Dookers take the plunge in New Year’s Day dips

Arran went dook crazy this year with no fewer than five events across the island.

In the biggest, more than 60 hardy souls took part in the annual New Year’s Day dook in Brodick Bay with a large number of spectators going along to witness the spectacle.

Fixture

Now in its seventh year, the dook which is organised by the Douglas Hotel and which started as a small challenge by a group of friends, has become a regular and the first fix- ture of the year in the Arran calendar. Starting with a procession along the foreshore, the dookers made their way from the Douglas Hotel to the Brodick jetty, in fancy dress and festive outfits as usual, before launching themselves into the ice-cold water.

Illness

This year there was no theme, however, organisers and Douglas Hotel staff wore face masks of two of their friends who were unable to make the event this year through illness.

Coinciding with the horn of the MV Isle of Arran, which sounded in remembrance of the Iolaire tragedy - as did all vessels in the CalMac fleet - the dookers entered the water at midday.

Other villages got in on the act this year with Lochranza, Corrie and Shiskine Valley all holding New Year’s Day dooks of their own and, of course, they followed the Lamlash Dook on Boxing Day covered by the Arran Banner last week. All Brodick Dook photographs by

Colin Smeeton.

01_B02dook05 Spectators line the jetty and promenade to watch the dookers take to the water.

Photograph: Eilidh Kerr. Dookers running into the water at the Shiskine Valley dook.

01_B02dook01 Participants at the head of the procession make their way along the promenade with face masks in honour of friends who could not make the dook this year.

01_B02dook09 Impervious to the cold, two children take great delight in swimming while their mum, in grey and black, seems less impressed.

01_B02dook04 Team Douglas Hotel pose for a group photograph following their dook.

01_B02dook07 Making a splash: dookers enter the water while others make a hasty exit.

01_B02dook10 A group of friends hold hands as they enter the water.

01_B02dook02 One of the founding dookers, Sean Henry, owner of the Douglas Hotel, was the first into the water with his mask in honour of his unwell friend.

Photograph: Jack Benjamin Toye. The contingent who took part in the first Corrie village dook.

Known as the Lochranza Loonies, these swimmers took part in the second annual dook. Photograph Gail Scott.

01_B02dook08 An expression defines how this dooker found the temperature of the water.

01_B02dook06 Children, dogs and dookers take to the cold waters of Brodick Bay.

01_B02dook11 This youngster, who brought along a small paddle board, was reluctant to leave the water.

01_B02dook03 A man and his dog take to the water to enjoy a swim in the bay.