I get that having uniform regulations helps everybody.
But until fairly recently (past 300 years or so), the standard for land travel was keep left. It would make sense for sea travel to follow the same standard, unless there was some good reason not to/.
Since the standard is to pass an oncoming ship with both of you keeping right, I assume there was a good reason to pick that instead of the opposite.
But my google-fu has utterly failed in producing that reason.
And so I crowd-source my question to a group of people with very broad interests.
Why was port-to-port chosen as the standard for how ships should pass?
Tillers mounted on the side used to be the standard way of steering, and would be mounted on the starboard (“steer board”) side (because lefties are of the Devil or something), if you pass on the left (port) you run the (minimal, IMO, but yo no soy marinero.) risk of those binding. So passing on the right may have become standard for that.
Until much more recently than that, there was no standard for land travel at all. When America chose keep-right and Britain chose keep-left, neither one was breaking with tradition, because there wasn’t any to break with.
Because having the tiller on the port side of the boat makes it hard dock the boat to the port. Although this answer may simply raise a chicken or egg question…
I’d think that you’d want to stand facing forward, holding the tiller/steering oar next to you with one hand. And right-handers would want to hold it with their right hand most of the time. So they’d want the tiller/steering oar on the right side of the boat.
Aircraft heading toward each other also divert to the right. It may be because pilots generally sit on the left side of the airplane, and can more easily see the aircraft being overtaken that way.
Did you look at the Bayeux pic I linked to? Also consider thestandard gondola layout (though that’s a combo rowing/steering ore). Yes, it’s easier for righties.
Besides, the left side is EEEEVUL. And sailors are superstitious. Certainly, you wouldn’t steer your ship from the EVIL side, would you? Clearly, that would be as unlucky as a woman named “Jonah” whistling while eating bananas on board.
Like which side you drive on, there is little material difference between “everyone passes on the right” versus “everyone passes on the left”. The is great benefit to choosing one of those vs. “everyone picks the side they want”.
I thought riding your horse on the left was done because most people are right handed. Which meant they could hold a weapon (like a sword) in their right hand to fend off an attacker if needed.
By the Rules of The Road a Starboard to Starboard passing is permitted if the ships are at a wide enough angle.
But the ship not in the right away position must signal their intent. And it is also their responsibility to be sure the ship in the right away understands their intent.
The Andrea Doria had a sloppy helmsman, and The Stockholm missed the intent of the Andrea Doria. And Bad thing did happen.
That is the story for horsemen. Wagon team drivers originally sat on the left rear horse in the team to keep their right hand free to hold a whip, so they’d keep the wagons to the right side so they could clearly see the left side of the wagon and the left wheels as they passed another wagon coming from the opposite direction to prevent collisions. The countries that drive on the wrong side of the road used the horse model for cars instead of the more appropriate wagon model.
I think it had something to do, long long ago, with weapons being carried in the right hand. That’s why the English drive on the left side of the road (traditionally)- they can draw their sword and defend themselves. Something like that.
