Here are a collection of canoeing terms collected over the last couple of years. If you see any that are missing, have a better definition, or see one that needs correction, please email: info@oldsaltsclub.com
Air Brace – In ineffectual brace employed by novice paddlers in which the paddle blade is waggled about above the water until the boat capsizes. Often performed one-handed with the opposite hand clenched white-knuckled on the gunwale.
Back Ferry – Paddling the canoe backward at an angle to the current facing downstream when crossing a stream laterally.
Back/Reverse Stroke – Used to move the canoe backwards in a straight direction. It is done by using the back face of the blade; the bottom hand pushes down and forward while the upper arm pulls up and back.
Backpaddle- Paddling backward to slow or reverse the forward motion of a canoe.
Blade – The wide, flat end of the paddle.
Bony – AKA scratchy. Shallow water that scrapes up your boat. The blue and green coating on the barely submerged rocks isn’t algae, it’s vinyl. It the days before plastic boats a fleet of Grummans could be heard bashing down a bony run for miles.
Booties – Neoprene socks or boots used to keep your feet warm in cold weather. Also the things that make your car trunk smell like something died in there.
Bow – The pointy part of the boat up front. Showed up late for the basic paddling class, eh?
Bow Paddler, Bowman, Bow Person -The person who paddles in the bow. In canoe racing, this person is typically the larger, heavier, and/or stronger of the paddling team.
Brace – A paddling stroke using a downward and sweeping motion with the blade to keep the boat from capsizing. If you are unfamiliar with this stroke see “carnage” and “yard sale”.
Broach – What happens when someone hits a rock and turns sideways. It is important that other paddlers yell “Don’t lean upstream” in unison when a novice gets sideways on a rock. Leaning downstream and bracing may allow the boat to slide off. Leaning upstream may result in a capsize, carnage and yard sale.
Bulkhead – An in-hull wall that seals off a compartment in a decked boat, used for flotation or for dry storage accessible through a hatch.
Capsize – What happens when you lean upstream in a broach. See also cap size; what you’ll need to know to replace your hat when it floats away with the rest of your gear.
Carnage – A jovial term to describe what happens after you lean upstream in a broach.
Chine – The angle where the sides of the boat meet the bottom
Chute – A narrow tongue of water where the flow is constricted.
Class I – VI – International scale of river difficulty: Class I (Novice). Class II (Practiced Novice). Class III through IV (Don’t even think about it until you’ve had some experience and taken a safety course). Class V (Make that much more experience) Class VI (Check your life insurance policy first).
Creeking – Paddling (or simply bouncing down) small, high gradient streams. Also known as steep creeking.
Curler – The crest of a large wave that spills back upstream.
Draw stroke – A stroke performed by placing the paddle out in the water parallel to the boat and pulling the blade towards the hull.
D-ring – A steel ring attached inside a boat used as a tie-down point.
Dog Leg – a sharp bend in the river.
Dry bag – A waterproof bag designed to keep your gear dry. Having a change of clothes in a dry bag is essential if your bowman can’t execute a draw stroke or if the stern person leans the wrong way😉
Dry Suit – An over-garment designed for cold weather paddling with neck, wrist and ankle gaskets or booties to keep water out.
Duct Tape – The paddler’s friend. Can be used in almost any emergency from broken skin to broken boats.
Eddy – A place in the river, often behind an obstruction or inside a sharp turn, where the water reverses and flows upstream. Eddies are a good place to pause, rest, or boat scout. They are also the place where your gear is likely to collect after your bowman misses the draw stroke, your boat broaches and you forget to lean downstream. See yard sale.
Eddy Hopping – Using eddies to maneuver upstream or downstream
Eddy Line – The line between the eddy and the main current.
Entrapment –Getting trapped or stuck in some fashion. Pulled into an undercut, trapped between a water-filled boat and a rock, washed into a strainer or pinned in a folded boat – the best outcome is you don’t get crushed, don’t drown and live to learn a lesson (the first rule of paddling – “Don’t die”).
Feather – To turn the paddle so that the blade is parallel to the current or wind and the resistance is reduced.
Ferry – Angling the boat to move sideways or upstream against a current, a properly executed ferry uses the current to help move the boat sideways.
Flare – The cross-section shape of a hull that increases in width from the waterline to the gunwales.
Flatwater – Water that is flat.
Float Bag – An inflated air bag used in boats to displace water. Float bags will make a swamped boat float higher, be less likely to pin or hang up and easier to recover
Float Plan – Communicating your trip plans, including what, when and where, orally or in writing to someone who cares.
