1.
Raspberry Island (Alaska)
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Raspberry Island is an island of the Kodiak Archipelago located in the Gulf of Alaska in the U. S. state of Alaska. It is located two miles northwest of Whale Island, and just across the mile-wide Raspberry Strait from the end of Afognak. The island is separated from Kodiak Island by the Kupreanof Strait, Raspberry Island is 18 miles long with a width that varies from 3 miles to 8 miles. The highest point on the island is 3,300 ft, the island is considered part of the Aleneva census-designated place in the Kodiak Island Borough. The only permanent residents on Raspberry Island are located at Port Wakefield, power is provided via hydro power harnessed in nearby creeks. The nearest town is Kodiak, Alaska, a boat ride or a thirty-minute float plane ride away. Sitka spruce is one of the dominant trees on Raspberry Island, spruce forests are interrupted by fields of salmonberry bushes, alders and wildflowers. Higher elevations have wild blueberry and cranberry bushes with more grasses, wildlife of note on the island includes Sitka deer, red foxes and Kodiak bears, as well as tufted puffins and bald eagles. Afognak and Raspberry islands are the locations in Alaska with elk populations. The islands Roosevelt Elk developed from eight calves translocated from Washington states Olympic Peninsula in 1928, the elk have adapted well to the island, with some mature bulls weighing nearly 1,300 pounds. The muskrat is another species that was introduced to the island. Whales commonly meander down Raspberry Strait but must turn around because it too shallow for them to pass all the way through. Kayakers take advantage of this phenomenon to wait for them to pass by again on their way out to deeper water. Several fishing canneries existed on the island including Port Wakefield and Northwest Cannery in the early 20th century and these went out of business several decades later and a fox fur farm existed on the Northwest Cannery site for a while. Deposits of placer gold were noted at Raspberry Beach as early as 1915, however, the last recorded mining activity on the beach was in 1935. The half-mile long beach is located on the northwest coast of the island at Drivers Bay, much of the island is owned by the First Native Corporation and is uninhabited except for the two wilderness lodges that exist on land previously owned by the canneries. After the decline of the canneries, their land was purchased and used by the two wilderness lodges as tourist destinations. They are unique because the land surrounding them and on the opposing Afognak Island is owned by the First Native corporation, fishing vessels based in the city of Kodiak and Port Lions regularly fish the waters around Raspberry Island for the abundant salmon and halibut
2.
Whitewater
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The term is also loosely used to refer to less turbulent, but still agitated, flows. The term whitewater also has a meaning, applying to any river or creek itself that has a significant number of rapids. The term is used as an adjective describing boating on such rivers. Four factors, separately or in combination, can create rapids, gradient, constriction, obstruction, gradient, constriction and obstruction are streambed topography factors and are relatively consistent. Flow rate is dependent upon both seasonal variation in precipitation and snowmelt and upon release rates of upstream dams, streambed topography is the primary factor in creating rapids, and is generally consistent over time. The gradient of a river is the rate at which it loses elevation along its course and this loss determines the rivers slope, and to a large extent its rate of flow. Shallow gradients produce gentle, slow rivers while steep gradients are associated with raging torrents, constrictions can form a rapid when a rivers flow is forced into a narrower channel. This pressure causes the water to more rapidly and to react differently to riverbed events. As with hydraulics, the power of eddies increases with the flow rate, in large rivers with high flow rates next to an obstruction, eddy walls can occur. An eddy wall is formed when the height of the river is higher than the level of the water in the eddy behind the obstruction. A marked increase or decrease in flow can create a rapid, flow rate is typically measured in cubic metres per second, or in cubic feet per second, depending on the country. The most widely used grading system is the International Scale of River Difficulty, grade-VI rapids are sometimes downgraded to grade-V or V+ if they have been run successfully. Harder rapids are often portaged, a French term for carrying, a portaged rapid is where the boater lands and carries the boat around the hazard. A rapids grade is not fixed, since it may vary depending on the water depth. Although some rapids may be easier at high flows because features are covered or washed-out, high water usually makes rapids more difficult, at flood stage, even rapids which are usually easy can contain lethal and unpredictable hazards. Class 1, Very small rough areas, requires no maneuvering, Class 2, Some rough water, maybe some rocks, small drops, might require maneuvering. Class 3, Medium waves, maybe a 3–5 ft drop, Class 4, Whitewater, large waves, long rapids, rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. Class 5, Whitewater, large waves, continuous rapids, large rocks and hazards, maybe a large drop, often characterized by must make moves, i. e. failure to execute a specific maneuver at a specific point may result in serious injury or death
3.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
4.
