Paddling with regard to watercraft is the act of manually propelling or navigating a small boat using a blade that is joined to a shaft, known as paddle, in the water. The paddle is also used to steer the vessel and may either be a single bladed or double bladed . The main differences between paddling and rowing is that the item used to manually propel or 'row' the boat, known as an oar or sweep, is connected to the boat by an oarlock whereas with paddling, the paddle is not connected.