The first player rolls the die, and places his ship with that number pointing down the course. After this ship has moved the other players will start in this same way. Once all players have started, the die is not used again.
Players spend logs to move, at a rate of one open space per log.
Occupied spaces do not count, as only one boat may be on a space at any time. Boats can be jumped at no cost. Alternatively, players may move backwards and receive one log for each space moved back. A player may move back no more than 15 spaces at a time. Whenever moving, do not count spaces where another playing piece rests.