Paddles up, the sweep, the drummer, a piece, the crew, portage as a verb and a suffering, the symposium, huli, the ama, catching the flag, steersman. The biennial international dragon boat championships, the annual club crew festivals across Europe, North America, and Asia, the Easter British canoe marathon, the June northern river marathon in Canada, and the December South African river marathon.

May to September for the northern festival season, when water is warm enough and the international festivals cluster. The southern hemisphere carries a December counter-season.

November to March in the north for competition, though crews train indoors and on water year-round where climate permits. Crews commit six to nine months ahead because twenty people have to agree, book leave, and pay.

That collective commitment is slow to form and almost never reverses, which makes it a uniquely reliable booking. Train on the same water two or three evenings a week, which for a crew of twenty is a serious logistical commitment in itself, hold a captain who does all the admin, travel as a unit, and hold a club identity that is unusually strong because the boat does not move without everyone.