Glossary: Glossary
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- Beam
- The width of a boat. Measured either at the waterline or the widest point.
- BOA
- Beam Over All - The over all width of the boat as measured at the widest point.
- Bulkhead
- A wall or divider that creates seperate compartments in the boat. These help provide buoyancy if the cockpit should become flooded.
- Chine
- The region of the hull where the side of the boat transitions to the bottom. The chine can be "hard" where this change is a sharp angle, or "soft" where the change is smooth and rounded.
- Coaming
- The lip around the cockpit where you attach the spray skirt.
- Cockpit
- The place where you sit in a kayak.
- Design Displacement
- The displacement used during the design process. This is the combined weight of everything in the boat used when calculating the other particulars of the boat such as the waterline length, wetted surface area, etc.
- Displacement
- The combined weight of the boat, gear and occupant of the boat. This refers to the weight of water displaced by the boat. The weight of water displaced always exactly matches the combined weight of everything in the boat.
- Draft
- How far below the water line the boat sinks
- Drag
- Force created by water flowing around the boat that slows the boat down.
- DWL
- Datum Water Line or Design Water Line. This is line where the boat is designed to float
- Eskimo Roll
- A method of self rescue after a capsize that allows the paddler to turn the boat back upright without exiting the boat.
- Flare
- Spreading out. A boat with flare will be wider at the gunwale than at the waterline.
- Hull Speed
- A often misused term. It actually refers to the speed at which the length of the hull matches the wave length of the boats wake.
- Keel
- The centerline at the bottom of the boat.
- LOA
- Length Over All - The over all length of the boat measure from the extreme ends of the bow and stern
- Plumb
- Vertical or nearly so. Usually refers to the end shape of the boat without any overhang.
- Raked
- Angled or sloped. In kayaks, the cockpit is raked when the back edge of the cockpit is lower than the front end.
- Rocker
- Curvature along the keel line of the kayak, so the bottom resembles the bottom of a rocking chair.
- Sectional
- Refers to the cross-section of the boat. This is like cutting the boat into baloney slices.
- Spray Skirt
- A fabric "skirt" worn around the waste and hooked over the cockpit coaming so water does not enter the boat
- Waterline
- The plane where the boat hull intersects the surface of the water.