The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sternway \Stern"way`\, n. (Naut.) The movement of a ship backward, or with her stern foremost.
Wiktionary
n. (context nautical English) a backwards motion of a vessel
Usage examples of "sternway".
As soon as Sternway paused, I asked Hideo where the chops would be kept.
Instead he preferred to wait until the storm let up before stashing the chops in an anonymous storage locker, as he and Sternway had agreed.
Sternway stopped at a combination lock halfway down the row, dialed the locker open, and took out sparring gear foam hand- and foot-pads, a mouthpiece, a protective cup.
Every sail was flat aback, the brig was moving jerkily, gathering sternway for a space before her untended rudder threw her round to spill the wind and bring her up again like a jibbing horse.
Wallowing drunkenly, Huron was beginning to make sternway, as the wind pushed her backwards and the waves came tumbling aboard her.