Forward/ Front Ferry – When facing upstream in a forward ferry, the stern paddler is responsible for maintaining the angle of the canoe to the current, while the bow paddler primarily paddles to maintain boat speed and helps with the lean if ferrying toward their paddling side.
Forward Stroke – Used to move canoe forward in a straight direction. It is the foundation or basic stroke. This stroke is made close to the canoe moving from the front of the canoe towards the back.
Forward Sweep Stroke – Forward Sweep is a wide sweep of the paddle using the power face of the blade. It is used to maneuver among obstacles in a lake or river
Foot Entrapment – What happens when you attempt to stand up in fast moving water, your foot becomes wedged between the rocks and the current pulls you under. If you live see the first rule of paddling. Also see your ankles bent in a whole new direction.
Freeboard – The amount of distance between the waterline and the gunwales.
Gauge Height – On-line or stick gauges for determining the height of the water at a specific point along the river. Some painted gauges may also denote a “canoe zero” level. If you attempt to paddle a river below canoe zero have a nice walk.
Gradient – The amount of drop or steepness of a river, usually given per mile. Although a seemingly easy flatwater river may have a single digit gradient because it is utterly flat…except for that that one waterfall you didn’t know about.
Grip – The end of a canoe paddle opposite the blade; fits in a paddler’s hand.
Guidebook – A resource book for finding out about that waterfall before you suddenly plunge over the edge. A good guidebook will include maps, trip descriptions, gauges, gradient, class, distance between access points and shuttle directions. See anything by Ed Gertler or Roger Corbett.
Gunwales/Gunnel – The wood, aluminum or vinyl pieces running from bow to stern along the top of the hull. Also what novices typically grab if they don’t know how to brace.
Hole – Envision a whirlpool on its side, where the water flows over an obstacle, plunges toward the bottom and recurves upstream back towards the obstacle. Also known as a hydraulic. Or, more ominously, a keeper. Not a good place to be if you don’t know what you are doing. A hole can also be the void that suddenly appears in the bottom of your boat after you slam into a piece of barely submerged rebar. See duct tape.
Horizon line – What appears to be a straight waterline stretching across the river. If you had read the guidebook you would have noticed mention of a falls or very steep drop in this very place. Better hope there’s an eddy before you get there.
J-Stroke – Used to keep the canoe on a straight course. When solo paddling, it is used continuously. With tandem paddling, the stern person uses it when required. The J-stroke is required because the basic forward stroke moves the canoe slightly off-course, i.e., in the direction opposite the side the paddler is on. To perform a J-stroke, the paddler gradually turns the power face of the blade outward during a basic forward stroke. This is done by flexing both wrists and rotating the thumb holding the paddle grip away from the body or downward.
Keel – A raised ridge that runs along the bottom of a boat from end to end to help tracking and add rigidity. When the boat goes sideways and this raised ridge catches a rock you will soon understand the origin of “keeled over”. See capsize, carnage and yardsale.
Kneeling Thwart – A low-slung thwart back of amidships upon which a kneeling canoeist rests his hindquarters until the realization sinks in that here are less painful ways to paddle a canoe. See Saddle.
Lead Boat – The first boat down the river in a trip. Hopefully this is someone who knows the river. In whitewater situations this boat is known as the probe and should be someone whose insurance premiums are up to date.
Left Bank – The left side of the river when facing downstream.
Lilydipper – A dawdling, slow moving paddler. Also the moniker of a dawdling, slow moving Adirondack paddler of some repute.
Limbo Log – A fallen log spanning the river with enough room to scrunch down in the boat and limbo beneath.
Live Bait – Strong swimmer rescue.
Low Head Dam – Envision a horizon line with a river wide keeper at the base. These dams are often small in size and appear runnable. They are not. You will die. Don’t even think about it, portage these killers.
Minicell – Closed-cell foam favored by paddlers for a variety of outfitting needs in canoes and kayaks, including padding and flotation. Pricey, but fun and easy to cut, shape and install.
OC1/OC2 – Open Canoe One/Open Canoe Two. Solo and tandem canoes. What skilled paddlers utilize when they have graduated from kayaks and brightly colored pool toys.
Oil canning – This surprisingly has nothing to do with having torn the oil pan off a buddy’s car on a dirt access road. It describes when the floor of a poorly constructed or flat-bottomed OC1 or OC2 bounces up and down in turbulent waters.
