canoeology - canoeing terms

A glossary of canoeing terms and definitions

Here are a few canoeing terms we have come across so you don't feel out of place in the water.

• Abeam - To the right, or at right angles to the center of a canoe
• Aft - Toward the rear, or stern, of the canoe
• Bail - To empty water from a craft by scooping it out with anything from a sponge to a tin can
• Beam - Width of a canoe when measured at its widest point
• Beatdown - What sometimes happens to a boater caught in a hole
• Bent-Shaft Paddle - A paddle that has a bend in the shaft, this bend increases power but reduces control
• Bilge - The lowest point of the canoe and where water collects
• Blade - As you can quess it is the wider end of the paddle.The bit in the water
• Bow - Forward extremity of your canoe or kayak
• Broach - Broadside to any obstacle-wind, waves, current, or rocks; usually the prelude to an upstream capsize. Don't broach!
• Bulkhead - A ‘wall’ sealing off one end of a kayak to form a watertight compartment. Normally seen in sea kayaks
• Buoyancy - The capacity to remain afloat
• Canadian Canoe - The common term for an open canoe
• Capsize - When a canoe tips over
• Chute - A fast current where part of a stream is compressed and flows between two obstructions
• Coaming - A raised rim or border around an opening designed to keep out water
• Deck - The enclosed area over the bow or stern of a canoe, increases the vessel''s strength
• Displacement - The amount of water displaced by a floating vessel
• Draw - A stroke taken at right angles to the direction of travel
• Eddy - A current at variance with the main current, and where the main current either stops or reverses its flow upstream; caused by rocks, obstructions, or the bends in a river or stream
• Edging - Putting the boat on its edge to increase its manoeuvrability
• Eskimo Roll - Using the paddle against the water to right a boat that has tipped or rolled over
• Fathom - A nautical measure of depth: 6 feet
• Freestyle - A competition on white water, where paddlers perform tricks
• Grab loop - A loop of rope on the bow or stern of a kayak which is useful for grabbing on to in an upset
• Hatch - An opening through the deck into a compartment, and closed by a hatch cover
• J Lean - A way of leaning the boat while keeping the torso vertical. In sea kayaks it lifts the bow and stern out of the water, increasing the effective rocker and making the boat easier to turn
• J Stroke - A stroke on which the paddle is turned to act as a rudder, keeping the boat on a straight course [more]
• Kayak - A decked craft in which the paddlers sit with legs extended and propel the craft with a double blade paddle
• Kevlar - Du Pont’s trade name for poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide - synthetic material five times stronger than steel
• Keel - A strip or extrusion along the bottom of a boat to prevent side-slipping 
• Knot - Unit of speed equal to 1 nautical mile per hour
• Lash - To make gear secure, usually with a rope
• Leeway - The sideways movement of a boat away from the wind
• Outrigger - A form of paddle racing, usually at sea, derived from Pacific Island outrigger canoes
• Paddle - The implement used for propelling a canoe. Canoeists use a single bladed paddle.
• PFD - Personal Flotation Device. The term now used by the U.S. Coast Guard to designate life jackets
• Putin - Where a canoe is placed in the water, a launching site
• Port - The left side of the boat
• Portage - Derived from the French word for “carry.” A fancy name for carrying your boat around a difficult rapid or other obstacle
• Pry stroke - A paddle stroke used to move the craft sideways, away from the paddle
• Rapids - An area of a river, stream, or course where the current is very rapid and flows around and over various obstacles
• Rigging - The system of ropes on the deck of a kayak used to stow gear and in self rescue maneuvers
• River Left - The left side of a river from the paddler''s point of view when looking down stream
• River Right - The right side of a river from the paddler''s point of view when looking down stream
• Roll - Technique to right an overturned kayak or canoe without getting out of it
• Rudder - A device commonly used for steering or trimming the craft
• Running - To sail with the wind; in canoeing, to hoist a jury sail and let the wind sweep the craft along
• Shaft - The handle of the canoe paddle between the grip and the blade
• Sheer - The fore and aft curving sides of a hull
• Skeg - An adjustable fin used to keep some sea kayaks tracking straight
• Slack water - A period of no tidal movement between ebb and flood tides 
• Spray deck - fabric deck used to enclose open canoes when running whitewater
• Squall - A quick, driving gust of wind or rain
• Starboard - The right side of a vessel
• Stern - The rear end of a canoe
• Sweep Stroke - Used to turn the boat by reaching out and ahead, then “sweeping” in a wide arc fore to aft [more]
• Take-out - Where you end your trip; the take-out point
• Throat - The area of the paddle where the shaft meets the blade
• Tracking - How straight a kayak moves as it is paddled
• Trim - The angle at which a canoe rides in the water.
• Weir - A low dam used to divert water; frequently built by commercial eel-trap operators to catch eels and confuse canoeists
• Whitewater - A long stretch of foaming waves and rapids
• Wind terms Beaufort Scale -
• Calm - 0 knots
• Light - less than 10 knots (19 kph or less)
• Moderate - 11 to 16 knots (20 - 29 kph)
• Fresh - 17 to 21 knots (30 - 39 kph)
• Strong - 22 to 33 knots (40 - 62 kph)
• Gale - 34 to 47 knots (63 - 87 kph)
• Storm - 48 knots plus (88 kph plus)
• Yaw - When a canoe swerves from its course
• Yoke - A modified thwart used as a shoulder rest to carry a canoe
  

collected from a whole number of sources across the internet