Paddling with regard to

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sai ...

is the act of manually propelling a boat using a

paddle A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered w ...

. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel. The paddle is not connected to the boat (unlike in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

where the oar is connected to the boat).

Canoeing

Canoeing is the activity of paddling a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

for leisure, navigation or exploration. In America the term refers exclusively to using one or more single blades or

s to propel a canoe. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and some other countries in Europe however, canoeing is also used to refer to

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

ing, and canoeing is then often called ''

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

canoeing'' to distinguish canoeing from kayaking. There are sub-varieties of canoeing, such as touring and whitewater or wildwater canoeing, and outrigger canoeing. Traveling in a whitewater raft can involve using either paddles, or a pair of oars, or both.

Outrigger canoe racing Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...

is a team paddling

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

which uses the

outrigger canoe Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a

for moving across water. Kayaking is differentiated from

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other act ...

by the fact kayakers use a double bladed

and sit in a seat with their legs extended out in front of them. Kayakers will either sit on an elevated bench seat or kneel directly on the bottom of the boat with two knees or one knee in the "high kneel" posture. The kayak may be either "sit-in" (have a closed cockpit) or "sit-on-top" (sitting on top of the boat deck). Sit-in kayaks provide more protection from water and the elements, and are popular for day trips and touring. Sit-on-top kayaks are growing in popularity for fishing and surfing.

Dragon boating

A dragon boat is a long and narrow human powered

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

used in the team paddling

of dragon boat racing which originated in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. For

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

events, dragon boats are not rigged with full decorative

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

heads and tails and are not required to carry a large drum aboard. The decorative boats are used in

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular ...

events. They do howevever use smaller and lighter dragon heads and tails and drum for racing. They are not normally used during practice.

Rafting

Rafting or whitewater rafting uses a

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

to navigate a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

or other bodies of water. This is usually done on

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid-1970s.

Paddle surfing and stand-up paddleboarding

Stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), are steered with a singled bladed paddle. Originating in Hawaii to help navigate the waves, the sport has grown to include flat water lakes, easy rivers, and spring runs. Traditional

paddleboarding Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneeli ...

is done kneeling on a board and paddling with the hands.

Surfing

Surfing begins when the surfer paddles from theshore in an attempt to catch a wave.

Notes

External links

* {{Canoeing and kayaking