Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for February 14, 2020

Next time, just say right or left.

you’re on a sled, C&H, not a boat

This is me and my brother all the time.

They’ve crashed a number of times and NOW they’re just figuring it out?

What do you mean, “for once in my life,” Calvin?

Not sure, but Port side may have come about from the way ships docked at ports? On aircraft (& maybe boats also) the right wing starboard side, has a green navigation light. The tail has a white light, & the left port side wing has a red light. You can always tell at night by using this standard system which way an aircraft is going.

I’m going to venture an educated guess that they would’ve ended up like that no matter which direction they turned.

Right, red, returning.

For once? Props to your self confidence, kiddo, but you need to do something about your reality checks.

Should have turned left at Albuquerque.

Probably a very silly question… but how does one steer a sledge?

Apparently, Alvin has been wrong so often he can’t count that high and has had to start over—-again!

Starboard, right, and green all have more letters than port, left, and red.

It is hard to remember all that port and starboard stuff if you are new to it and you are 2 seconds from impact.

I bet Captain Picard would never make that mistake.

For a tiger, Hobbes is pretty good at navigating.

once?

That’s why they can’t serve you port wine when you are on the right side of the ship (or aircraft).

At six years getting one thing right qualifies.

That’s if you’re facing the bow.

So I’ve got my grog on the wrong side?

It’s not like Calvin has the concept of “right” and “left” down pat quite yet… ;D

Worse! In the 1700’s it was Starboard and Larboard. Bet THAT caused some confusion.

with sleds it should be GEE and HAW!

This strip always brought back memories of an old game we once played in elementary school gym class.

These days, they would not have had to come in – just google it from their Iphone

I never knew Hobbes was in the Navy.

I always remember it because of “Is there any port left?” Also, port is red, and red indicates the left side of the ship. Mnemonic devices, got to love them.

Also, never ignore the sled engineering section when they tell you the dilithium crystals can’t take anymore…

It’s a little more modern to say “Right rudder” but still – when you’re right, you’re right, so score to Hobbes

You dock the ship on the Port side because the Starboard side literally had a board used to navigate with the stars; it would interfere with docking.

the easiest way to remember is that “port” and “left” are both 4 letter words

On many large ocean-going ships I have been on, there is a huge sign just above the forward row of windows above the helm that says <- PORT STARBOARD →Just remember, Port and Left each have only 4 letters.

Just remember that Port and Left both have only four letters, so Starboard has to be Right. When moving around on a Ship, it’s to go Fore or Aft, for foreward and after. Bow and Stern, I don’t know where or how they originated. :-)

Only at sea or in the air, I believe.

Calvin doesn’t like to be wrong. He also doesn’t like it to be pointed out.

Dad was a Merchant Marine in WWII, and he told me that he remembered which way was what by how many syllables the word had.. left/port-1 syllable, right/starboard-2 syllables.

I love the way Calvin and Hobbes walk in the second and fourth panels. I picture it could be in a stilted pose-to-pose march if it were animated.

In Army basic training I recall the phrase, “No, your MILITARY left, dumbass!”

Calvin would not have made a good Captain Kirk!

I just like it that they looked it up in a BOOK.

Thanks for the education. It’s never too late to learn something. When I navigated over in Nam waters, IALA was not in existence, from what I read about the IALA on wikipedia. Again, thanks for the opportunity to learn.

I can relate to Calvin. I was wrong, myself, once. It was the time I thought I had made a mistake.

A sled is not a boat. It has no “starboard”, therefore it has no “port”.