why is the left side of the boat called the port side? Are you more likely to dock with that side toward the?

Question

land? And starboard? What does that word have to do with anything?

Just twice and once was a glitch. I deleted the other copy.

Answer 1

Way back when boats were usally double ended they were steered with a rudder- like stick ( steerboard ) held over the right side of the boat. Steerboard eventually became pronounced starboard and because you couldn't dock on that side without hitting the steerboard, you docked on the left side ( port ).

Answer 2

<>Starboard comes from the word "steerboard" or "steorbord," the side of the ship where the steersman held the rudder on old ships (they were mostly right-handed, of course). Port, the term for the left side of the boat, is derived from the practice of mooring on the left side. This was originally called "larboard" (or loading) side. Because larboard and starboard sounded too much alike, larboard was changed to port.

Answer 3

yep, boats usually dock at the port on their left side. the right side is called starboard since that was the side sailors used to look from to check the stars for navigation.

Answer 4

Simple. The left side was used primarily, in the olden days, for loading cargo. Due to the placement of the mainsail on early sailing ships, the left side was more accessible when tied to the dock or pier. Since the usual cargo was wine, and back in the day the only wine was Port, they started calling the left side the “port” side. Furthermore, port wine was loaded at night, for two reasons: the cooler temperatures were better for the wine; and the cover of darkness aided in preventing the wine being stolen by bandits. Since the ship was tied to the pier on the left (port) side, the other side (where the gangplank, or “board” was mounted) was facing the stars, hence star-board.

Answer 5

I've never thought about it, but your answer is probably in your question. That's probably why. A lot of "systems" in the human world have special terminology, solely to make it more complicated than it otherwise would be, solely to make a specialty, rather than auxiliary knowledge. Our world would probably be a better place if there were more left-handers and less right-handers.

Answer 6

Why do you keep asking this question over, and over ?