Canary Wharf
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Canary Wharf is a major business district located in Tower Hamlets, East London. Canary Wharf contains around 16,000,000 square feet of office and retail space, Morgan, KPMG, MetLife, Moodys, Morgan Stanley, RBC, S&P Global, Skadden, State Street, and Thomson Reuters. Canary Wharf is located on the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs, from 1802 to 1939, the area was one of the busiest docks in the world. After the 1960s, the industry began to decline, leading to all the docks being closed by 1980. Canary Wharf itself takes its name from No.32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock and this was built in 1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Islands fruit trade. The Canary islands were so named after the dogs found there by the Spanish and as it is located on the Isle of Dogs. The Canary Wharf of today began when Michael von Clemm, former chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston, further discussions with G Ware Travelstead led to proposals for a new business district. The first buildings were completed in 1991, including One Canada Square, which became the UKs tallest building at the time, by the time it opened, the London commercial property market had collapsed, and Olympia and York Canary Wharf Limited filed for bankruptcy in May 1992. Initially, the City of London saw Canary Wharf as an existential threat and it modified its planning laws to expand the provision of new offices in the City of London, for example, creating offices above railway stations and roads. The resulting oversupply of office space contributed to the failure of the No 1 Canada Square project, in 1997, some residents living on the Isle of Dogs launched a lawsuit against Canary Wharf Ltd for private nuisance because the tower interfered with television signals. In December 1995 an international consortium, backed by the owners of Olympia & York and other investors. The new company was called Canary Wharf Limited, and later became Canary Wharf Group, recovery in the property market generally, coupled with continuing demand for large floorplate Grade A office space, slowly improved the level of interest. A critical event in the recovery was the start of work on the Jubilee Line Extension. At the peak of property prices in 2007, the HSBC building sold for a record £1.1 billion, in March 2014 planning permission was granted for the second residential building on the Canary Wharf estate, a 58-storey tower including 566 apartments plus shops and a health club. In July 2014 Canary Wharf Group was granted planning permission for a major expansion of the Canary Wharf estate. The plans include the construction of 30 buildings comprising a total of 4.9 million square feet, construction is planned to commence in autumn 2014 with the first buildings to be occupied at the end of 2018. In 2014, Singapore listed Oxley Holdings, together with developer Ballymore UK, have a joint venture to set up a new waterfront township of Royal Wharf with 3385 new homes housing over 10,000 people. This table lists completed buildings in Canary Wharf that are over 60 metres tall, the Canary Wharf developers played a pro-active role in improving transport links, which they recognised as essential to the success of the project
5.
Kayak
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A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic language, where it is the word qajaq, in the UK the term canoe is often used when referring to a kayak. The traditional kayak has a deck and one or more cockpits. Kayaks are also being sailed, as well as propelled by means of electric motors. The kayak was first used by the indigenous Aleut, Inuit, Yupik, kayaks were originally developed by the Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut. They used the boats to hunt on inland lakes, rivers and coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Bering Sea and these first kayaks were constructed from stitched seal or other animal skins stretched over a wood or whalebone-skeleton frame. Kayaks are believed to be at least 4,000 years old, the oldest existing kayaks are exhibited in the North America department of the State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. Native people made many types of boat for different purposes, the baidarka, developed by indigenous cultures in Alaska, was also made in double or triple cockpit designs, for hunting and transporting passengers or goods. An umiak is an open sea canoe, ranging from 17 to 30 feet, made with seal skins. It is considered a kayak although it was originally paddled with single-bladed paddles, native builders designed and built their boats based on their own experience and that of the generations before them, passed on through oral tradition. A special skin jacket, Tuilik, was laced to the kayak. This enabled the eskimo roll to become the method of regaining posture after capsizing, especially as few Inuit could swim. Inuit kayak builders had specific measurements for their boats, the length was typically three times the span of his outstretched arms. The width at the cockpit was the width of the builders hips plus two fists, the typical depth was his fist plus the outstretched thumb. Thus typical dimensions were about 17 feet long by 20–22 inches wide by 7 inches deep and this measurement system confounded early European explorers who tried to duplicate the kayak, because each kayak was a little different. Most of the Aleut people in the Aleutian Islands eastward to Greenland Inuit relied on the kayak for hunting a variety of seals, though whales. Skin-on-frame kayaks are still being used for hunting by Inuit people in Greenland, because the smooth and flexible skin glides silently through the waves. In other parts of the home builders are continuing the tradition of skin on frame kayaks, usually with modern skins of canvas or synthetic fabric
6.
