A Scottish to American (Southeastern) Dictionary for Paddlers

The get-in and get-out are the put-in and the takeout.

Canoes are paddle craft. Kayaks are kayaks, but are a form of canoe. Canadian canoes or open canoes are canoes back home. C-1 is the same on either side of the pond.

Kit is gear, made up of the essential pieces of gear. Paddles are paddles, although there is another word for them as well. Spray decks are spray skirts. Buoyancy aids are PFDs. Hats are helmets but helmet works, too. The Scottish word for splash jacket or dry top is something definitively Scottish, incomprehensible to my American ears, and, sadly, I've forgotten it already.

In Scotland, the word river precedes the name of said river. For example, we paddled the River Teith (pronounced teeth) on Sunday, although you might like to think we paddled the Teith River. Grades I through VI whitewater compare reasonably well with Class I-VI back home. The Teith is a friendly grade I/II run suitable for beginners.

River signals are pretty universal. Point where you want people to go, not where they shouldn't. Scots get pretty specific with one person at a time, two at a time, or everybody come on.

Break-ins and Break-outs are eddy turns and peel outs. One might break into an eddy to take a rest or scout the next section of river. One might break out of the eddy or perhaps ferry glide across the current to an eddy on the other side of the river for a better look. They emphasize the reverse or back ferry glide much more so here than back home.

River left and river right are still in the same place. Strainers are still things to avoid. Stoppers are holes and, like back home, not every stopper is a friendly stopper. Weirs are low head dams, which I knew from teaching the kids back home, but apparently not everybody knows that word.

Faffing is wasting time. Faff factor five is a charmingly alliterative way of saying that quite a bit of time is being wasted and there's nothing you can do about it.