Punt (boat) - Punting Around The World

Punting Around The World

Traditional "Thames" punts are also popular on a few other rivers outside England. These include:

• The Avon in Christchurch, New Zealand where commercialised punting is a minor tourist attraction.

• The Mutha River in Pune, India at the Boat Club (BC) of the College of Engineering, Pune. Punting here is mainly a leisure activity, but there are also punting activities organized as part of the annual regatta, including the spectacular "Punt Formation" where several illuminated punts are used to create a night time display.

• Along the Cherry Creek, in Denver, Colorado in the USA. The Greenway Foundation sponsors the "Venice on the Creek" program in this area from June to August. Despite the allusion to gondolas, the boats involved are chauffeured fibreglass punts made in Cambridge.

The technique of using a pole to propel a narrow boat in confined waters has developed in many other cultures, especially in marshy or swampy areas where transport on land is difficult. These include:

• The Okavango Delta in Botswana, using dug-out canoes called makoros. The boats are punted from the rear and are used for getting around the shallow waters of the swamp. A makoro's shape is determined by the tree from which it was made, and the punter simply stands in the bottom. Bucket-seats are sometimes added for passengers' comfort.

• The Marais Poitevin, an area of marsh land criss-crossed with canals north of La Rochelle in Poitou-Charentes, France. Here the boats (called barques) are somewhat shorter than a Thames punt, and may have a pointed bow and stern. The punting pole (la pigouille) may be a rough cut branch or coppice pole. Originally used for transporting goods and livestock, today boats are available for hire to tourists.

• In the marshy Overijssel, the Netherlands there is a boat called the punter. They are about 6 metres (20 ft) in length and have a pointed bow and stern. Originally used for transporting agricultural goods, turf and livestock, most newly built boats are either privately owned or hired to tourists.

• Depending on water depth punting is often used to propel boats called "Weidling" in Switzerland and Germany. These boats are very similar in design to Thames punts. On the River Neckar in Tübingen, Germany, punting boats called Stocherkahn is a university tradition. These boats are larger and deeper, and have a narrower bow and stern than Thames punts. Bench seats for passengers are provided down each side, and the punter stands on a small triangular deck at the stern.

• Punting had a resurgence in Scotland in the 1980s as the Honourable Society of Edinburgh Boaters took to the waters of the Union canal on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The Society staged regattas and engaged in The Scottish Boat Race with The University of Cambridge Dampers Club.

• Bamboo rafts of proportions similar to punts' are used on various rivers in northern Thailand; the technique for punting them is identical to that used in Cambridge.

• The "takasebune" boats are found in various parts of Japan. The canals developed for such boats are often named takasegawa. The fast punting boats for passengers in Tokyo are called "choki" or "choki-bune".