Inuit
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Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska. Inuit is a noun, the singular is Inuk. The Inuit languages are part of the Eskimo-Aleut family, Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate spoken in Nunavut. In the United States and Canada, the term Eskimo was commonly used to describe the Inuit and Alaskas Yupik, however, Inuit is not accepted as a term for the Yupik, and Eskimo is the only term that includes Yupik, Iñupiat and Inuit. However, aboriginal peoples in Canada and Greenlandic Inuit view Eskimo as pejorative, in Canada, sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 classified the Inuit as a distinctive group of Aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or the Métis. These areas are known in Inuktitut as the Inuit Nunangat, in the United States, the Iñupiat live primarily on the Alaska North Slope and on Little Diomede Island. The Greenlandic Inuit are descendants of migrations from Canada. In the 21st century they are citizens of Denmark, although not of the European Union, Inuit are the descendants of what anthropologists call the Thule culture, who emerged from western Alaska around 1000 CE. They had split from the related Aleut group about 4,000 years ago and from northeastern Siberian migrants, possibly related to the Chukchi language group and they spread eastwards across the Arctic. They displaced the related Dorset culture, the last major Paleo-Eskimo culture, Inuit legends speak of the Tuniit as giants, people who were taller and stronger than the Inuit. Less frequently, the legends refer to the Dorset as dwarfs, researchers believe that the Dorset culture lacked the dogs, larger weapons and other technologies of the Inuit society, which gave the latter an advantage. By 1300, Inuit migrants had reached west Greenland, where they settled, faced with population pressures from the Thule and other surrounding groups, such as the Algonquian and Siouan to the south, the Tuniit gradually receded. They were thought to have become extinct as a people by about 1400 or 1500. But, in the mid-1950s, researcher Henry B. Collins determined that, based on the ruins found at Native Point, the Sadlermiut population survived up until winter 1902–03, when exposure to new infectious diseases brought by contact with Europeans led to their extinction as a people. In the early 21st century, mitochondrial DNA research has supported the theory of continuity between the Tuniit and the Sadlermiut peoples and it also provided evidence that a population displacement did not occur within the Aleutian Islands between the Dorset and Thule transition. In contrast to other Tuniit populations, the Aleut and Sadlermiut benefited from both geographical isolation and their ability to adopt certain Thule technologies, in Canada and Greenland, Inuit circulated almost exclusively north of the Arctic tree line, the effective southern border of Inuit society. The most southern officially recognized Inuit community in the world is Rigolet in Nunatsiavut, south of Nunatsiavut, the descendants of the southern Labrador Inuit in NunatuKavut continued their traditional transhumant semi-nomadic way of life until the mid-1900s. The Nunatukavummuit people usually moved among islands and bays on a seasonal basis and they did not establish stationary communities
7.
