The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Water fabulous way to bring in the New Year
Hundreds expected to get very cold and very wet to raise cash for various charities
Hundreds of Taysiders will be taking a sobering dip in freezing water to welcome the New Year.
People in Broughty Ferry, Arbroath and Carnoustie are preparing for their January 1 dooks, in which hardy souls brave the Tay or North Sea in aid of worthwhile causes.
The dook in Broughty Ferry has been a tradition for more than 130 years.
Organisers, Ye Amphibious Ancients Bathing Association, will celebrate its 135th anniversary on the day.
Joyce McIntosh, who has been taking the plunge for more than 40 years, said: “We have had up to 450 people taking part. You never know what you are going to get on the day. We make a real event of it.
“The dook is short because the water is cold – but we always have live music. All the money gets put back into the club because we are a charity.
“A lot of people from abroad sign up for the dook – some have come from Israel, Canada and Mexico. It’s fantastic.
“It’s about community spirit and you can never be without that. It’s a fun day.”
The dook has been held in the Ferry since 1891 and has never been cancelled – even in 1989, when participants had to break the ice before they could enter the water.
The event starts at 9am, when registration opens, with music provided by James Clark.
There will also be a fancy dress parade and competition, as well as a carnival throughout the day.
Monifieth Pipe Band will be in attendance and the dookers will enter the water at 11.30am.
It costs £15 to take part and participants will each get a T-shirt, a certificate and a hot drink.
Also taking place on the Arbroath Loony Dook.
Ryan Taylor, chairman of the Angus Cancer Research Committee, which organises the event, said: “The dook has been established for nine years.
“Generally, we have 85-100 participating each year.
“My experience of it is that when you are in the water, it is not too bad – it’s once you get out and into the wind that you become a bit uncomfortable.”
Bathers enter the water at 12.30pm led by a piper on the beach between the Signal Tower Museum and the RNLI boathouse.
It costs £15 to sign up and participants get a Cancer Research dook T-shirt.
The dook in Carnoustie, at the seafront, is organised by the town’s rugby club.
It was the brainchild of Rod Bruce and Peter Christie who, on a whim, decided to do a sponsored dook for the club. It was two years before other people decided to join in.
The dook costs £5 to register and is at midday. The money will go towards the Boars Hut, for all the groups who use the school playing fields. day is the people