Old school – Paddlers who started their waterborne adventures with the voyageurs! If two old schoolers are present one will claim to have started in a wood and canvas Chestnut. If three old schoolers are present one will harken back to birch bark. Four gets you back to a hand-hewn dugout. A collection of more than four old schoolers indicates that the bus from the Wing 404 made a wrong turn on the way to bingo.
Outfitting – All the things you need to do to a canoe after you buy it. Adding minicell paddling, bungee cords, floatation bags and lacing, D-rings, etc. If cars were sold the way boats are you would get an engine, wheels and a chassis – the rest would be up to you.
Paddles – Wood or composite sticks with a blade at one or both ends, used to propel and maneuver the boat. Not to be confused with “oars”, which are used with row boats.
Paddling – What we do with our canoes.
Painters – Line attached to the bow and stern of canoes, used for tying the boat ashore or lining the boat down through rapids. These should not be stored loose and should have no knots that can catch and hang up the canoe. Painters are also useful to grab hold of after a capsize, aiding in boat rescue and recovery, so that you can go paddling again next week.
Park & Play – Parking close to a river feature and paddling a short distance to “play” a wave, hole or other river feature with no shuttle required.
PFD – Personal Floatation Device. AKA life vest or life jacket. NO PFD = NO CANOEING!
Pillow – A gentle bulge on the surface of the water caused by an underwater obstruction. All such pillows have hard centers.
Pin – The final result when your bowman misses a critical draw stroke and your boat broaches against an immovable object. Watch as the force of the water folds your boat up like a cheap tortilla shell. Hopefully you are not in it at the time. See Z-drag.
Pitch – A sudden drop in, or steeper section of, a set of rapids.
Pivot – To turn sharply, or to pivot the craft around a point.
Pogies – Mittens that attach to the paddle shaft for cold weather paddling.
Portage – An opportunity to labor up a trail wearing a really large hat that weighs sixty pounds. Unless you own a Kevlar boat, in which case this is an opportunity stroll merrily up a trail wearing a thirty-pound hat while your fellow paddlers shoot you nasty looks.
Primary Stability – Also known as initial stability. What big ole flat-bottomed canoes have gobs of, so that they are hard to capsize. Up to a point. In calm conditions. But lean the canoe past that point of primary stability, or take on some quartering waves, and a flat bottomed boat will roll over faster than a Ford Explorer with Firestone tires.
Pry Stroke – A stroke performed by placing the paddle near the gunwale with the blade parallel to the hull and prying the shaft outward off the gunwale. Not good for the paddle shaft. Or, after a while, for the gunwale.
Put-in – The place where you start a trip by putting your boat in the water. Unless you are paddling in a circle, poling upriver or are simply out for some park-&-play the put in is almost always upstream of the take out. See Take Out. See Shuttle.
Ramp – The place where the river pools up before dropping through a chute. Also a boat launch shared with motorized vessels
Rapid – See the current speed up and the water cascade around rocks, over ledges and down drops. See whitewater. See carnage if a novice trip.
Rapid Floss – Throw rope
Recovery Stroke – Not really a stroke but getting ready for the next stroke.
Reverse Sweep Stroke – Reverse Sweep is a wide sweep of the paddle using the back face of the blade.
Ribs – Structural material, often wood, that form the frame of a canoe on the inside. Also pairs of curved bones that are less likely to break when you slam into a rock during a swim if you are wearing your PFD. Broken canoe ribs are easier to repair.
Right Bank – The right side of the river when facing downstream.
River Left – The left-hand side of the river when looking downstream. When downstream looking upstream it is on your right.
River Right – The right-hand side of the river when facing downstream. When downstream looking upstream it is on your left.
Rocker – Longitudinal curvature in the bow and stern of a boat along the bottom of the hull. A heavily rockered boat will turn easily and track straight only with practice and good technique
Rockagator – A sullen rock hiding in the rapids which the bow paddler failed to detect until after it reached up and smacked the canoe, sometimes hard enough to cause a capsize or hangup.
Rockopotamus – A huge, sleepy rock over which water flows in a gentle pillow so unobtrusively that no one recognizes it until the canoe slides to a stop atop it.
Scouting – To disembark and look over a section of river before running it.
Sculling Stroke – A figure-eight stroke with the paddle in the water at all times; used for fine adjustments, or when necessary to keep the paddle in a ready position when running a tricky set of rapids.
Secondary Stability – Also known as Final Stability.
