Dragon boats are the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing, a watersport which has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which has been held for over 2000 years throughout southern China. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning in Hong Kong in 1976. But the history of dragon boats in competition … [Read more...]
Encyclopedia
Boat categories, boat types, boating and yachting terms
About Dinghies
The word dinghy founds its origins in Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali languages. A dinghy is a small boat usually used as an auxiliary for a larger one, being towed or carried by them. They are usually rowboats, or they have attached a small motor in the back. There is a difference between these type of dinghies, and some other types, with sails, specially designed for competition. A dinghy should have a strong ring on the bow, and, conventionally, it will have an oar on each side. Many modern … [Read more...]
Dhow – A Definition
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with triangular shaped sails (called more technically "lateen" sails) used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Historians still don't know whether the dhow was invented by Arabs or Indians. Typically built with long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water or merchandise, along the coasts of the Eastern Arabia (Arab states of the Persian Gulf), … [Read more...]
Cruise Ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the ports of call are usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes two - … [Read more...]
Cornish Pilot Gig
A historical boat still in use today, the original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general work boat, and the craft is used for taking pilots out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic. At the time, the race would be the first gig to get their pilot on board a vessel (often those about to run aground on rocks) got the job, and hence the payment. [cf. Wikipedia] This not very unusual floating device is a six-oared rowing boat, built of Cornish narrow leaf elm, thirty-two feet (9.8 … [Read more...]
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