I've always thought of Port, starting with a "P" was closest to the letter "L" for "left" and starboard - the "S" is closest to the letter "R" for "right" in the alphabet. Kinda crazy but that's how I remember. Same with bouys, going upriver, Red is on the "R" for "right" and green/black then has to be on the left. Passing port to port simply means like two cars passing each other on the highway, left side to left side. Most of the time it's a wide river, so no one need worry about it. I won't make a big effort to cross in front of another boat to pass port to port as long as its clear the boat won't change course and cause a problem for me. In tight places though, it helps to avoid collisions. It's pretty clear most boaters don't know the rules.
