The temperature is predicted to be 51 degrees here on New Year's Day, virtually balmy when compared to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so expect big turnouts for the New Year's Day ocean plunges at East Hampton Village's Main Beach at 1 p.m. and at the Beach Lane road end in Wainscott at 2:30.
Last year, 300 or so plunged into the 48-degree water at Main Beach, and about 150 did so in Wainscott, with large numbers of spectators looking on. Both plunges raise money for food pantries. East Hampton's 2022 plunge, overseen by the Hampton Lifeguard Association, raised $20,522, Vicki Littman of the East Hampton Food Pantry reported, and Colin Mather's Wainscott plunge raised "between $1,500 and $2,000" for the Sag Harbor Food Pantry.
Mather, owner of the Seafood Shop in Wainscott, who began this annual rite in 1999, and who takes a cold shower every day, has called these dips "baptisms into the New Year."
Those who want to run to the beach with him from the Seafood Shop on Route 27 should be there by 1:50.
Craig Brierley, who coaches East Hampton High's boys swimming team, has said, regarding the Main Beach plunge: "Plan to be there by noon, or earlier, because the parking lot fills up fast."