Home > General Canoe Information > Boating Related Terms
 
Boating Related Terms
 
Access point A location from which a boat may be launched or landed
Aft Toward the stern or rear end of the boat.
Air lock The suction within a canoe when it is overturned in the water that makes it difficult to right.
Bang plate A metal strip on the leading edge of cutwater, bow & stern, that protects the hull, also called a bow plate.
Beam Width of the craft at the widest point
Bilge The interior of a canoe located below the waterline
Bilge keel A extra keel, one on each side, located just inside the chine to protect the fabric on canvas canoes.
Blade The flat section of a canoe paddle.
Buoyancy chambers  Air tight chambers in fibreglass and aluminum canoes to provide buoyancy.  Also called air tanks.
Carry A portage, in which the boats are carried around some obstacle
Channel A navigable route among obstructions in a waterway
Chine The curving section of a canoe's sides where is bends or merges into the bottom.
Chute A accelerated section of a stream where the current is compressed between obstructions which causes it to accelerate
Depth  The depth of a canoe, measured vertically amidship.  Sometimes the depth is measured at the ends which can be misleading.
Displacement The weight of water displaced by a watercraft and its cargo & crew.
Draft The depth of water required to float a craft, or the vertical distance between the waterline and the keel.
Eddy A section of current, downstream of an obstacle, where the water tends to move in circles.
Feather To bring a paddle forward with one edge leading, thus reducing the resistance by water or air.
Ferry Holding a canoe at an angle to the current and paddling so that the canoe sets over across the current
Fore Toward the front end of the craft.
Freeboard The height of a canoe's side above the waterline, measured amidship.
Gradient The average rate of drop in a river usually in feet per mile
Grip Top of a canoe paddle shaft, shaped roughly to fit the hand
Haystack / rollers Standing waves at the foot of a powerful chute or sluice created when fast-flowing water strikes relatively still water
Ledge A projecting stratum of rock which confines or partially dams a stream
Open gunwale Gunwales in which there is a space between the inwale and the outwale to allow drainage of an inverted canoe
Painter Length of rope attached to either or both ends
Port The left side of a boat when facing forward.
Rapids Swiftly flowing water, tumbling with some degree of force among obstacles.
Riffles Swift, shallow water running over gravel or sand bottom to create small waves
Rips Moderate rapids
Rocker Upward sweep of keel line toward both ends of canoe, characteristic of river craft
Shaft The handle of a canoe paddle between the blade and the grip
Shoe keel A shallow, wide keel for use on river canoes which may also may be used on lakes. It has a minimum interference while making broadside moves in current
Spray cover Temporary fabric deck used on open canoes during white water running to keep the craft from taking on water
Starboard The right-hand side of the craft when facing forward
Stern Rear or back of a watercraft
Throat The flaring of the paddle shaft where it starts to form the blade.
Trim The manner in which the canoe rides on the water
Tumblehome The inboard curvature of a canoe's sides from the bilge to the gunwales
Windward The direction from which the wind is coming