Arctic
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The Arctic is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Alaska, Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost-containing tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places, the Arctic region is a unique area among Earths ecosystems. For example, the cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold, in recent years, Arctic sea ice decline has been caused by global warming. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic. The word Arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός, near the Bear, northern, there are a number of definitions of what area is contained within the Arctic. The area can be defined as north of the Arctic Circle, the southern limit of the midnight sun. The Arctics climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers and its precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow and is low, with most of the area receiving less than 50 cm. High winds often stir up snow, creating the illusion of continuous snowfall, average winter temperatures can be as low as −40 °C, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately −68 °C. Coastal Arctic climates are moderated by oceanic influences, having generally warmer temperatures, the Arctic is affected by current global warming, leading to Arctic sea ice shrinkage, diminished ice in the Greenland ice sheet, and Arctic methane release as the permafrost thaws. Due to the migration of the planets isotherms, the Arctic region is currently shrinking. Perhaps the most spectacular result of Arctic shrinkage is sea ice loss, there is a large variance in predictions of Arctic sea ice loss, with models showing near-complete to complete loss in September from 2040 to some time well beyond 2100. About half of the models show near-complete to complete sea ice loss in September by the year 2100. Arctic life is characterized by adaptation to short growing seasons with long periods of sunlight, Arctic vegetation is composed of plants such as dwarf shrubs, graminoids, herbs, lichens and mosses, which all grow relatively close to the ground, forming tundra. As one moves northward, the amount of available for plant growth decreases considerably. Colder summer temperatures cause the size, abundance, productivity and variety of plants to decrease, trees cannot grow in the Arctic, but in its warmest parts, shrubs are common and can reach 2 m in height, sedges, mosses and lichens can form thick layers. In the coldest parts of the Arctic, much of the ground is bare, non-vascular plants such as lichens and mosses predominate, along with a few scattered grasses, herbivores on the tundra include the Arctic hare, lemming, muskox, and caribou. They are preyed on by the owl, Arctic fox, Grizzly bear
8.
Ultraviolet
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Ultraviolet is an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. UV radiation constitutes about 10% of the light output of the Sun. It is also produced by electric arcs and specialized lights, such as lamps, tanning lamps. Consequently, the effects of UV are greater than simple heating effects. Suntan, freckling and sunburn are familiar effects of over-exposure, along with risk of skin cancer. Living things on dry land would be damaged by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun if most of it were not filtered out by the Earths atmosphere. More-energetic, shorter-wavelength extreme UV below 121 nm ionizes air so strongly that it is absorbed before it reaches the ground, Ultraviolet is also responsible for the formation of bone-strengthening vitamin D in most land vertebrates, including humans. The UV spectrum thus has both beneficial and harmful to human health. Ultraviolet rays are invisible to most humans, the lens in a human eye ordinarily filters out UVB frequencies or higher, and humans lack color receptor adaptations for ultraviolet rays. Under some conditions, children and young adults can see ultraviolet down to wavelengths of about 310 nm, near-UV radiation is visible to some insects, mammals, and birds. Small birds have a fourth color receptor for ultraviolet rays, this gives birds true UV vision, reindeer use near-UV radiation to see polar bears, who are poorly visible in regular light because they blend in with the snow. UV also allows mammals to see urine trails, which is helpful for animals to find food in the wild. The males and females of some species look identical to the human eye. Ultraviolet means beyond violet, violet being the color of the highest frequencies of visible light, Ultraviolet has a higher frequency than violet light. He called them oxidizing rays to emphasize chemical reactivity and to them from heat rays. The terms chemical and heat rays were eventually dropped in favour of ultraviolet and infrared radiation, in 1878 the effect of short-wavelength light on sterilizing bacteria was discovered. By 1903 it was known the most effective wavelengths were around 250 nm, in 1960, the effect of ultraviolet radiation on DNA was established. The discovery of the ultraviolet radiation below 200 nm, named vacuum ultraviolet because it is absorbed by air, was made in 1893 by the German physicist Victor Schumann
9.
