Plunging into the new year to honor a friend

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Nainoa Cooperrider and John Moffett holding a copy of The MV Times on the Edgartown pier after Cooperrider's polar plunge. — John Moffett

For more than 15 years, John Moffett has been jumping into the freezing cold water of Edgartown Harbor to kick off the new year and to honor his friend — and former plunging partner — who passed away in 2015.

Back when Moffett first started jumping in on New Year’s Day, his friend John Wesley would join him, but would do an extra plunge.

“He’s the only one crazy enough to jump in twice,” Moffett said. “We do it in his honor.”

Wesley has since passed away, but Moffett said the polar plunge continues in Wesley’s honor.

This year, Moffett took a break from his polar plunge, but headed to the Edgartown pier to support his friend and polar plunging-heir, Nainoa Cooperrider.

The inspiration behind Moffett’s polar plunge comes from his years growing up in the midwest. While at camp in Minnesota, Moffett used to watch people of Finnish and Swedish descent leap into chilly lakes before running out and heading into the sauna. Moffett sees it as a positive jolt to the body’s system.

“Initially it just takes your breath away,” Moffett said, adding that it’s easier to jump off a dock as opposed to running into the water on a beach. “Once you’re in the air, there’s no going back…once you’re out it’s almost exhilarating in spite of the fact that your body is frozen.”

For the past few years, Moffett has been recruiting younger people to continue the polar plunge tradition at the pier.

“The initial shock is breathtaking,” Moffett said. “It’s like a jolt to the system.”