I’m learning some key names of ports; sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun, parts of a ship. I thought I share a few. Here are some ideas on how to remember them by mnemonics or visualization.
Aft = the back end of the ship. I remember this by thinking that after everything on the ship is the aft.
Bow = is the front of the ship. I remember this in that I need to bow forward. I can’t bow backwards so bow is front of the ship.
Knot = A knot is one nautical mile per hour. (One knot is about 15% faster than one mile per hour). For visualization, I think of the mile markers on a road as little knots of metal to indicate distance and thus the knot for the length of sea.
Pitch = the rise and fall of the front of the ship while at sea. I remember this by thinking of the rise and fall of painting a wall or fence with pitch matching to the up down motion of the ocean.
Port = the left side of the ship, a nautical term, respectively, of a ship or aircraft as perceived by a person on board facing the bow (front). At night, the port side of a vessel is indicated with a red navigation light. PORT and LEFT each have 4 letters.
Starboard is the right side of the ship, in nautical term. At night, the starboard side of a vessel is indicated with a green navigation light. STARBOARD and RIGHT HAND each have nine letters.
Stem = the absolute front point of the ship. I think of the stem of a tree branch where at the end of the stem are the leaves. It is the absolute front of the tree before the leaves thus stem.
Stern The absolute rear point of the ship. I remember this by thinking of a stern teacher punishing a student by sending him/her to the back or rear of the class room.
Interesting web sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_and_starboard
http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/cruiseterms.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081031130952AAXwO7X
