Cayuco is a

Latin American Spanish The different varieties of the Spanish language spoken in the Americas are distinct from each other as well as from those varieties spoken in the Iberian peninsula, collectively known as Peninsular Spanish and Spanish spoken elsewhere, such as in ...

term for a small

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

Overview

Cayuco racing is the activity of paddling a canoe for the purpose of recreation (also called a float trip), sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe with only human muscle power. A cayuco is propelled using a paddle with one blade where the paddler sits with their legs in front of them, whereas canoes are propelled using single- or double-bladed paddles where the paddler is kneeling or sitting. Cayucos are usually half closed-decked boats with a spraydeck, while canoes are usually open boats. in Puerto Rico is an idiomatic expression for something that is difficult, a situation that is very tough to face or a problem too hard to untangle. It is the equivalent of the English phrase "This is a hot mess." In Puerto Rican: "." There are also open cayucos and closed canoes. Technically, a cayuco can be seen as a special kind of canoe. When exactly a canoe can be called cayuco is difficult to determine though, and often arbitrary. Internationally, the term canoeing is used as a generic term for all forms, though the terms ''paddlesports'' or ''canoe/kayak/cayuco'' are also used. In North America, however, ''canoeing'' usually refers only to canoes, as opposed to both canoes and cayucos. Paddling a cayuco is also referred to as ''cayuco''. Open canoes may be 'poled' (punted), sailed, 'lined and tracked' (using ropes) or even 'gunnel-bobbed'. In modern canoe sport, both canoes and cayucos may be closed-decked. Other than by the minimum competition specifications (typically length and width (beam) and seating arrangement it is difficult to differentiate most competition canoes from the equivalent competition cayucos.

The Panamanian cayuco

In the

Republic of Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, a cayuco is a vessel carved from the trunk of a tree, used mainly, but not exclusively by the indigenous people of the country. In 1954, these vessels were adopted by the Boy Scouts of America Explorers in the former Panama Canal Zone to make the first Ocean to Ocean Cayuco Race, which goes across the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

, from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

Notes

References

Cayuco
article fro
CayucoPedia
*https://cayucorace.org/ - cayuco website {{Canoeing and kayaking Canoeing