View source for Chalupa (boat)

{{Short description|Type of boat}}
{{Other uses|Chalupa (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
[[File:PortAuChoix ReconstructedChalupa.JPG|thumb|Chalupa at Port au Choix, Newfoundland]]
A '''chalupa''' (in [[Basque language|Basque]]: ''Txalupa'') is a small [[boat]] that functions as a [[shallop]], [[water taxi]] or [[gondola]], such as those seen at the "floating gardens" of [[Xochimilco]] south of [[Mexico City]], Mexico. Chalupa is also the name of the type of whaling boat [[History of Basque whaling#Newfoundland and Labrador|used by the Basques]] in the mid-16th century in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador.

==Description==
Chalupa boats are normally rowed or poled, and less commonly motorized. Common characteristics are shallow drafts and narrow benches or seats for one, two or three passengers. A chalupa is not to be confused with a [[trajinera]], which is a boat housing long benches along the edges, and a table through the middle, and poled by a standing person.

These boats are typical of [[Mexico City]]'s [[Xochimilco]] channel and are frequented by local families for weekend picnics on the water. Chalupas transit on the same channel offering food, beverages, or even live music trios to the trajineras.

Chalupa in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] is a small boat used for [[cabotage]], either with oars or sails, in the latter case with a single mast.

The mid-16th century chalupa used by the Basque whalers was {{convert|8|m|ft}} long, and would have been manned by a steersman, five oarsmen, and a harpooner. Examples of four of these have been discovered in [[Canada]] at [[Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador|Red Bay]] in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador since 1978. One such chalupa has been given extensive conservation treatment, and as of July 1998 was on display in the visitor centre of Red Bay National Historic Site of Canada.<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nl/redbay/natcul/basque.aspx Archaeology of a Sixteenth-Century Basque Whaling Boat]</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Boat types]]
[[Category:Water transport in Newfoundland and Labrador]]
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