A Lesson in Whitewater Rafting Lingo

March 11, 2014

Holiday River Expeditions employs experts that strive to make white water rafting adventures a fun, enjoyable and adrenaline-packed experience. To help teach beginning white water rafters the details about rafting lingo, their experts have compiled a list of definitions to help educate adventurers.

• Bailer – This open-ended container helps remove unnecessary water from the raft.
• Boils – This refers to an abrupt or unexpected rise or increase in water level.
• Bow – This is the front of the boat.
• Carabiner – A clip that helps secure items to the boat.
• Cataraft – An inflatable boat that features two pontoons.
• Channel – The rivers path.
• Chute – A narrow channel with deeper, swifter water currents.
• Ducky – An inflatable kayak.
• Eddy – The flow of water behind an obstacle that is upstream.
• Feathering – Rotating an oar in a manner that allows more power and energy to be released.
• Ferry – Crossing a river or current without moving downstream.
• Flip – When the raft turns upside down.
• Flotilla – A group of boats that are together.
• Fork – Where a river splits into a minimum of two separate channels.
• Gradient – Helps to quantify the depth of a river.
• Guide – The person who gives commands and steers the boat.
• Haystack – A series of waves in higher waters.
• High Water – Higher than average river flow.
• Hole – When a depression or hole causes reverse water flow.
• Hoopi – Tubular webbing that is often used for preparing and rigging boats.
• Hydraulic – A transformation in the water’s current that can ultimately modify the speed of the raft.
• Laterals – A hole or wave that peels off an obstacle at an angles.
• Low Water – Lower than average river flow.
• Oar-Lock – A sheath that when placed in a rollock helps prevent an oar from feathering.
• Paddle – A single-blade, lightweight instrument that helps propel a raft backward or forward.
• Paddle Commands– The commands used by the crew and guide to communicate.
• Pool– A smooth area of flat water without any rapids.
• Pool Drop– A whitewater rapid of short duration that both begins and ends with calm weather.
• Portage– Carrying a raft around unsafe falls or rapids.
• Put-In– The river’s access where the trip begins.
• Raft– The central equipment used in rafting that does not have a hull.
• Rapids– A series of consecutive turbulence and waves.
• Riffle – A small rapid that is caused by shallow rocks or a sand bar that extends across the stream’s bed.
• River Left– The left side of the river (facing downstream).
• River Rating– Measures the difficulty of a river or rapid.
• River Right– The right side of the river (facing downstream).
• Rollock – A metal u-shape bracket that helps secure the oar to the frame of the boat, allowing the oar to pivot. This is different from an oar-lock.
• Run– Describes a river segment that is rafted.
• Safety Talk– When rafters learn about river safety.
• Scouting– Surveying a rapid ahead of time to determine the best point of passage.
• Setting Safety– When rafters hike down past a rapid to determine the best way to overcome a point in the river.
• Solo Cat– A one-person cataraft that features a double-bladed paddle.
• Standing Waves– When water converges at the end of or around a submerged object.
• Stern– The rear of the boat.
• Strainer– A barrier that allows limited or restrictive entry.
• Swimmer– Someone who has fallen out of the raft.
• Take-Out– The destination where rafts are removed from the water.
• Throw Bag– A small bag that contains a coiled rope that is often used to help rescue rafters that have fallen in the water.
• Whitewater Rafting– The moving water that becomes turbulent when passing over rocks, down a steep gradient or through a narrow channel.