Raft

A raft is any flat object that is used to move over water.^[1] Rafts are usually very simple. Many boats have a hull. Rafts are different because they do not have a hull. Rafts are usually made of things like wood, barrels, or air chambers (for example, pontoons). These materials are usually buoyant (they float). Rafts are also not powered by an engine. Rafts can be made by humans or can happen in nature. Natural rafts are usually made from shrubbery or other organic matter. Human-made rafts have been used for a long time. Natural rafts have been used for all of human history.

Traditional raft, from the 1884 edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Image gallery

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  Raft carrying visitors to Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland, about 1960
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  People on the raft in Estonia, 1944
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  Raft used to ferry vehicles at Citarum River, Karawang, West Java, Indonesia
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  Rafting on the Dunajec River at Pieniny, about 2005–2010
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  A woman using a raft to transport her daughter and goats

Related pages

• Floating island
• Lifeboat