It was a lazy day for me. After coming back late last night after watching the midnight sun, I got up just in time to check out of the hotel. The town of Barrow is small and I have seen almost every part of it. I decided to relax for the day at the hotel lobby. Karla Vuotto, a dealer in a casino in Las Vegas, whom I had met the night before during the Point Barrow tour. We decided to join the Polar Bear club. To join the club, we would have to completely submerged ourselves in the Arctic Ocean.

At 5:30pm, four of us gathered at the beach before a curious crowd to join the club. I changed out of my warm clothes and was literally having cold feet! In a burst of adrenaline, I changed out of my warm fleece and ran into the freezing water. Surprisingly, the water wasn’t as cold as I had expected! But it’s still quite cold though. I threw up my hands, waved them to the audience and went in. I was officially inducted into the Polar Bear club! My certificate will be mail to my home soon!

[Click here to watch the video clip!] (filmed by Saar’s mum from Holland)

An update on July 15, 2008:

I finally received my Barrow Polar Bear Club certificate and cloth patch! It reads:

This certifies that GOH HANLIN willfully submerged in the Arctic Ocean Barrow, Alaska on the 22nd day of June, 2008.

Somewhere below it states that the air temperature was 47 Fahrenheit (8 Celsius) and the water temperature was 29 Fahrenheit (-2 Celcius!!!)

An update on August 18, 2008:

Karla sent me some of her photos. Here are some of my favorite: