Brief #007 · SEA LORE
Why the left side is called port
Stories
Starboard comes from the steering oar on the right, so ships loaded on the left: first larboard, then port, because larboard sounded too much like starboard.
Transcript
Why is the left side of a boat called port? The answer starts on the other side.
Early boats were steered with a big oar at the back. Most sailors were right-handed, so the oar went over the right side.
Steer, in Old English: stéor. The side of a boat: bord. Steer-board. Starboard.
But that oar got in the way when you came alongside. So boats tied up with the other side to the quay.
That became the loading side. Larboard.
Larboard, starboard. Shout that into the wind. They sounded far too alike.
So the loading side got a new name: the side that faces the port. Port.
And unlike left and right, port and starboard never change, whichever way you face.
Port is left. Starboard is right. Follow for the next brief.
Sources
- NOAA Ocean Service: Why do ships use port and starboard instead of left and right?
- Online Etymology Dictionary: starboard
- Online Etymology Dictionary: larboard