Which sides are port and starboard?
When looking forward, toward the bow of a ship, port and starboard refer to the left and right sides, respectively. In the early days of boating, before ships had rudders on their centerlines, boats were controlled using a steering oar.
- The front of a boat is called the bow, while the rear of a boat is called the stern.
- When looking towards the bow, the left-hand side of the boat is the port side.
- And starboard is the corresponding word for the right side of a boat.
There are a few different mnemonic devices that can help you remember the meanings of port and starboard: The words port and left both have four letters in them. If you can remember that port means left because they have the same number of letters, then you can extrapolate that starboard means right.
If you meet another boat head-on: Under the boating rules of the road, vessels approaching each other head-on are always supposed to pass each other port to port — or left to left, just like on the road.
The vessel which has the wind on its starboard (right) side has the right of way. The vessel which has the wind on its port (left) side must give way. When both boats have the wind on the same side the windward (upwind) boat has to give way.
The word 'starboard' is the combination of two old words: stéor (meaning 'steer') and bord (meaning 'the side of a boat'). The left side is called 'port' because ships with steerboards or star boards would dock at ports on the opposite side of the steerboard or star.
Since the steering oar was on the right side of the boat, it would tie up at the wharf on the other side. Hence the left side was called port. The Oxford English Dictionary cites port in this usage since 1543. Formerly, larboard was often used instead of port.
The red light indicates a vessel's port (left) side; the green indicates a vessel's starboard (right) side. Sternlight: This white light is seen only from behind or nearly behind the vessel.
The word 'starboard' is the combination of two old words: stéor (meaning 'steer') and bord (meaning 'the side of a boat'). The left side is called 'port' because ships with steerboards or star boards would dock at ports on the opposite side of the steerboard or star.
But why are port and starboard used as nautical terms? The words port and starboard come from the medieval Latin word Portus, meaning “a harbour,” and the Old English word steorbord, meaning “the side of a ship that is opposite to the direction of the ship's motion.”
Is hard to starboard left or right?
The command "hard a-starboard" meant the wheel had to be turned to the left and not, as the instruction would suggest, to the right. Steamships, on the other hand, steered like cars. You moved the wheel to the right and the ship took the same direction. Not all steamships followed these rules, however.
2 points = 22.5 degrees. The degree points are named as: 000 - Dead Ahead. 045 - Broad on the <port/starboard> bow.
