With his departure star astern and his destination star ahead, he could keep to his course.

ECONOMIST: Mau Piailug

For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Moby-Dick'

The glossy black fin and back of a minke whale rose a hundred yards astern, two yellow-striped dolphins broke water and plunged down again, and then the flow of the turned tide could be seen as a chop on the water, small standing waves that indicated the Minch was reversing its direction.

WSJ: The Low-Tech, High-Stakes Way to Sail Scotland