally conceded that the only reason people weren't actually objecting is because they were too busy mocking it. I'm told its now called the Redcar Beacon. We have two beacons in Redcar, one is on the wall on Marks and Spencers, the other is on a lamp post. They flash red. Small boats without all the navigational mod cons can use them to find their way back through the narrow channel between the two 'scars', the rocks that jut out from Redcar and have claimed many vessels large and small over the centuries. There are no beacons on Redcar Beacon.



Well that's all I've got for you, hope you enjoyed

 

Great pix, CL1!

Particularly love this one ... see how the rainbow touches the boat? Perfick!

 

Some lovely shots there clueless. There a lot braver than me
Didn't you fancy a dip?

 

Lovely pics Clueless. Those people are either mad or brave!

 

I will do one year. Elf and Safety only allow a limited number of participants (although quite how they stop people running into the sea I just don't know), and I never get round to registering in time.

An interesting fact is that the sea temperature doesn't change very much through the seasons, because water is fantastic and holding heat. Statistics suggest that the dippers enjoy temperatures of around 10'C, even if the air temp is sub zero. Still cold without a doubt, but not as cold as many people imagine.

 

I used to live in Guisborough, so been to Redcar few times. Heard of the boxing day dip, never got around to seeing it for myself though. Anyways thanks for sharing the pics