"Star light, star bright, starboard is to the right"

Today's nautical term is:STARBOARD. This is defined as the right side of the boat when looking forward.Therefore it is opposite PORT which is the left side. The starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a green navigation light at night. The word starboard comes from Old English steorboard, literally meaning the side on which the ship is steered. Before ships had rudders on their centerlines, they were steered by use of a specialized steering oar. Because there were more right handed sailors than left-handed sailors, the steering oar was attached to the right side of the ship. So the right side of a vessel became known as the starboard side.