Cullen new year dook draws the crowds for an icy dip
Dozens of brave souls turned out to mark the dawning of a new year with an icy dook in the sea.
Over 50 people converged on Cullen beach on Saturday, January 11 for the event, being piped on their way into the chilly waters of the Moray Firth by Gracie Reid from Aultmore.
The event, organised by the Wild Dookers group, had originally been scheduled for Banff, but the prevailing weather conditions meant it was not safe to proceed.
Dook organiser Emma Williams said: “It was great, we had about 55 people in the water plus a number of spectators on the beach, too.
“It wasn’t as busy as last year’s new year dook - which had over 150 people - as there were a lot of things on that day but I’m very pleased with the number that came along.
“People come from far and wide to take part. We’ve got Wild Dookers members, of course, but we also had people who happen to be visiting Cullen come along and join in. We’ve even got one person who travels from Fraserburgh comign along to our dooks during the year.”
The past year has seen the Wild Dookers continue to grow in popularity.
Ms Williams continued: “The Wild Dookers is growing in popularity - the Facebook group now has something like 2000 members.
“More members are joining up every week.
“We’ve never fewer than 20 people at our dooks, usually it’s about 40 or 50.
“There’re a number of different locations we go to during the year, with Cullen, Banff, Portknockie and Sandend being the most popular.
“There’s more awareness now about the benefits of wild swimming and a lot of the growth of the Wild Dookers is down to word of mouth. Everybody is so friendly and welcoming and always delighted to meet new members.”
The event also helped raise money for the Wild Dookers’ nominated charity of the year, which this time around is the Men’s Sheds at Cullen, Banff and Keith. Around £1800 has been raised and will be split evenly between the three organisations.
