Wokingham Canoe Club

We have recently had a case of Leptospirosis confirmed in someone who regularly canoes on the River Thames. The illness Leptospirosis is an infection caught through contact with urine from infected animals (mainly rodents, cattle and pigs) in water or soil. The bacteria enter the body through abrasions or cuts in the skin and through the lining of the nose, mouth and eyes. Early symptoms include flu-like symptoms, vomiting, high temperature, headache and muscle pains. The treatment is antibiotics. If you think you may have the infection, go to your doctor and tell them there may be a risk of leptospirosis.

• Do not swallow river water
• Wash your hands before eating if you have been in contact with the riverbank
• Cover all cuts and abrasions with waterproof plasters
• Always wear foot-wear to avoid cutting feet
• Canoeists avoid capsize drills or rolling practice in suspect waters
• Where possible, shower soon after coming into contact with river water

Leptospirosis is very rare, and its deterioration into Weil’s Disease even more rare. Weil’s Disease is however a very serious illness, and must be swiftly diagnosed and treated. If in doubt, contact your doctor early, particularly if you experience ‘flu-type’ symptoms.

A new and easier to use WCC website has gone live.

If you used to have edit access to the old site please contact me and I’ll get you setup on the new one.

Also, if you have some sensible and sedate photos I can use for the title bar please contact me too. It would be nice to have something more representitive of the clubs membership.

Friday
Being a person that does not have a boat to call my own the first order of business with any of these club trips is to carefully select the boat most suited to the weekend paddling. After looking over the boats in the shed I finally settled on the G-Force as it’s shape most resembled a boogieboard. After Johnny arrived and our boats were strapped to the roofrack we finally set off to Lobbs Field campsite.
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