Kayaking and canoeing both use lightweight, narrow craft. Kayakers use a double-bladed paddle, while canoeists use a single-bladed paddle. A coracle is a round boat which uses a single-bladed paddle. A raft is a wide inflatable craft that uses a single-bladed paddle.
A kayak is a boat where the paddler faces forward, legs in front. Many kayaks have closed decks, that is there is a skirt that goes around the layer and closes the top off so that water cannot get in. That is because kayaks tend to be used in whitewater.
Kayaks can be made of metal, fibreglass, wood, plastic, fabrics, PVC or rubber.
Canoeing is a paddle sport in which you kneel or sit facing forward.
Canoeing and kayaking began in the Stone Age, when simple craft were made by digging out a hollow in a tree truck. These are called dug-out canoes. They are heavy and take a long time to make, but it was possible to dig out the trunk using a flint axe, and dug-outs are still used by some peoples.
Framed canoes and kayaks were introduced over time because they were easier to manoeuvre, and could be carried (portered) around obstacles such as waterfalls. Many famous expeditions of the past, including the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-6) across western America, used these craft. They have wooden frames with skins drawn tightly over them.
The origin of canoeing for recreation and sport began with British explorer John MacGregor (1825–1892), who first saw canoes and kayaks while on a camping trip in Canada in 1858. When he got back to Britain, he started making his own canoes for use on British rivers. He wrote a book called "A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe" and founded the Royal Canoe Club in 1866. The first canoeing competition, the Paddling Challenge Cup, was held by the club in 1874.
Rafting and white water rafting are much more recent, and use inflatable rubber craft. Whereas canoes and kayaks are for one or two people, rafts are meant for teams of paddlers with the raft steered by an oar at the stern.
The coracle is a small, lightweight circular boat which has been developed quite independently all over the world and whose origins also most likely go back to ancient times. A traditional coracle is made of a frame of thick sticks which are woven to form a kind of open basket. A hide is then stretched tightly across the frame. A thin layer of tar is painted on the hide to make it fully waterproof. Modern coracles are made of fibreglass.
The coracle is flat bottomed so that the weight is evenly spread over the boat. As a result it can float in very shallow waters, even just a few inches of water.
