52 Best Boat Quotes And Sayings About Life On The Ocean

Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Dec 12, 2023 By Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Originally Published on Jan 29, 2021
Edited by Luca Demetriou
Luxurious wooden boat fast movement on dark water.
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Age: 0-99
Read time: 8.2 Min

A boat is a watercraft of varying dimensions used to navigate the seas and oceans.

Boats can be divided into three main categories; an unpowered or human-powered boat, such as a scull, which is made for a single person, a sailboat, or a motorboat. If you or your friends owns a boat, here are some great boat words to name your boat- Carpe Diem, Serendipity, Relentless, Aquaholic, and Liberty.

Boats have been used as a method of transport dating back to prehistoric times as proved by findings in Flores, which are dated to 900,000 years ago! Until the mid-19th-century, boats were made of natural materials, primarily wood.

By the 1930s, wooden boats were being used for industrial needs. And around the mid-1960s, fiberglass became the popular choice for recreational boats and cruise ships, as they don't rust or corrode easily.

The oceans and boats were meant for each other as time keeps proving again and again! "A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into" is a famous saying about people who own boats.

Sailing ever since its inception has been linked to things like the drive for adventures. For many centuries, sailors were considered bold and courageous men who were willing to risk their lives for their honor. As years passed, great men and women who fell in love with sailing gave us an endless series of adventurous and inspirational quotes.

For more related content, take a look at ocean quotes and vacation quotes.
 

Quotes About Boats

Here are some great boating quotes and boat sayings as well as boat captions for Instagram for future sailors our there!

1. "If your ship doesn't come in, swim out and meet it."

― Jonathan Winters.

2. "The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats."

Ernest Hemingway.

3. "This boat that we just built is just fine -

And don't try to tell us it's not

The sides and the back are divine -

It's the bottom I guess we forgot."

― Shel Silverstein.

4. "I grew to judge every purchase by how many bronze screws I could buy for the boat if I didn't spend on this or made do without that."

― Lin Pardey.

5. "There is no better tool or equipment you can have onboard than a well-trained crew."

― Larry Pardey.

6. "Sometimes you need to tether your boats to stop them from following your dreams."

— Anthony T. Hincks.

7. "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

― Kenneth Grahame.

8. "The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats."

― Ernest Hemingway.

9. "Even if it is made up of gold, the sailing boat can go nowhere without the humble wind!"

― Mehmet Murat Ildan.

10. "The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself."

— John Rousmaniere.

11. "Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit."

― Brooks Atkinson.

12. "If the water is calm, the boat is also calm! If your thoughts are calm, your life is also calm!"

— Mehmet Murat Ildan.

13. "The boat is safer anchored at the port, but that is not the aim of boats."

― Paulo Coelho.

14. "If you are a boat that wants to sail in windy weather, you must be more stubborn than the waves!"

― Mehmet Murat Ildan.

15. "A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into."

― Unknown*

Quotes About Sailing

Small fishing boat on the sea water in a secluded bay

Sailing is said to be like poetry in motion but on the water! Find some great sailing quotes right here.

16. "In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth."

― Rachel Carson.

17. "The only ship you can truly steer in this ocean is the one you're sailing. Quit trying to alter the winds; harness them."

― Richelle E. Goodrich.

18. "It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage."

― George William Curtis.

19. "The sooner we learn to be jointly responsible, the easier the sailing will be."

― Ella Maillart.

20. "When I'm out sailing, I don't wonder what heaven is like because I know."

― Anthony T. Hincks.

21. "Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines...sail away from safe harbor...catch the trade winds in your sails...explore...dream....discover."

― Mark Twain.

22. "To reach a port we must set sail –

Sail, not tie at anchor

Sail, not drift."

― Franklin D. Roosevelt.

23. "The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use."

― Dom Degnon.

24. "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."

― William Arthur Ward.

25. "Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination."

― Fitzhugh Dodson.

26. "To desire nothing beyond what you have is surely happiness. Aboard a boat, it is frequently possible to achieve just that. That is why sailing is a way of life, one of the finest of lives."

― Carleton Mitchell.

27. "Ship is the nearest thing to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid."

— Robert N. Rose.

28. "On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty."

— Rumi.

29. "Sail through the good days, and on bad days pick a spot of blue sky to steer toward."

― Richelle E. Goodrich.

30. "It's remarkable how quickly a good and favorable wind can sweep away the maddening frustrations of shore living."

— Ernest K. Gann.

Quotes About The Ocean

Best quotes about exploring the massive vast bodies of water that are perfect for boats and ships!

31. "The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator."

― Edmund Gibbon.

32. "We are all born in a little port but not all of us sail the vast oceans! Majority remains in the port!"

― Mehmet Murat Ildan.

33. "The ocean is this beautiful, unexplored place. Why on Earth everyone isn't down there, I don't know."

― Graham Hawkes.

34. "Without the will or desire to achieve one is like flotsam on the oceans of time."

― Steven Redhead.

35. "If you want to hear the distant voice of the ocean put your ear to the lips of a seashell."

― Curtis Tyrone Jones.

36. "You will love the ocean. It makes you feel small, but not in a bad way. Small because you realize you're part of something bigger."

― Lauren Myracle.

37. "In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence."

― Kahlil Gibran Jr.

38. "A pool just isn't the same as the ocean. It has no energy. No life."

― Linda Gerber.

39. "Whenever I find myself growing grim […] I quietly take to the ship. Almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."

Herman Melville.

Quotes About The Sea

Great quotes about the sea that will hopefully make you want to go out in the sunshine and experience the sea!

40. "There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea."

― Joseph Conrad.

41. "For I say there is no other thing that is worse than the sea is for breaking a man, even though he may be a very strong one."

― Homer.

42. "It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better."

― Francis Drake.

43. "The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too."

― Vincent Van Gogh.

44. "It's out there at sea that you are really yourself."

― Vito Dumas.

45. "Whenever your preparations for the sea are poor; the sea worms its way in and finds the problems."

― Francis Stokes.

46. "At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much."

― Robin Lee Graham.

47. "There is nothing like lying flat on your back on the deck, alone except for the helmsman aft at the wheel, silence except for the lapping of the sea against the side of the ship. At that time you can be equal to Ulysses and brother to him."

― Errol Flynn.

48. "I wanted freedom, open-air, adventure. I found it on the sea."

― Alain Gerbault.

49. "The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."

― Vincent Van Gogh.

50. "If you're really ready to sail, then the sea, the wind and the ship will be ready too! You must be ready first for the universe to help you!"

― Mehmet Murat Ildan.

51. "The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect."

― Carl Sandburg.

52. "He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea."

― Thomas Fuller.

*Do you know where this quote originated? Please email us to let us know at hello@kidadl.com

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for boat quotes then why not take a look at [sun quotes], or water quotes.

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Written by Rajnandini Roychoudhury

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

Rajnandini Roychoudhury picture

Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature. 

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