Canoe Dictionary – basic concepts used for kayaking. See what the basic phrases used for kayaking in Kashubia mean.

Accumulation – a makeshift weir seasonally closed and characterized by a simple design.

Array span – the distance between the first kayak and the last one and should be about 20 minutes for a group of 20.

Arch – change of river direction up to 45 degrees.

Artificial threshold – the threshold is used to reduce the energy of flowing water. A particularly dangerous place with large water. Behind each artificial threshold, a ramp is created that can be dangerous for people trying to cross such a place.

Apron – a waterproof material that protects the cockpit from flooding, rarely used in recreational kayaking.

Binduga – a separate place on the river, canal or lake, used for storage and preparation of wood for rafting. The remains of the former bindugs are currently used in many places as canoes for kayaks.

Bow – front part of the kayak.

Braid – a fragment of the fast current behind the rapids narrowing. Contrary to appearances, this is where you should go.

Bród – shallow, after which you can go to the other side of the river.

Buoyancy chambers – plastic balloons filled with air, making the kayak unsinkable.

Bulrush – coastal vegetation of lakes.

Burgling – (from the Russian word burłak) pulling a surface unit (kayak) on a rope in shallow water, being on land.

Bystrze – a place in the river where the local current of the water accelerates, usually resulting from narrowing or lowering of the river bed, in the shallows, springs and river bends.

Canoe (kanu, Canadian) – the name of the boat with an open deck, which is sailed with the help of pagayas, i.e. oars with one feather. In the Canadian he kneels or sits facing the direction of flow.

Cab driver – the person who did the dump truck (cab). A contemptuous term for a canoeist of a questionable technical level.

Cabin – in jargon, unplanned leaving the kayak, dump truck.

Channel – an artificial channel leading water in a continuous or periodic manner, with a bottom width of at least 1.5 m at their mouth or laying.

Check-in – gathering all participants before the start of each trip. The briefing should include training, determining the flow pattern, providing information about the planned stage, etc.

Canoe – a small watercraft, covered with a deck, in which they sit facing the direction of flow rowing with a double-paddle oar. Kayaks are most often made of polyester-glass laminate or polyethylene.

Canoeing – a sport discipline including canoe and canoe races, as well as a type of water touriswm.

Canoe trail – a route marked out for kayaking (rafting), marked with appropriate signs and equipped with information devices ensuring safe and peaceful travel for tourists of any skill and experience level.

Chessboard – a szypot consisting of large boulders, between which you need to swim slalom.

Chyżka – a line beteen calm water or backwater and the rapids.

Cockpit – a place where a canoeist sits, a hole in use.

Cofka – the current of the river opposite to the current, resulting from the reflection of water masses from the bottom or dam, usually formed behind large obstacles, behind the rapids, in the bend of the river. Cofki are often convenient places to get on and off a kayak. In backwater you can stop your kayak and relax.

Contra – a basic maneuver that allows you to control your kayak, which involves taking water without turning the feather towards the kayak’s bow.

Cumka – a piece of rope usually attached to the bow or stern, used to tie the kayak during parking.

The current – the layer in the mass of flowing water that is the fastest. Its highest speed compared to the remaining mass of water results from its movement in the deepest part of the riverbed, i.e. where the ground resistance is the lowest.

Darts – a popular element of life-saving equipment used to save people. A rope with a float that throws out of a special bag.

Dam (dam) – a surface structure accumulating water above 5 meters. Impossible to swim under any circumstances.

Difficulty of kayaking trail – conditions on a given river: speed of the current, rapids, thresholds, bends, etc., measured on an international scale.

Ditch – an artificial riverbed that runs water continuously or periodically, with a bottom width of less than 1.5 m at their mouth.

Eskimo – independent inversion of the kayak after the tipper, without leaving the cockpit, usually with the help of an oar and hip movement. There are many species of eskimos, e.g. lever, on the extended oars, on the hand, screw, with the hat.

Fault – a combination of rapids, frets, turns, szypots, vortices, characterized by a significant reduction in the water table.

A feather – a fragment of an oar used to collect water.

Feathering – moving the kayak sideways perpendicular to its long axis through cyclical movements of the paddle back and forth with the feather positioned in a way that will water the kayak.

Fjord – a kind of deep bay, strongly cutting inland, often branched, with characteristic steep banks, formed by flooding mangers and glacial valleys.

Flow pattern – a set order for kayaks to flow on a kayak trip.

Going out into the flow – an element of technology that allows you to get to the flow safely and effectively.

Grist – shallow separating the riverbed, between the concave and convex banks, where the mainstream goes to the other side.

Helmsman – a person sitting in a double kayak at the back. Responsible for steering. If possible, it should be more experienced and heavier, in practice in mixed sediments it is usually a man.

