A Hands-On Trick to Learn Port From Starboard

We’ve all been there: Which is the port or starboard side of the boat? Is it the left or the right? How do we know which is what? Over time it becomes second nature; we no longer stop midship and wave our hands around, turning from bow to stern and back again while deciding if we’re on the port or starboard side of the boat. But how does a beginner learn to recognize port versus starboard?

During our time on the water we’ve heard a few different phrases or rhymes that helped us find our way. “There’s no port left in the bottle.” This one clearly matches port with left — both words are in the same sentence, port is a reddish color, and a boat will show a red light on its port side, so port is the left side of the boat (looking forward). We came across a variation of this standard phrase on Reddit: “Port is wine. Wine comes in a bottle. At the end of a good night (or a bad one) there’s a little bit of port left in the bottle.” Sounds a bit convoluted. And besides, who leaves a bit of port in the bottle?

Here’s another way to explain and remember port from starboard. Port and left both have four letters. Another one we found uses the alphabet: “The letter ‘P’ (port) comes before ‘S’ (starboard) in the alphabet, just as the left side comes before the right side when reading.”

This week we heard about yet another trick to help new boaters learn port from starboard: Write it on the back of your hands.

Latitude 38 reader Amy Kardel sent us the above photo of a simple way to remember port from starboard. “These young sailors were ready to race at the Chris Lockwood Memorial Junior Regatta at the Morro Bay Yacht Club on October 5, 2025.”

Writing on your hands is a great short-term exercise for a (hopefully) long-term gain. We expect the letters will wash off, if not while sailing, certainly over a couple of days at the most, unless you have the letters tattooed on the back of your hands. We don’t recommend that. But the letters may stick around long enough to cement the knowledge in your head. And if they don’t, just grab a Sharpie and write them again!

What was your trick for learning port from starboard?