I'm with you brother, in the day you couldn't drive two mules without knowing "Gee" and "Haw." I did learn port and starboard though when I joined the Navy and was assigned to an aircraft carrier. I remember the first man overboard drill. I was awaken at 2am with someone yelling over the 1MC, "THIS IS A DRILL, THIS IS A DRILL, MAN OVERBOARD, ALL HANDS TO MUSTER, UP AND FORWARD TO STARBOARD, DOWN AND AFT TO PORT." I remember thinking, what the emoBadLanguage does that mean. After being trampled on for what seemed like forever, I learned exactly what it meant. Port = left, starboard = right.
As far as being safe on the water, I just tell myself that "stupid" may be out here today and I can't fix "stupid." Then I get humbled by remembering when "stupid" was driving my boat a few times. We all make mistakes. The key is to look out for each other.
