Why do ships drive on the wrong side of the road■■? 
Have you tried painting white lines on water?? 
The earliest vessels were steered ]by an oar or board that came to be known as the starboard this was always rigged on the right hand side of the vessel I ts for this reason that they have arcane rules about passing each other.
alamcculloch:
The earliest vessels were steered ]by an oar or board that came to be known as the starboard this was always rigged on the right hand side of the vessel I ts for this reason that they have arcane rules about passing each other.
The reason for it always being on the steerboard side was so you could still tie up alongside in port.
On sailing vessels they had to lift and skew the yards so they could load and unload the ships, this was done by pulling on the halyards (Haul Yards) and then skew them using the braces. This allowed them to get close to the quay, known as the port side.
You can use a lot of terms from the sea, and we still do.
POSH
Port out, Starboard home.
gardun:
Have you tried painting white lines on water??
Like it, but in fact we do have to contend with motorways at sea but they are called ‘traffic lanes’ and woe betide anyone caught going the wrong way in them or breaking any of the myriad of rules concerning their use. Also can not use the short cuts either known as ‘inshore traffic zone’. There are also roundabouts!
Originally Starboard was called Larboard.
Apart from that you know more than me 
In the States they say ‘left & right’ and drive their boats/ships on the left
alamcculloch:
The earliest vessels were steered ]by an oar or board that came to be known as the starboard this was always rigged on the right hand side of the vessel I ts for this reason that they have arcane rules about passing each other.
Not really ‘Arcane’ would work very well if all boat drivers adhered to the ‘rules of the road’ AKA ‘rules for preventing collisions at sea’.
Do all east europeans drive the wrong way on the M20,cos alot love to do so on the water- ie. ‘‘I am on my course line to the next waypointski on my chartski, you must give wayski to me’’
raymundo:
alamcculloch:
The earliest vessels were steered ]by an oar or board that came to be known as the starboard this was always rigged on the right hand side of the vessel I ts for this reason that they have arcane rules about passing each other.Not really ‘Arcane’ would work very well if all boat drivers adhered to the ‘rules of the road’ AKA ‘rules for preventing collisions at sea’.
Some ships have other ideas though 
Headlines should have read… Clot in a Yacht scratches ships paint!!
Classic example of a stupid bloody WAFI (Wind Assisted Foolking Idiot) the yacht was taking part in a race and expected a dirty great big tanker to be able to get out of his way because he, as an average yachtsman, is a prat 
And because of the ships draft and handling characteristics she is a bit restricted in movement.
123,581 ton ship versus 10 ton WAFI result…
Ship one, wafi lost. If you look closely at the yacht just before the collision you’ll notice his sails go slack, he lost the wind and them boats stop dead in the water then. Tough on him but was obvious to a blind man it was his own fault. Wont do that again in a hurry, I would have loved to have been in the clubhouse that night, would have done a Curryfart 
I have often wondered how many vessels skippers last words were " we’ve got right of way"
That yacht for one, even if he was in the wrong.
Power driven vessel gives way(ski) to a wind driven vessel UNLESS constrained by draught.The yacht was sailing inshore so should have got out of the way.The large ship most likely “took the wind out of his sails”.
alamcculloch:
Power driven vessel gives way(ski) to a wind driven vessel UNLESS constrained by draught.The yacht was sailing inshore so should have got out of the way.The large ship most likely “took the wind out of his sails”.
It is a lot easier to chuck yourself over the other rail then mess with one of them
Although the idea of power gives way to sail most yachties have enough savy to give way to the big boys. During the hours of darkness its often very difficult to see a yacht because of their pathetic little navigation lights and lack of a decent radar reflector on most and if there is any slop running its virtually impossible to see them on radar cos they blend in with the background ‘clutter’ turn that down and you loose their echo as well.
alamcculloch:
The large ship most likely “took the wind out of his sails”.
I think the yacht saw what was going to likely happen and tried to round round out of the ships way but left it too late hence the slack sails while turning. A spinnaker (sail) is only any good when running before the wind, come off the wind and they are a hindrance not a help, ie. the one that got hung up on the anchor. The tanker was also steaming into the wind so it wasn’t the ship that caused the yacht to loose his wind, just the yachtsmans inability to access the situation properly, forget he was in a race and come about earlier and drop that bloody spinnaker.
addendum… I have a wee wafi mesen and in the Moray firth I even give way to the dolphins