VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE!!!!!!!!

To All

We have recently had a warning from Woodmill that some of their paddlers have caught Weil’s disease, and they think that it may have been caught from the River Itchen. In light of this the committee has taken the decision to cancel the river session TOMORROW (23/11/11). If you have already signed up then there’s no point turning up as no one will be there I’m afraid. We keeping up to date with Woodmill and we hope the water to be safe again next week. Pool sessions and the social are going ahead as planned yay!

Weil’s disease (Leptospirosis) is spread by animals (mainly rats) urinating in the water, and the bacteria is spread to humans. This occurs through open cuts, ears, mouth nose being exposed to the water with the bacteria in. Unfortunately for us paddlers who are rolling/swimming in the water we tend to expose ourselves quite a lot (no pun intended!). The risk of getting Weil’s disease from moving water (the Itchen is tidal) is even quite unlikely but there is a small risk still there.
The symptoms for Weil’s disease are very similar to that of a cold or flu (high temperature, vomiting, coughing ect.) and usually occur within 7 to 14 days after paddling on the water. If you get these symptoms within that time scale then we advise that you see a doctor and tell them you’ve been kayaking recently. If you did catch it and went to a doctor, they’d give you some antibiotic tablets which would fix you within a week. The only real danger is if it is not caught in time, this can lead to serious symptoms such as organ problems and can even be fatal!

How to avoid it…
Cover any open cuts with a waterproof dressing/plaster, try not to drink river water, try to wash your hands with soap before eating, and make sure you wash after paddling.

This isn’t meant to scare you but as you’re all becoming better paddlers you should start to become more aware of the risks involved with the sport (even if they are small). We’re expecting the possible bacteria in the water to be gone within a week (after the tide has been in and out a few times). We’re keeping in contact with Woodmill Canoe Shop who first flagged up the risk and are keeping us updated.

So anyway don’t let this scare you off, this is a quote from the NHS about Weil’s disease: “In England and Wales the rates of leptospirosis are very low, so there is no reason why you should not participate in freshwater recreational activities, such as swimming, sailing, water skiing or windsurfing”.
“An expert in leptospirosis has estimated that the risk of contracting a leptospirosis infection by taking part in these types of activities is as low as 1 in 10 million”.

If you do want a bit more information then see http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Leptospirosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

See you all at the social on Wednesday!

Stabby Joe x
Safety Sec

SUCC Freshers Facebook Group

If you’ve not found it already, check out the SUCC Freshers Facebook group and Canoe Club page set up so that we can all share pictures, stories and videos from our trips and socials. It’s also a great way of finding people that you’ve met on a session or contacting somebody who might have a quick answer to your question. Don’t forget, you can also email the committee if you’ve got a query that you don’t want to share with the world and someone will get back to you when they can.

See you on the river!

Woodmill Freestyle Funday

This Saturday 5th November, our local friendly canoe shop, Woodmill, will be holding a ‘Freestyle Fun Day’ that will take place just upriver of the boat hard (by the weir).

For those of you who are now wondering ‘What on earth is freestyle kayaking?’, well read on. Freestyle kayaking, or ‘Playboating’ as it is more commonly known, is the ability to perform tricks on both flat water or on a wave/weir – I’m sure you have all seen some of the more experienced kayakers spinning their boats in an unholy manner and thinking wow, I wish I could do that…

( Still confused, check out this video by our very own Team Strutter, don’t panic, it won’t be quite this extreme at the weekend, there will be a lot of flat water play boating too)

Whether you are a complete beginner to freestyle or have been doing it for a few years, there will be classes and lessons to teach you what you need (bought by the experts from Jackson Kayaks!)
The day will also feature a BBQ, music and rodeo event (freestyle competition on the Weir!), so even if you don’t fancy paddling it is well worth coming down and watching, chilling out, chatting to other kayakers, taking a look around the shop, eating hot dogs etc.