Laminate – a composite from which kayaks are made, most often it is a glass mat impregnated with polyester resin.

Life vest (kapok) – a safety measure that increases our buoyancy, mandatory in open and mountain waters.

Łacha – a river bank that is a shaft of sand on a river with low water levels.

Man – a frog – a method of saving people and equipment. One of the canoeists is tied on a rope held by others on the shore. It helps people in the water and catches equipment.

Meander – a fragment of the riverbed in the shape of a loop or arch. It is a form associated with the winding course of the river bed, creating bends, loops and relapses.

Moving – moving kayaks on the banks of the river to avoid a place that cannot be crossed.

Nuisance of the kayak trail – the ratio of time needed to leave the kayak and overcome obstacles to the time of sailing, measured on a six-point scale.

Oar – a device used to propel the kayak, consisting of a stick and feathers. The most popular oars are made of wood, plastic or light alloys.

Old river bed – one or several former bends of the river, cut off at least partly from the riverbed, in which the current of the river no longer flows.

Pagaj – a single-paddle paddle used for canoeing.

Perches – several different rocky frets.

Permanent obstacle – an obstacle that permanently separates the flow and requires the transfer of kayaks.

Plos – calmly flowing water in the bends of the river.

Polyethylene – high-strength plastic for kayaks.

Polyethylenes – they are commonly called polyethylene kayaks.

Prądowiska – shallow branches and tree trunks carried by the current.

Promotion – kayaking from one side of the river to the other, through rowing balancing the strength of the current. This maneuver is used to avoid obstacles.

Raft – a pontoon for sailing on mountain rivers.

Raft – a group of kayaks connected by the sides, drifting with the current, a frequent picture on recreational rafting.

Rafting – crossing a tourist water route, e.g. kayaking.

Red lighthouse – the last settlement in formation, which you must not stay outside.

Reel – a mass of water rotating in the form of a horizontal cylinder. Two currents are created in the reel: reverse current, which draws into it everything that is in its range, and flowing that flows down the river at the bottom. Cables can be deadly and should not be run down.

Repair kit – a set used for patching kayak (resin, hardener, glass mat, sandpaper) on an immediate basis. In practice, it is often replaced by an “isolepa”, i.e. strong insulating tape.

Reverse tilt – the last moment before tipping.

River – a natural stream arising from the connection of streams or flowing out of a lake.

River basin – an area drained by a river system consisting of a main river with tributaries.

River channel – the lowest part of the river valley where there is a constant flow of water.

Rudder – a device for turning, useful for keeping the direction in open water, rarely used on small rivers.

Settlement – canoeists sitting in one canoe.

Slap – a small waterfall.

Sluice – a device used to overcome the differences in level between water bodies by a vessel, it contains one or more chambers limited by movable closures.

The stand – also called the wide stand – is a maneuver that allows you to support the paddle against water and avoid tipping over.

Stern – the back of the kayak

Szypots – sections of the river formed on a stony bottom with stones sticking out of the water and other obstacles along its entire width.

Threshold – a fault separating the riverbed. The possibility of crossing a kayak through the threshold depends on its height, the amount of water flowing over it (the so-called overrun) and the length and strength of the unwinding at the threshold. Some thresholds require portability.

Towing system – about two meters of rope or tape terminated with a carabiner on one side and attached to the fuse belt of the vest on the other. This simple device is very effective in towing equipment or an unconscious canoeist.

Track – a person sitting in a double kayak in the front. Responsible for informing the helmsman of impending obstacles. It is also the first settlement flowing at the head of the kayak formation.

Traverse – a maneuver consisting in quickly moving across the current using its strength.

Turn – change of the direction of the river at an angle of 45 – 135 degrees.

Water reading – the ability to recognize obstacles and choose the optimal flow path based on the appearance of the water table.

Watercourse – a general term for water flowing in a clear, open trough.

Water fall – the difference in the level of the water level at the beginning and end of a given section of the river expressed in meters / per kilometer or as a percentage.

Water stage – a sudden difference in water levels in a river, stream, stream or channel, caused by water damming, e.g. as a result of a barrier damming the river.

Weir – a structure built across rivers to accumulate water. A small dam designed to maintain the height of the river level for navigation.

WW – short for English White Water or Wild Water for mountain kayaking.

Side – the side wall of the kayak, looking towards the bow, we can see starboard and starboard, respectively.

Stretching – a maneuver to move the kayak sideways, by pushing the water towards the side.

Zwałkowy kayaking – kayaking on rivers with a large number of fallen trees, i.e. a pile.

Zwara – a characteristic trace on the surface of the water in the shape of a wavy letter V facing downwards of the river, caused by a sharp, protruding obstacle.