Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing (or more correctly ‘sculling’) a Thames skiff. A Thames skiff is a traditional hand crafted, clinker-built wooden craft of a design, based on Thames wherries, which were operated by ‘Watermen’ as a water taxi service in London, and have been seen on the River Thames and other waterways in England and other countries for nearly 200 years. Sculling means propelling the boat with a pair of oars (blades) as opposed to rowing, which requires both hands on a single oar.