A
setting pole is a
poleAn oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. The oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. What distinguishes oars from paddles is that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by...
, handled by a single individual, made to move
watercraftA watercraft is a vehicle, vessel or craft designed to move across water, including saltwater and freshwater, for pleasure, recreation, physical exercise, commerce, transport and military missions. It is derived from the term "craft" which was used as term to describe all types of water going...
by pushing the craft in the desired direction. Because it is a pushing tool, it is generally used from the
sternThe stern is the rear or aft part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail...
(back) of the craft.
A setting pole is usually made of ash, or a similar resilient
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
, and is capped on one or both ends with metal to withstand the repeated pushing against the bottom and rocks, and to help the end of the pole sink to the bottom more quickly.
A
setting pole is a
poleAn oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. The oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. What distinguishes oars from paddles is that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by...
, handled by a single individual, made to move
watercraftA watercraft is a vehicle, vessel or craft designed to move across water, including saltwater and freshwater, for pleasure, recreation, physical exercise, commerce, transport and military missions. It is derived from the term "craft" which was used as term to describe all types of water going...
by pushing the craft in the desired direction. Because it is a pushing tool, it is generally used from the
sternThe stern is the rear or aft part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail...
(back) of the craft.
A setting pole is usually made of ash, or a similar resilient
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
, and is capped on one or both ends with metal to withstand the repeated pushing against the bottom and rocks, and to help the end of the pole sink to the bottom more quickly. It can range in length from eight feet (2.5 meters), to over fifteen feet (4.5 meters).
The best known form of setting pole is the single-ended
puntThis article concentrates on the history and development of punts and punting in England, for other usages see Norfolk punt and the general disambiguation pages at punt and punter....
pole used in
OxfordOxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city has a population of just under 165,000, with 151,000 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre...
and
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. It is also at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen....
. A setting pole may also be used in
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
canoeingCanoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe for the purpose of recreation , sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe with only human muscle power...
for navigating portions of river where the water is too shallow for a
paddleA paddle is a tool used for pushing against liquids, either as a form of propulsion in a boat or as an implement for mixing.-Materials and designs:...
to create
thrustThrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a proportional but opposite force on that system.-Examples:...
, or where the desired direction of travel is opposite a
currentA current, in a river or stream, is the flow of water influenced by gravity as the water moves downhill to reduce its potential energy. The current varies spatially as well as temporally within the stream, dependent upon the flow volume of water, stream gradient, and channel geometrics...
moving fast enough to make paddling inefficient and the water is shallow enough to make poling possible.
See also
Quant poleA quant is a pole used to propel a barge or punt through water. A barge quant often has a cap at the top and a prong at the bottom to stop it from sinking into the mud...