A pedalo (British English) or paddle boat (U.S., Canadian, and Australian English) is a

human-powered watercraft Human-powered watercraft are watercraft propelled by human power. The three main methods of collecting human power are directly from the hands or feet, through the hands with oars, paddles, or poles, or through the feet with pedals and a crank o ...

propelled by the action of pedals turning a

paddle wheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

Description

A pedalo is a

propelled by the turning of a

. The wheel is turned by people of rotating the

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

s of the craft. The paddle wheel of a pedalo is a smaller version of that used by a

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

Use

Pedalos, being particularly suited to calm waters, are often hired out for use on ponds and small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s in

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

Designs

The earliest record of a pedalo is perhaps

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

's diagram of a craft driven by two pedals. Typically, a two-seat pedalo has two sets of pedals side-by-side, designed to be used together. Some models, however, have three pedals on each side, to allow a person boating alone to pedal from a centrally seated position.

References

External links

* Boat types Human-powered watercraft Water sports Water sports equipment {{boat-stub