Onboard a ship it is not right or left, it is port and starboard. Most people who deal with ships a good deal know this one. But there are a few people out there that just cannot remember which is which. A wise sailor told me long ago who to tell which is which.

Port and Left have 4 letters each. Then that leaves starboard, which must be right.

Starboard is a term that comes to us from the Old English steorbord. Ships and boats at the time were steered with a large wooden oar placed on one side of the ship. Since more people are right handed it was almost always placed on the right side. Steorbord literally meaning the side on which the ship is steered. The old English term stēorbord descends from the Old Norse words stýri meaning rudder. This also comes from the verb stýra, literally being at the helm or having a hand in. Then the word borð is added, meaning etymologically board, then the side of a ship.

Port is a newer word used to refer to the left side. The old term Larboard was replaced because it could be confused for starboard. The term port is pulled from the side of the ship that supplies were loaded onto the ship while in port, the left side. Since steering was on the right side, this side needed to be free. So, people just began to use port for left and in 1844 the Royal Navy officially adopted the term.

At night time port and starboard are given different colors to help aid in navigation. Green for starboard, red for port. White light is used for the stern of the ship or boat. So at night is following another boat you will see white. If you see red or green, it is time to alter course. After watching the fireworks this year on one of our lakes it was time to head in. My wife kept pointing out all the white lights in front of me. I told her white is fine, red and green are bad.