Shaft – The handle of the canoe paddle between the grip and the blade.
Shuttle – The shuttle is the thing besides paddling that needs to happen between the put in and take out. This usually involves vehicles, but can sometimes involve hitchhiking and arguing about who left the keys back at the put in. The shuttle is a strangely unfathomable concept for some people. These are usually the same people who propose harebrained variations to an established shuttle routine, resulting in all the drivers arriving at the put in but none of the boats, or whose inability to count higher than ten without removing their shoes and socks forces twelve passengers to cram into a single Corolla at the take out.
Skid Plate – AKA bang plates or grunch pads. Additional materials, usually Kevlar, fiberglass or vinyl, added to the stems of canoes to protect against damage from scratches and sharp impacts.
Stems – The pointy ends of a canoe hull. What you remove along with the sticks and seeds.
Stern – See bow. The stern is the part you don’t see, provided you are sitting in the boat facing the right direction.
Stern Paddler, Stern man, Stern Person – The person who paddles from the rear of a two-man canoe
Strainer – Woody peril. Strainers are trees that have fallen over into the river, sometimes including other trees and debris that have washed up against the original tree. Consider these hazardous to your health. Called a strainer because the water will go thorough, but large particulate matter like you and your boat will not. Ponder the consequences.
Sweeper – Trees or branches that overhand the river, or sometimes just barricade the river with their branches. Before those overhanging branches knock you out of the boat you’ll have a face full of spiders, hornet nests, assorted rusty fish hooks and something brown and disgusting and you really don’t want to know what that was, do you? Don’t worry about it, you are taking a bath in a second anyway.
Sweep boat – The last boat in a group. This is a good position for an experienced paddler, who can ride herd and bring up the rear.
Sweep Stroke – Stroke used to turn the boat to the side opposite the paddle by reaching out and forward and pulling the blade in an arc from bow to stern.
Take-out – The ending point of a paddling trip where you take your boat out of the water and put it back on the canoe trailer.
Tandem – A two-person canoe.
Throw Rope – AKA Throw Bag. Floating rope in a throwable bag used for rescue. Since it is difficult to throw a rope to yourself you better hope your friends carry one too. For that reason, they make ideal Christmas gifts.
Thwart – The crosspiece between the gunwales that braces the sides of the canoe. See Yoke.
Tie-Downs – Ropes or lines used to secure a boat to the car top/canoe trailer. Boats should have belly lines (often tied off of the rack) and bow and stern lines tied off to the car.
Trim – The angle of the boat in the water along the keel line. Heading downwind the boat may perform better bow light. Into the wind, bow heavy or neutral may be advantageous. Trim can be altered by shifting gear, moving a sliding seat or knocking your bowman out of the boat with a convenient low-slung tree limb.
Trip leader/Co-ordinator – A god-like creature who has volunteered shoulder the burden of responsibility, make arrangements, coordinate meeting times and organize the shuttle, not to mentions leading who-knows-what down the river of his or her choice.
Tumblehome – The cross-section shape of a hull that decreases in width from the waterline to the gunwales. Not to be confused with stumble home, which is what you do after the post-paddling libations have been consumed.
Undercut – A shelf, rock or ledge with a cavity or recess below water. Avoid at all costs, even if this means flipping over from the proscribed feet-first position and swimming for your life. Better battered and bruised than stuffed back in an undercut trying to hold your breath for several days.
Volume – The total overall capacity of a hull. The knob you don’t touch in my truck if you are a shuttle passenger.
Wake. The temporary trail in the water behind the canoe; also called the “wash.” Beginning canoeists should peek occasionally at their wake to see if it is a straight line, which indicates good directional control.
Wet Suit – A form-fitting neoprene suit that helps prevent hypothermia by trapping a thin layer of water between the neoprene and your skin. Or a thin layer or urine. Combine a colorful wet suit with a matching spray skirt and you too can live out a secret fantasy life as an incontinent transvestite superhero.
Yard Sale – The appearance of the downstream eddies when your gear floats away after a capsize. See a good reason to write your name on your gear.
Yoke – A scalloped amidships thwart that rests on your shoulders when portaging a canoe. After several hundred yards you will begin to appreciate the wonder that is lightweight Kevlar construction.
Z-drag – No, it’s nothing to do with inhaling a hand rolled Zig Zag. It’s a rescue rope technique using pulleys or carabineers for mechanical advantage to free a pinned boat. The river runner’s version of Archimedes’ big enough lever