DCHP-1 Online

baidarka bidarka [< Russian, dim. of baidara; see baidar] Although nowadays confined largely to the Alaska region, this term seems to have been used first in English by explorers and fur traders in contact with the Russian traders in northern B.C., the Yukon , and Alaska.

• n. a kayaklike skin boat having two, or occasionally three, cockpits.

  See also: baidar  

  • 1834  (1963)  The youth took his departure . . . soon after a bidarka approached . . . paddled by two men . . . the officer sitting in the middle seat.
  • 1947  The baidarka was long, narrow, and pointed at each end, varying in length from 12 to 20 feet depending on the number of hatches. The width was 20 to 24 inches and the depth only 20 inches, so that the craft could be propelled swiftly in shallow water.