Why are the two sides of a ship called PORT and STARBOARD ? (and which is which?)?

The origin of the term comes from old boating practices. Before ships had rudders on their centerline, they were steered by use of a specialized oar. This oar was held by an oarsman located in the stern (back) of the ship. However, like most of the rest of society, there were many more right-handed sailors than left-handed sailors. This meant that the steering oar (which had been broadened to provide better control) used to be affixed to the right side of the ship. The word starboard comes from Old English steorbord, literally meaning the side on which the ship is steered, descendant from the Old Norse words stýri meaning “rudder” (from the verb stýra, literally “being at the helm”, “having a hand in”) and borð meaning etymologically “board”, then the “side of a ship”.

Similarly, the term for the left side of the boat, port or larboard, is derived from the practice of sailors mooring on the left side (i.e., the larboard or loading side) as to prevent the steering boards from being crushed. Because the words larboard and starboard sounded too similar to be easily distinguished, larboard was changed to port.

Starboard - right

Port - left

Jack

Here is a tip: Port, Left, RED. Starboard, Right, Green. All the short words go with Port, All the long words go with Starboard. Incidentally, the word Posh, (as in snob) comes from the above - Port Out, Starboard Home. The well-to-do passengers liked to see land on arriving and leaving.

Starboard Side

They are today called port & starboard, so that when I say something like, "find the throttle bellcrank on the starboard side of the powerhead," you don't have to say, "you mean your right or my right?", or "you mean the right side facing the bow, or the stern?"

if you are standing on the boat facing the bow (that's the "front"), starboard is on your right, port is on your left.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Why are the two sides of a ship called PORT and STARBOARD ? (and which is which?)?

When on the bridge, the left side is considered Port because historically that is the side that docks and takes on supplies.

Look at any picture of a docked ship. (celebrity cruise yachts don't count)

Sides Of A Boat

there is always some RED PORT LEFT in the bottle

Why? I dunno.

Which?

Port means left. Remember it this way: PORT and LEFT both have 4 letters. They match.

right and left