Boat
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A boat is a watercraft of a large range of sizes designed to float, plane, work or travel on water. Small boats are found on inland waterways or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed for operation from a ship in an offshore environment, in naval terms, a boat is a vessel small enough to be carried aboard another vessel. Another less restrictive definition is a vessel that can be lifted out of the water, some definitions do not make a distinction in size, as bulk freighters 1,000 feet long on the Great Lakes are called oreboats. For reasons of tradition, submarines are usually referred to as boats rather than ships, regardless of their size. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on their size, shape. Boats have a variety of shapes, sizes and construction methods due to their intended purpose. Canoe-type boats have used since prehistoric times and various versions are used throughout the world for transportation. Fishing boats vary widely in style partly to local conditions. Pleasure boats include ski boats, pontoon boats, and sailboats, house boats may be used for vacationing or long-term housing. Small boats can provide transport or convey cargo to and from large ships, lifeboats have rescue and safety functions. Boats can be powered by power, wind power and motor power. Dugouts are the oldest type of boats found by archaeologists, the earliest boats are thought to have been logboats, and the oldest boats found by archaeological excavation date from around 7, 000–10,000 years ago. The oldest recovered boat in the world is the Pesse canoe and this canoe is exhibited in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands. Other very old dugout boats have also been recovered, rafts have operated for at least 8,000 years. A7, 000-year-old seagoing reed boat has been found in Kuwait, boats were used between 4000 and 3000 BC in Sumer, ancient Egypt and in the Indian Ocean. Boats played an important role in the commerce between the Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia, evidence of varying models of boats has also been discovered at various Indus Valley archaeological sites. Uru craft originate in Beypore, a village in south Calicut, Kerala and this type of mammoth wooden ship was constructed using teak, without any iron, and had a transport capacity of 400 tonnes
10.
Helmet
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A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head from injuries. More specifically, a helmet aids the skull in protecting the human brain, ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900 BC, soldiers still wear helmets, now often made from lightweight plastic materials. In civilian life, helmets are used for activities and sports, dangerous work activities. Since the 1990s, most helmets are made from resin or plastic, the word helmet is diminutive from helm, a medieval word for protective combat headgear. The Medieval great helm covers the head and often is accompanied with camail protecting throat. Originally a helmet was a helm which covered the head only partly, all helmets attempt to protect the users head by absorbing mechanical energy and protecting against penetration. Their structure and protective capacity are altered in high-energy impacts, beside their energy-absorption capability, their volume and weight are also important issues, since higher volume and weight increase the injury risk for the users head and neck. Anatomical helmets adapted to the head structure were invented by neurosurgeons at the end of the 20th century. Helmets used for different purposes have different designs, for example, a bicycle helmet must protect against blunt impact forces from the wearers head striking the road. A helmet designed for rock climbing must protect against heavy impact, sports helmets may have an integrated metal face protector. Baseball batting helmets have an expanded protection over the ear, which protects the jaw from injury, motorcycle helmets often have flip-down face screens for rain and wind protection, and they may also have projecting visors to protect the eyes from glare. Hard hats for construction workers are mainly to protect the wearer from falling objects such as tools. Helmets for riot police often have flip-down clear visors and thick padding to protect the back of the neck, Modern firefighters helmets protect the face and back of the head against impact, fires and electricity, and can include masks, communication systems, and other accessories. Welding helmets protect the eyes and face and neck from flash burn, ultraviolet light, sparks and heat. They have a window, called a lens shade, through which the welder looks at the weld. People with some medical conditions must wear a helmet to protect the brain, due to a gap in the braincase, mixed martial arts helmets have ear pads to prevent serious injuries to the athletes, who do not usually endure such force to the ears. Crash helmets for F1 racing drivers, their design and construction have evolved enormously, nevertheless, head and neck trauma remains the greatest single injury risk to drivers
11.
