17 December, 2000

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Greetings,

I guess everyone wants to know if I made the plunge or not. The answer of course is yes. I am alive and well and had a great time. My mom will be able to sleep easy tonight. I talked one other person

into making the plunge with me. It was Chris Mitchell the computer technician here at Palmer Station. He made the "All Call" around 5:30 p.m. that wild Bill would be going swimming. I changed into my suit and walked down to the dock with Chris.

About 15 people showed up to watch me and Chris make the plunge into the icy waters. I can tell you that I was a bit nervous about jumping but I promised those faithful voters to relive the experience through this journal. There were several people there with video cameras and regular cameras waiting for us to jump.

Chris the veteran jumper made the plunge first. I stood on top of the docking buoy thinking that I had to be crazy to be doing this. There are many people on station that never make the jump so why should I?

I thought, but again those faithful journal readers voted me in the water. So, what could I do? I jumped.

I was about 8 feet above the water when I leapt. I entered the water feet first being a little unsure how deep the water was. I sank about three feet below the surface and made my way up. I tried to relax in the cold water, but I felt that I couldn't catch my breath. It was kind of strange because I knew the water was cold, yet I was cold

only for the first few seconds. Someone told me that this is because the body is shutting down the blood flow to the less critical parts

of the body.

I swam slowly over to the ladder past the hunks of ice. My body was not responding the way it normally would. It was very hard to move

the joints and muscles. I struggled to some degree to make it to the ladder and climb the several steps back to the top. Once out of the water I didn't feel cold, but I felt a prickly sensation on my skin.

I was told that this was the blood being released back to the muscles and joints.

I made my way with Chris and the spectators over to the hydrotherapy tub, a hot tub, and brought my body temperature back to normal. It felt great! After 15 minutes in the hot tub I took a shower and filed my report with you the readers. What seemed like an eternity in the water only lasted less than a minute. I really enjoyed the jump and would do it again, although I would probably stay in the water a little bit longer. Maybe swim a few laps.

The Gould was struck by the same storm that hit us last night. The Gould is the ship that will be taking me to Punta Arenas this coming week. We experienced 40 to 50 knot winds, with gusts to 55. It was

the first time I have seen white caps in our protected harbor. There is a possibility the ship could be late due to the weather.

Please stop by tomorrow and find out what bill is up to know. You never know what he might be up to next.

C-ya,

-- Bill

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<fontfamily>Times<bigger><bigger>Greetings,

I guess everyone wants to know if I made the plunge or not. The answer of course is yes. I am alive and well and had a great time. My mom will be able to sleep easy tonight. I talked one other person into making the plunge with me. It was Chris Mitchell the computer technician here at Palmer Station. He made the "All Call" around 5:30 p.m. that wild Bill would be going swimming. I changed into my suit and walked down to the dock with Chris.

About 15 people showed up to watch me and Chris make the plunge into the icy waters. I can tell you that I was a bit nervous about jumping but I promised those faithful voters to relive the experience through this journal. There were several people there with video cameras and regular cameras waiting for us to jump.

Chris the veteran jumper made the plunge first. I stood on top of the docking buoy thinking that I had to be crazy to be doing this. There are many people on station that never make the jump so why should I? I thought, but again those faithful journal readers voted me in the water. So, what could I do? I jumped.

I was about 8 feet above the water when I leapt. I entered the water feet first being a little unsure how deep the water was. I sank about three feet below the surface and made my way up. I tried to relax in the cold water, but I felt that I couldn't catch my breath. It was kind of strange because I knew the water was cold, yet I was cold only for the first few seconds. Someone told me that this is because the body is shutting down the blood flow to the less critical parts of the body.

I swam slowly over to the ladder past the hunks of ice. My body was not responding the way it normally would. It was very hard to move the joints and muscles. I struggled to some degree to make it to the ladder and climb the several steps back to the top. Once out of the water I didn't feel cold, but I felt a prickly sensation on my skin. I was told that this was the blood being released back to the muscles and joints.

I made my way with Chris and the spectators over to the hydrotherapy tub, a hot tub, and brought my body temperature back to normal. It felt great! After 15 minutes in the hot tub I took a shower and filed my report with you the readers. What seemed like an eternity in the water only lasted less than a minute. I really enjoyed the jump and would do it again, although I would probably stay in the water a little bit longer. Maybe swim a few laps.

The Gould was struck by the same storm that hit us last night. The Gould is the ship that will be taking me to Punta Arenas this coming week. We experienced 40 to 50 knot winds, with gusts to 55. It was the first time I have seen white caps in our protected harbor. There is a possibility the ship could be late due to the weather.

Please stop by tomorrow and find out what bill is up to know. You never know what he might be up to next.

C-ya,

-- Bill

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Bill and Chris ready to make the leap.

Bill in the icy water.

Warming up in the hot tub.