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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PLEASE NOTE - these contacts are for the Canoe club.

For Courses run by Wokingham Waterside Centre - call the centre on 0118 926 8280 or email: Wokinghamwatersidecentre@hotmail.co.uk

General Club Information
info@wokinghamcanoeclub.co.uk

The Club Chairman
chairman@wokinghamcanoeclub.co.uk

Membership Queries
membership@wokinghamcanoeclub.co.uk

Club Secretary
secretary@wokinghamcanoeclub.co.uk

Technical issues with the website
webmaster@wokinghamcanoeclub.co.uk

Roger L. Revell has set up a petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Canoeists/ calling for the Government to pass legislation to give canoeists and all other users of un-powered craft the free right to navigate all rivers and canals in England and Wales (similar to the right already enjoyed by cyclists to use bridleways, cycle tracks and roads).

For more information contact :-
Rivers Access Campaign
Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre
Bisham, Nr. Marlow
Buckinghamshire SL7 1RT
http://www.riversaccess.org

LATEST!
Now 3600 Signatures - well ahead of the petition for getting the Prime Minister to stand on his head and juggle ice-cream.

Paddling the Teifi without a boat

On Friday 9th February the Wokingham Canoe club went off to Camarthanshire for a trip on the river Teifi. We stayed at a bunkhouse a few miles away, paddled about 10 miles on the Saturday, paddled around about ½ a mile on the Sunday and came home.

That is what happened over the weekend if you are looking for the bare facts, but perhaps a little more detail could be added. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday - it really wasn’t all about the swims!

Twas a wet, rainy and strangely mild January weekend when an intrepid group set off to paddle the Dart Loop. The eleven kayakers split into two groups, led by Roger and Marion. The water level was middling to high after all the rain, so some swimming was anticipated by some.
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This was my first trip since joining the club in the Summer. For me it was an opportunity for father & son to practice the skills we learnt over the summer.

30 paddlers turned up in Newbury with canoes of all shapes and sizes. There were families with young children and adults of mixed abilities. As a group we paddled to Woolhampton and experienced the “fun” of portaging the numerous locks on the route. It was a pity that the Rowbarge Inn at the finish point was closed as we were all in need of refreshment.
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Sunday 17th was a cold, crisp December morning. We dragged ourselves out from under the duvet and peered through the curtains. The sky was blue, so we thought “Drat – even the weather won’t provide us with a get-out. Better have breakfast and get going.”
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