
Children successfully test their raft, in Brixham harbour, south Devon, England. The raft is made from wooden poles, rope and blue barrels.
A 'raft' is any flat floating structure for travel over water. It is the most basic of
boat design, characterized by the absence of a
hull. Instead, rafts are kept afloat using any combination of buoyant materials such as
wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers. Traditional or primitive rafts are constructed of wood or
reeds. Modern rafts may also use
pontoons,
drums, or
extruded polystyrene blocks. Inflatable rafts use durable, multi-layered rubberized fabrics. Depending on its use and size, it may have a
superstructure, masts, or rudders.
Timber rafting is used by the
logging industry for the transportation of logs, by tying them together into rafts, and drifting or pulling them down a river. This method was very common up until the middle of the 20th century but is now used only rarely.
The type of raft used for recreational
rafting is almost exclusively an
inflatable boat, manufactured of flexible materials for use on
whitewater.
'''Ratis''' is a
Latin word meaning a raft-like
vessel composed of fastened
logs, generally without a
keel.
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See also
★
Lifeboat
★ ''
Raft of the Medusa''
★
Thor Heyerdahl
★ ''
Raft'' by
Stephen Baxter
External links
★
World of Boats at Eyemouth ~ Australian Reed Raft
★
Homemade Raft Plans and Photos of Rafts
★
Neutrino Raft - vessels made from scrap