Port or Starboard

Port or Starboard

Now there’s a question, it’s surprising how many people have a preference to what side of the ship they would like their cabin on. I have always thought it should not matter because if you are doing a round trip cruise, you will always see both views whatever side of the ship you decide on. I guess if you were taking a cruise out of New York, and you wanted to get the best view of the Statue Of Liberty then yes you would certainly want to be on the Starboard side, now I can hear you asking “why Is that?” well it just happens to be one of hundreds of ports I have had the privilege of sailing from. So I take back my comment at the beginning of the blog, yes it can be very important what side of the ship you decide to choose.

And below is where the meaning Port out Starboard originated from

Since port and starboard never change, they are unambiguous references that are independent of a mariner’s orientation, and, thus, mariners use these nautical terms instead of left and right to avoid confusion. 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. Most sailors were right handed, so the steering oar was placed over or through the right side of the stern. Sailors began calling the right side the steering side, which soon became “starboard” by combining two Old English words: stéor(meaning “steer”) and bord (meaning “the side of a boat”).

As the size of boats grew, so did the steering oar, making it much easier to tie a boat up to a dock on the side opposite the oar. This side became known as larboard, or “the loading side.” Over time, larboard—too easily confused with starboard—was replaced with port. After all, this was the side that faced the port, allowing supplies to be ported aboard by porters.