Butch Marchese, of Warwick, and his son Justin, 18, gaze at the waterfront at the Rhode Island Yacht Club yesterday morning. Swimmers at the yacht club raised about $4,000 for St. Mary’s Home for Children.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

It was a day fit for penguins and polar bears, the fearless and the foolhardy.

From Barrington to Block Island, from Newport to Westerly, hundreds of hearty fools plunged into Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean in an annual display of lemming-like insanity that’s long been a New Year’s Day tradition in Rhode Island.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said David Rand, of Barrington, as he stood on a shell-strewn strand at the edge of the water off Annawamscutt Road.

While the more prudent around him came to Barrington yesterday dressed in ski parkas and sensible shoes, Rand threw caution — and dignity — to the wind.

On his head was a pointy black wizard’s hat festooned with a gold star and a gold crescent moon. He opened a terry-cloth bathrobe to reveal his swimming attire — his wife’s undergarments.

Strange as it may seem, he didn’t stand out all that much among the chattering swimmers plunging into the water around the state. People festooned in flowered swimsuits, sparkly party hats, ski clothes and formal attire helped raise money or just spirits, undaunted by gray clouds, slushy water and freezing rain.

About a dozen members of the Rhode Island Yacht Club were the first to dip digits into the Bay yesterday, gathering for a breakfast of bagels and bloody marys at the Cranston marina.

It’s the second year for the club’s event, which raised about $4,000 for St. Mary’s Home for Children.

As they headed over a seawall at 10 a.m., club member George Aldrich chided the mostly middle-aged group around him: “Another three or four years and we’re going to have to build a wheelchair ramp.”

A few minutes later, led by the club’s vice commodore, Stephen Melvin, the group raced into the water, stirring up the slush lapping at the shore.

Only Charlie, a mixed-breed dog belonging to Pat Buckley, had the good sense to stop at the water’s edge.

Buckley tried to draw her pet into the water, but Charlie dug his paws into the sand. Perplexed, Buckley abandoned her dog’s blue lead so she could get into the water.

“He loves to swim,” Buckley said afterward. “We thought he’d go in because all his ‘friends’ were going in, but he’s smarter than that.”

In Newport, about 500 people took to the water at Easton’s Beach, in what is typically one of the largest New Year’s Day swims. Organized by The Newport Polar Bears, The Polar Plunge raises money for A Wish Come True, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.

“You dive into a wave, say ‘Hi’ to everybody, wish them a Happy New Year and get out,” said Charlie Wright, event organizer for the club.

The Polar Bears, who swim in the ocean off Newport year-round, were joined again by dozens of others raising money for the wish-granting organization. Among the swimmers was Miss Rhode Island, Amy Diaz.

“I dove right in and got wet head to toe,” said a chilled Diaz. “It was absolutely incredible.”

As Diaz dipped in Newport, others braved the waters off Block Island, Jamestown, Little Compton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, South Kingstown and Westerly.

pgrimald@projo.com