Dear Jim;
    If you want Cold, come on up- i have been chiton collecting in April
when ice is still on the rocks- takes me about 2 hours just to stop
shivering!!  If chitons are not your ticket, how about scallop trawling
in the Northern Gulf of Maine in January?  My hands have poor
circulation at the best of times, but the eternal Quest for Molluscs is
stronger than my dislike of Blue Fingers (as long as they are in the
water, frostbite doesn't set in, and on the trawler, one can always wimp
out and duck into the cabin from time to time (have to use bare fingers
to pick up the little guys, so things can get dicey!).  Even one trip
out of Yarmouth in early July, we had frost 3 out of 5 mornings (then
two weeks later i went down to the Jacksonville edition of the COA, and
nearly melted!!!).
 
Yours in the Great White North,
 
Ross M.