On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:47:20 -0400, Gene Kearns
wrote:

Puleeeze..... attend a USPS school or the like. The above information
is correct, but incomplete. This can get horribly confusing when
navigating from a primary channel into a secondary channel or vice
versa.

Don't venture out without a chart.

Excellent advice.

That said, here's a few memory aids:

"Port wine red" - the red nav light is on the port (left) side.

"Red right returning and left leaving" - channel buoys (normally when
entering a harbor)

"Red light stop" - the boat you are observing has the right of way
because it is approaching from your starboard (right) side.

To a beginner the use of port and starboard terminology may seem like
an unnecessary complexity but it is not. The port side of the boat is
always the same regardless of which way you are facing at the time.
For example, if you say the "left side" that is ambiguous to someone
who is facing backwards, and you are facing forwards.