Do not worry if you don’t think you are good enough, there will be beginners classes too, all that we ask is that you have done a spray deck test with us already (ideally you will have practiced T Rescues at one of our river/pool sessions or done our introduction to moving water session, but if not, come down and have fun anyway! You can still get on the water)

The event will run 10:00-15.00 on Saturday, details of where/when to meet will be sent out to those that express interest.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME TO THIS EVENT, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AND FIND MATT’S EMAIL ADDRESS
OR CALL/TEXT YOUR NAME AND NUMBER TO
07828 647130
PLEASE DO THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, YOU MAY MISS OUT!

Fresher’s Perranporth Trip 2011

Another Fresher’s Trip has passed and hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves. In time fresher’s flu will start to wear off, and anything caught at Perranporth will have been killed by the alcohol from the first social.

The trip started as always with maximum faff, people turned up late, the keys were in the wrong place, the van door would not close (it might have fallen off). All in all, a good start to the weekend.

When the majority of the group arrived it was to find the hut in a state of warfare with fortified positions at either end of the village hall, and to be shouted at to choose aside. What ensued next was either a mass lowering of the mental age of the group or everyone is just immature at heart and this was before anyone had decided to partake in the liquid gold we call cider.

After everyone had worn themselves out, we did what students do best – mingle and start playing some games (ring of fire, three man, to name just a few). The Ridge had brought it upon themselves to bring along the good old favourite, the funnel for the pleasure of all. For some this meant being cornered and encouraged to have a go “thanks for that” others queued up to show everyone what they are made of. It was then off to the beach for a the old classic skinny dipping. On the way there, someone spotted a phone box so what do any sensible people do try and break the world record number of people you can get in a phone box, I think we made 14?

This year there were some very friendly naked people; small groups gathered to chat and I can only assume discuss the weather. High 5 to you all or should I say High 10 [you know who you are Immi ;)]. Time to warm up so it was back to the hut for more fun and games. Heading to bed at the totally reasonable hour of 6am (not sure I have ever done this on a trip before).

Breakfast at 8am was not well received, but off to the BEACH!

The Safety Briefing was provided by our lovely Paddles and Stabby Jo. Everyone was split into pairs and kitted out with a boat, paddle, spray deck, wetsuit (Amazing retro colours), cag, Buoyancy aid and helmet.

The best tight and bright the club can offer!

It was then time to walk down the beach and time to surf!

To the Sea!

Some people misunderstood what they were supposed to be doing.

Not sure what was going on here

Everyone else attacked the sea and spent a good few happy hours mastering the basic technique of how to stay upright and surf waves like a pro (for more info see the Wombles guide to surfing).

Lunch was served, with the finest cuts of meat to choose from (chicken roll and ham roll), cheese, crisps, fruit all packaged neatly between two slices of bread. The more eager of the bunch then headed back to the water for another hour of surfing.

By about 16:00 everyone’d had enough and it was time to go back to the hut, grab a nap and wait for the chefs to prepare dinner. Pass the parcel was the nights entertainment kindly prepared for us by the lovely Social Secs. It is a remake of the good old birthday party game but each layer has a challenge the (un)lucky person it lands on has to complete.

Pass the Parcel - Sock fight

Next morning it was time to clean the hut and head back to the beach for another day of surfing.

Southampton University Canoe Club - new and old

Unfortunately the weekend had come to an end and it was time to travel back to the Boat Hard in Southampton. Thanks to everyone who took part; Drivers, committee members, club members, freshers and anyone else who helped and of course thanks to the RNLI Lifeguards who watched over us.

We hope to see you at a Social, Pool session, River session or Trip sometime soon. In the mean time check out some of the photos (get tagging).

SUCC Love xxxx

Andrew

RNLI - Lifeguards

Missed the taster sessions but still want to get involved?

If you’re keen on joining up with one of the best clubs in the uni (of course we’d say that) then there is still time!

Here’s a short FAQ for those of you still interested:

  • Can I still join?
    Of course! You can join any time during the year but we recommend you join sooner rather than later so that you can take advantage of the easier river trips and get to know everyone.
  • Do you have any more taster sessions?
    We don’t have any more taster sessions but we are now running our normal river and pool sessions so if you want a chat then come along to one of these (wednesday from about 1pm at the watersports centre or thursday just before 9pm at the Jubilee sports centre).

If you want to find out more about the club then check out the links above, specifically about membership and membership FAQ’s.

Hope to see you on the water!