Spray deck
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A spraydeck is a flexible cover for a boat, in particular for a kayak or a canoe. It is used in whitewater, inclement weather or sport to prevent water entering the boat while allowing one or more passengers to sit in the boat. A spraydeck is a made out of water-tight cloth sized to fit over the opening, or cockpit. A spraydeck has an opening for each passenger, each opening likewise is encircled by a line or elastic string running in a hollow seam on the edge of the hole. This makes it possible to tighten the spraydeck around the body of the passenger, spraydecks are worn by kayakers in most conditions, but especially on rough water and in inclement weather, to prevent water entering the kayaks cockpit. On a kayak, the spraydeck is secured to a rim surrounding the cockpit with a line or elastic string called a rand. The fastening may be pulled tight or held so by its elasticity, to aid easy release during a capsize a grab loop is attached at the front of the spraydeck which the kayaker can use to pull the spraydeck free. A properly sealed spraydeck will allow a kayaker to perform an eskimo roll, a kayakers spraydeck is also known as a sprayskirt, because it is donned like a skirt before entering the boat. Sprayskirt is the common term in the US. Spraydecks are commonly made from neoprene, nylon or a combination of both materials, the most appropriate material depends on the temperature/time of year and on the type of water being paddled. Whitewater spraydecks are made totally from neoprene, whereas flatwater touring/sea kayak spraydecks may be made from either material and these spraydecks are snug, tight, thick to keep in the warmth, and very tight fitting on the cockpit. They can usually withstand rolling, bracing and high wind and waves and they sometimes get uncomfortably warm during hot weather, but will keep the paddler very warm during colder conditions. On modern neoprene spraydecks, the rand is usually elastic cord attached directly to the rim of the spraydeck. Nylon spraydecks are easy to attach, easy to remove, offer adequate seal to keep out, comfortable, sometimes breathable. They will either have neoprene or nylon for the torso, nylon spraydecks are less commonly used during rough conditions as they are not as tighly fitted so are more likely to accidentally become free. Whitewater spraydecks often have features to ensure the best seal. Latex may be coated on the underside of the deck to grip the cockpit better and/or a protective material added to the surface of the deck to provide abrasion resistance. On a canoe, the spraydeck is secured to the outside of the hull with string or cords to a webbing specifically installed for this purpose, modern designs have many features for safety and convenience such as map and paddle pockets, access openings, and tie-down straps
12.
Sea kayak
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A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the maneuverability of whitewater kayaks for higher cruising speed, cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling, a sea kayak usually ranges anywhere from 10–18 feet for solo craft, and up to 26 feet for tandem craft. Width may be as little as 21 in, and may be up to 36 in, contemporary sea kayaks trace their origin to the native boats of Alaska, northern Canada, and Southwest Greenland. Eskimo hunters developed a fast seagoing craft to hunt seals and walrus, the ancient Aleut name for a sea kayak is Iqyak, and earliest models were constructed from a light wooden frame and covered with sea mammal hides. Archaeologists have found evidence indicating that kayaks are at least 4000 years old, wooden kayaks and fabric kayaks on wooden frames dominated the market up until the 1950s, when fiberglass boats were introduced. Rotomolded plastic kayaks first appeared in 1984, modern sea kayaks come in a wide array of materials, designs, and sizes to suit a variety of intended uses. In sea kayaking, where the designs continue along primarily traditional lines, folding kayaks are in some ways more traditional boats, being similar in design to skin-on-frame kayaks used by native people. Modern folding kayaks use ash and birch or contemporary materials such as aluminum for the frame, unlike native kayaks, folding kayaks can be easily disassembled and packed for transport. Many folding kayaks include inflatable sponsons that improve the stability of the vessel. More recently, a class of inflatable folding kayaks has emerged, in recent years, there has been an increase in production of sit on top kayaks suitable for sea use. This has resulted in a new market for paddlers looking for the versatility of a sit on top, sit on top kayaks are a common choice for sea kayakers who prefer the sit on top versatility, but do not want to sacrifice performance. Modern skin-on-frame sea kayaks constructed with nylon skins represent an ultralight niche within the rigid sea kayak spectrum. A different class of vessel emerged in the 1960s, the Surf ski, most production sea kayaks are between 12 and 24 feet in length, the larger kayaks often built for two paddlers. The width of typical kayaks varies from 18 to 32 inches, the length of a kayak affects not only its cargo capacity but may also affect its tracking ability—the ease with which the boat travels in a straight line. While other design features also impact tracking, very long kayaks are easier to paddle straight, the width of a kayak affects the cargo capacity, the maximum size of the cockpit, and the stability. Most rigid production kayaks are now out of fiberglass, rotomolded polyethylene, thermoformed plastic. More exotic materials include carbon fiber and foam core, some kayaks are hand-built from plywood or wood strips covered with fiberglass
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