Conference vicki::boats

        Jeff,
        
        This has been the subject of much debate. I've never seen a
        definitive, final answer. I'll give you some of the reasons I've
        seen, and then I'll pose the question in the BOATS notes
        conference.
                                
                1  Powered boats originated in Europe, where they drive
                   on the wrong side of the road, with their steering
                   wheels on the right-hand side of the car.
                                                      
                2  The torque of a typical single-screw power boat with
                   right-hand rotating engine tends to cause the boat to
                   list to port (the left side) when the boat is under
                   way;  placing the driver on the right automatically
                   adds ballast to counteract that torque.

                3  "Red, Right, Returning" - the mnemonic used to help
                   sailors remember on which side of the boat they must
                   keep a red buoy when returning to their home port; if
                   they're sitting on the right hand side of the boat
                   they'll be able to see the red buoys better.
                   
                4  This is a right-hand world; fishermen can steer better
                   with their left hand while reaching for (or
                   manipulating) fishing gear with their (favored) right
                   hand. Placing them on the starboard or right hand side
                   of the boat also places them closer to the water.
                   (Nearly all lobster boats that you see are rigged for
                   right-hand operation.  Ask me to explain the procedure
                   for gaffing, hauling, emptying, baiting, and dropping
                   lobster traps.)
                   


        I lean toward number 2 and 4 reasons stated, but I'll let you
        know what I learn in the notes conference.
                
        Art

    
    RE: .1
    Answer number 2 is correct.  So how come we don't sit in the
    middle on a boat with counter-rotation?   ;^)
    
    Rick W.
    

    Its just not that complicated......
    
    
    The reason for the helm on the right:
    
                          BECAUSE ITS NOT ON THE LEFT.
    
    (there's always one in the crowd.)
    
    
    jim.
    

    The answer is obious, if you have ever taken a boating or Navigational
    Rules course:
    
    Looking towards the bow, the area from the bow to 22.5 degrees abaft
    the starboard beam is the danger zone. You sit and steer from the
    starboard side so that you can see any and all boats and objects
    that may be in your danger zone.
    
    This is why when you perform an alongside tow of a disabled boat,
    you always place that disabled boat on your port side, leaving your
    danger zone clear of obstructions.
    
    For additional answers to this and other questions you may have,
    may I recommend a U.S Coast Guard Auxiliary Safe Boating and Seamanship
    course.
    
    Regards
    
    Paul

    I agree with Paul (.4) - it's a simple matter of visability to your
    danger zone.
    
    Realize this is not "normal" anyway -- there are many center consoles
    in smaller boats & most with a Flying Bridge have Center controls.
    The Center is maximum visability on these vessels and does not impact
    access to any cabins etc...
    
    Once you have a cabin/cuddy.. you need to trade off access for
    visability and would tend to favor the "danger zone"
    
                                   Take care,
                                               Lou "Phanta Sea"

re .4:

You're presuming that the Rules of the Road came before the choice of 
which side the steering should be on. Starboard, I have heard, comes 
from the Viking ship era and means steering side. Port means simply the 
side of the vessel tied to a dock. Once you've put the steering on the 
starboard side, it makes sense to have the Rules of the Road as they 
are.

    -.1 seems plausible. Sailing has been around for millennia before
    "The Rules of the Road".
    
    However, I believe that steering was usually done by centre tiller or
    centre wheel in earlier times, right-side steering only becoming more
    popular with the introduction of pleasure power boats with limited
    beam, so the "Port" "Starboard" argument becomes less likely when
    related to wheel position.
    
    Clear as mud, eh?
    
    Ray 
    
    

re .7:

Actually, early ships, among them the Viking ships, were steered by a 
oar fixed along the starboard side. Rudders as we know them are a fairly 
recent innovation (oh, maybe 15th century). 

    	I'll add my support to the starboard origin. I also had read
    that the term came from the Vikings' steering mechanism. The tiller 
    or whatever was an oar or "steering board" which later became
    starboard.
    
    Paul       

    I with Paul (.4) it is for navagation purposes. I don't know about
    the Vikings though (I can't remember that far back!).
    
