Two terms for customers:

"SPORTs": Stupid People On Raft Trips. Elegant, because the guide can
address the customer with this term right to his face, without
jeopardizing his tip.

"Carp". Refers to their appearance when they are out of the boat and
trying to suck air (and probably borrowed from the verb used to
describe a kayaker grabbing breaths between unsuccessful roll attempts:
"carping"). By extension, I have seen the sign "Fish Crossing" beside
the driveway through an outdoor center, where the carp cross from the
parking area to the check-in kiosk.


And several terms for -- shall we say -- "things going not exactly as
planned":

Myron the Riverman mentioned "tacoing", which refers to the shape of a
raft folded over upon itself pinned against a rock, or, alternatively,
briefly folded over upon itself in an encounter with a hole
(hydraulic).

Then there is "dump-trucking", when a raft hits a hole and stands up on
end, dumping its crew into the river -- or, more specifically, into the
hole.

And "yard sale", which refers to the collection of customers, stray
paddles, shoes, water bottles and all the other unsecured crap the
customers brought along, after the raft flips and all this stuff is
floating independently down the river.

Not so much a raft guide's term as a canoeist/kayaker term, but
nevertheless appropriate to raft customers, is the euphemism
"out-of-boat experience" to describe an unplanned swim.

And don't forget the aphorism "bad things happen to people when they
are out of their boats." This refers not only to falling out and being
swept into or through river hazards, but to slipping and falling on the
rocks during portage, scouting, and meal- or camp-stops.


I am actually far more familiar with the multitudinous terms canoeists
and kayakers have to describe rafts -- the politest of which is "moving
undercuts", but that isn't really what you're looking for, is it?


-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--

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Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
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