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[Cornishman]

   
      For anyone who does not know, or has not noticed, all RNLI Lifeboats have a white boathook on the port side and a blue one on the starboard side.
   
      I understand that this goes back to the days when lifeboats were rowed and to avoid the confusion of which side was port and which was starboard, the helmsman shouted "WHITE" or "BLUE" in his instructions to the rowers.


     

[jarvo]

Always something new to learn


Mark

[T33cno]

Hell that got me looking sharpish 


Thank you    I would have painted it black and only recently noticed the port is white 

[BFSMP]

   
      For anyone who does not know, or has not noticed, all RNLI Lifeboats have a white boathook on the port side and a blue one on the starboard side.
   
      I understand that this goes back to the days when lifeboats were rowed and to avoid the confusion of which side was port and which was starboard, the helmsman shouted "WHITE" or "BLUE" in his instructions to the rowers.   

thought i'd seen a picture of this somewhere.


your post just reminded me.......we can all learn from reading past threads.

[McGherkin]

I have a lovely model of a similar pulling lifeboat with the same blue and white oars. I remember being told the reason for their colour (as above) whilst a young boy.

[RST]

Bit of a useless title TBH...

I understand that this goes back to the days when lifeboats were rowed and to avoid the confusion of which side was port and which was starboard, the helmsman shouted "WHITE" or "BLUE" in his instructions to the rowers

.

...Was it not back when there was "starboard" and "larboard"?  (NO SUCH THING AS PORT).

.... In a howling gale I imagine the difference from the coxswain to the oarsmen in shouting was pretty muffled.  RNLI adopted -WHITE / BLUE instead (say it for yourself in front of a mirror -it's more lip-readble).  "Port" term was invented afterwards but the tradition of blue / white for RNLI guess stuck though -and why not.

[Cornishman]

 Thank you.
  I did not know that.