                                   Jeff

    
    re: .4, .5 
    
    	Why is the area you defined called the "danger zone"?
    Is it because the starboard side would generally be closest
    to shore in canals and rivers? What makes it more dangerous
    than the same area on the port side?
    
    	I suppose another guess would be that the oncoming boat
    in that area might not be sure of which side to pass on. Whereas
    the oncoming boat in the same area on the port side would be
    sure. (If he had any brains, that is!)

        Rick
    
    

    the danger zone is the area dead ahead to 90 deg. off the starboard.
    
    any boat in that area, while your running, has the right of way.
    
    all set rick,
    
    jim.

    
    
    Re: Jim,
    
    	That's right, he's to my right so he would have the right
    of way. So it's just to be able to see in that direction...?
    
    	I guess you don't think much about *not* being able to 
    see in a 19 foot ski boat..... 
    
    	Although, if you think about it..... In an I/O with the
    bow up at low speed you wouldn't stand a prayer of seeing the
    Danger Zone if you were sitting on the port side.

    
    	Rick

RE:
>>  the danger zone is the area dead ahead to 90 deg. off the starboard.
>>  any boat in that area, while your running, has the right of way.
  
Anyone who's been on Lake Winnie on a weekend knows that the danger
zone is EVERYWHERE, (behind you, to your right, left, etc...)  
;^)


RE: Port = left?
Just remember that port and left both have four letters.


Rick W. (Counting_the_days_til_spring)

    
    
    I remember port by Port being wine and many wines are red, the port
    side light is red.....
    
    	Sounds a little far fetched when it's actually written down,
    Huh? That's ok when I go to the store I just remember HOW MANY
    things I was supposed to buy!
    
    Rick - yeah, should we start a "I've_cryed_for_2_weeks_now_about
    	spring_not_being_here_yet" note?

    This might make it less confusing! Red light means STOP green means
    GO. Red on port side Green on strbd side.
    
    If you are out at night and you can see a vessles' red light you
    have to stand off and he will see your green light. If you can see
    their green, he will see you red and he has to stand off. On head on
    situations just MATCH colors your red to their red, your green to 
    their green and you will avoid a collision. It's that simple, although
    I have seen boats on lake Winni that have had thier colors backwards.
    
                                 Jeff

    re .16
    
    Having the navigation light REVERSED! (red/green) is dangerous and
    is becoming more common on the water. Just a hint about how this
    mistake can occur....many small vessels use a single housing and
    light bulb to display the Port and Starboard colors. The mistake
    can occur easily when replacing the bulb or cleaning the colored
    lens in these lights.
    
    Whenever you must disassemble navigation lights of this type, be
    sure that the colored lens are NOT reversed when you reassemble
    them!
    
    Boat Safely,
    Jerry
    

re .12:

Not quite right -- any boat approaching you from dead ahead to 22.5 
degrees aft of your starboard beam (112.5 degrees off your bow) has 
right of way. 

    Adding my 2 cents to the original question...
    
    The first "rudder" probably was a paddle temporarily used for steering
    rather than propulsion. I guess that for a right handed person it is 
    natural to stick down that paddle on the right side of the boat(read: canoe)
    When the paddle become a permanent rudder it was then fixed at its
    customary place at the right. As the helmsman then on the bigger
    boats naturally had a far better view to the right the present
    rigt-of-way rules evolved, keep clear of any ship on whose left
    side you are because there is a high risk that the helmsman hasn't
    seen you! 
    
    Looking at old pictures of ships one can see that the side-rudder(s)
    where quite common, e.g. the viking ships had one on the right and
    the egyptians used two, one on each side.
    To the middle position the rudder moved fairly late in the history
    of ships, probably because the general hull shape had to evolve
    in a way that made mounting of the rudder on the sternpost a sensible
    proposition. (Try imagining a centerline rudder on a reed-boat!)
    
    The name starboard obviously has a relationship to the word "steering"
    ("styra, styrara, styrbord" or something like that was probably the
    words the vikings used)
    The explanation for Port being the side you docked with (in order
    to protect the rudder) sounds sensible but...
    
