Paddling Terms

Learn the Lingo - A Glossary of Uncommon Paddling Terms
first appeared in Beginner's Guide '07

Ferry - A maneuver used to cross a current with little or no downstream travel. Uses the current to move a boat laterally.

Eddy - Place in the current where water flows around an obstacle, such as a rock, and then reverses course to fill in the space behind it. Offers a haven from the flowing current.

Skeg - An adjustable fin used to keep some sea kayaks tracking straight.

Roll - Technique to right an overturned kayak or canoe without getting out of it.

Carp - A failed roll in which the boater manages to get his lips above water to take a hasty breath.

Bulkheads - Walls forming sealed compartments fore and aft in a kayak.

Chine - Transition area between the bottom and the side of the boat. Hard chines are angular; soft chines are rounded.

Cockpit - The opening in the deck of a kayak where the paddler sits.

Bearing - The direction you want to go to reach your destination.

Heading - The direction your bow is pointing.

Lee - An area protected from the wind; also the quarter or region toward which the wind blows.

Gunwales - Structural supports that run end to end along the top of a canoe hull.

Portage - Derived from the French word for “carry.” A fancy name for carrying your boat around a difficult rapid or other obstacle.

Hole (also, hydraulic, keeper) - A spot where water tumbles over an obstacle and reverses course upon itself. Can trap boats from continuing downstream.

Beatdown - What sometimes happens to a boater caught in a hole.

Boof - A whitewater maneuver used to launch the craft up and over an obstacle.

Huck - The act of running a waterfall. “Way to huck carcass brah. That was sick.”

Keel - A strip or extrusion along the bottom of a boat to prevent side-slipping.

Rocker - Curvature of the keel line from the center toward the ends of a boat. Lots of rocker means quick, easy turns; less rocker means better tracking.

Sweep Stroke - Used to turn the boat by reaching out and ahead, then “sweeping” in a wide arc fore to aft.

Thwart - A cross-brace between the sides of a canoe.

Tracking - The ability of a boat to hold a straight course due to its hull design.

Yoke - A modified thwart used as a shoulder rest to carry a canoe.

Baja sleigh ride - When a kayak fisherman hooks into a fish big enough to pull him and his kayak in circles; also Texas sleigh ride, Gulf Coast sleigh ride, etc.

Brace - A stroke used to provide support and prevent the craft from capsizing.

Riffles - Light, shallow rapids found in Class I whitewater.

Pushing rubber: Rowing or paddling an inflatable raft, especially one full of tourists.

Groover - The latrine on a multi-day river trip. Name derives from the time when such devices were re-purposed ammunition cans that left a distinctive groove on one’s posterior.

River right/River left - The banks of a river are always referred to by their relation to the view downstream.

Bus stop - Raft guide slang for dumping every client in your raft (Bus stop: everyone out except the driver).

CFS - Cubic feet per second. Standard measure of river volume in the United States.

Swim - Exiting your craft into the water after a capsize.

Swim beer - The beverage a rescued swimmer customarily purchases for his rescuer, to show his gratitude and ensure future rescues.

Tricky-woo - Freestyle kayaking move that’s too complicated to describe here.