    I understand that even in English the word Backboard was used
    instead of (or as a synonym for) Port a couple of hundered years
    ago. German and swedish still use almost that word.
    Now assuming that Port is a fairly new word for the left side, let's
    say 15th century then the docking-side explanation doesn't necessarily
    make sense, all(?) big(?) ships had centerline rudders by then!
    Anyone having comments on this? 

    -jcl

    re: .4
      You are assuming that the rules came before the steering wheel.
    If the wheel were originally on the port side the rules would be
    reversed offering the same visability, danger zone etc...
    
    Some trivia:
    I got this out of one of my Boating books. Back in the old days,
    the large sailing ships used to navigate by the stars (sextant).
    The word Starboard came from a board that was attached to the 
    right side of the ship so the navigator could walk out on it and
    shoot the stars more clearly. By having this board on the right
    side of the ship, it made it very hard, if not impossible to dock
    from that side. Thus they would dock on the left side (Port).
    
    From_the_for_what_it's_worth_column

re .20:

>>> ......................................... Back in the old days,
>>> the large sailing ships used to navigate by the stars (sextant).

Those old days were as recent as World War II. Development of electronic 
navigation systems began about that time. The early systems weren't a 
joy to use. For example, look at a Loran A set in a museum.

>>> The word Starboard came from a board that was attached to the 
>>> right side of the ship so the navigator could walk out on it and
>>> shoot the stars more clearly. By having this board on the right
>>> side of the ship, it made it very hard, if not impossible to dock
>>> from that side. Thus they would dock on the left side (Port).
    
This doesn't sound very probable. Sextants as we know them weren't 
developed until the 18th century (as I recall) though similar 
instruments were used earlier. If you've ever used a sextant, you'll 
know that taking star sights isn't easy at the best of times. Standing 
on a board out over the side of the ship would do two things: First, 
make losing the navigator (often the captain) overboard quite likely. 
Second, it would magnify the rolling motion of the ship, making accurate 
sights even more difficult. The mathematics used until recently to 
determine position from celestial observations was quite messy and 
error prone (nice handheld HP calculators weren't available). Most
navigation was done using the sun, not the stars. The reason for noon
sun sights is that the calculation to determine latitude from a noon
sight is simple and the accuracy doesn't depend on a chronometer. One of
the reasons so many sailing ships went ashore was inaccurate navigation
and inaccurate chronometers. 

    Everyone has been talking about the "wheel on the right".
    
    What about boats (cruisers) with the wheel on the left?
    I've seen two of them.
    
    Would these be foreign boats? and if so.....don't they follow
    the rules of the road as we (are supposed to) do?
    
    Sorry for the extra confusion!
    
    Larry

    An "Old Salt" (one of them "Winders") told me the following;
    In the olden days, sailing shipd had the "Steering Board" on the
    right---thus "Starboard" came to mean the right side of a ship.
    They always brought the ship into port to unload/load cargo with
    the left side against the pier/dock, etc so as not to damage the
    "Steering Board".. Thus the left was called the "Larboard" for the
    loading board. The U.S. Navy had too many screw ups with 
    "Starboard/Larboard" that they changed Larboard to "Port", the side
    they loaded/unloaded cargo from when in 'Port'.
    
    It simply stuck---the right is where you steer from and the left
    is where you pull into 'port'. (Except in half the marina slips)
    
    Sounds good to me!
    
    Don

I heard once that putting oncoming traffic on your right side dates back
to horseback combat and armor and swords and such (most people are right-
handed).

If this is the origin, then boat construction and the Rules of the Road 
all match it and not the other way around.

Erik

    Re -1>
    	I don't understand. Rules of the road do not require it but the
    common way to pass oncoming traffic is port to port. This also holds
    true for US traffic laws...Good for us lefties but not for the average 
    knight in shining armor.  :^).
    	Perhaps your history was the source of the Brits driving on the
    left side of the road and thereby passing right to right (starboard
    to starboard).
    
    Paul

    Most boats are built as right hand drive to alow the weight of the
    driver to counter act the torque reaction from the prop.
    
    There are many left hand drive boats with twin engins, and over 30 ft.

	   If you use your boat solo a lot you find it's usually easier
	docking in tight areas where everyone defaults to Keep Right...
	You're already on the dock side of the boat with both controls
	and the dock within reach...

					B.C.