75 of the Most Epic and Inspirational Sailing Quotes
/The most awesome collection of quotes about sailing and yachting! You don’t have to be a sailor to find inspiration from these insightful quotes from veteran sailors, authors, poets, celebrities, sports heroes, businessmen, and world travelers. With 75 Instagrammable and Pinnable images, you may even find some inspiration from some of my adventures sailing the world.
By Michelle Segrest, Navigate Sailing – How to Get Your Sea Legs
While many people think sailing is all smooth seas, sunshine, sunsets, and beautiful beaches, it’s also a lot of hard work and can be incredibly challenging. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration or some friendly reminders about why we continue to battle the seasickness and the fear and the storms to reach that personal nirvana and freedom that comes from being one with the sea.
If I included all the quotes from which I’ve found inspiration through the years, the list would stretch across all the world’s oceans. Therefore, I’m only including my 75 favorites—some of them are personal and from my own sailing adventures and experiences. I realize some of the most popular and classic inspirational sailing quotes are missing from this list, so please leave your favorites in the comments!
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Seasoned Sailors
“There is no better tool or equipment you can have on board than a well-trained crew.” —Larry Pardey
2. "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
3. "Confronting a storm is like fighting God. All the powers in the universe seem to be against you and, in an extraordinary way, your irrelevance is at the same time both humbling and exalting." ―Francis LeGrande
4. "A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind. Live passionately, even if it kills you, because something is going to kill you anyway." ―Webb Chiles
5. "If you are going to do something, do it now. Tomorrow is too late." —Pete Goss
6. "It's remarkable how quickly a good and favorable wind can sweep away the maddening frustrations of shore living.” —Ernest K. Gann
7. "A sailing vessel is alive in a way that no ship with mechanical power ever be." —Aubrey de Selincourt
8. “If you can’t repair it, maybe it shouldn’t be on board.” —Lin and Larry Pardey
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Authors and Poets
9. “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” —William Ernest Henley
10. “How inappropriate it is to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Sea.” —Arthur C. Clarke
11. “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ernest Hemingway
12. “I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it.”—Cheryl Strayed
13. "Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid." —Robert N. Rose
14. “The most challenging times bring us the most empowering lessons.”—Karen Salmansohn
15. "There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea." ―Joseph Conrad
16. "The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect." ―Carl Sandburg
17. "The sea finds out everything you did wrong." ―Francis Stokes
18. "Confronting a storm is like fighting God. All the powers in the universe seem to be against you and, in an extraordinary way, your irrelevance is at the same time both humbling and exalting." ―Francis LeGrande
19. "Sailors, with their built-in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world." —Nicholas Monsarrat
20. "No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."—Helen Keller
21. “On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.” —Rumi
22. "Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be Pirates" —Mark Twain
23. "And after two days in civilization we realized we could never stay for long and started to plan our next adventure." —Bob Bitchin (Letters from the Lost Soul)
24. “When your life is moving too fast and you find yourself in chaos, introduce yourself to each color of the sunset.” —Christy Ann Martine
25. “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” —Ernest Hemingway
26. “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” —Lewis Carroll
27. “You can. You should. And if you are brave enough to start, you will.” —Stephen King
28. "Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit." —Brooks Atkinson
29. “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” —Ayn Rand
Inspirational Sailing Adventure Blog Quotes
Sailing the Baltic Sea
Read more about the memories from my first week at sea when we set sail from Stralsund, Germany on Aug. 19, 2018 on a worldwide sailing voyage.
30. “The Baltic Sea is a bitch! But I love her.” —Michelle Segrest
31. “It’s in moments like these that you forget how soothing the sea can be, and you remember its power and force.” —Michelle Segrest
32. “We can battle the sea, or we can embrace it. Sometimes she will be sweet and sometimes mean as a snake. We must embrace the experience and trust we will get through it.”—Michelle Segrest
Sailing the Bay of Biscay
Crossing the Bay of Biscay is a rite of passage for all sailors. It was grueling, but also rewarding when we made it to the other side. Learn more about the Bay of Biscay and why it is feared among sailors.
33. “As soon as we entered the Bay of Biscay, we knew it. Things started getting uncomfortable immediately.” —Michelle Segrest
34. “There are ships much bigger and heavier than ours sitting at the bottom of The Bay of Biscay. Don’t think for a minute that wasn’t on my mind.” —Michelle Segrest
35. “Sometimes when you are sailing you have periods of heavy waves with breaks of calm smooth waters. We had zero breaks from the heavy waves. They just kept coming.” —Michelle Segrest
Sailing the North Sea
Read about how I battled and overcame fear while sailing the North Sea at night in heavy traffic and eventually began to trust my ship and embrace the night watch.
36. “Our sailing vessel protects us from the hostile sea. In return for her protection, we keep her in deep waters. We steer her away from obstacles. We show her the way home, and she takes us there—safely and securely.”—Michelle Segrest
A Whale Encounter While Sailing from Morocco to the Canary Islands
Some moments at sea make all the seasickness and hard work and challenging times totally worth it! This was one of them! Read about this spectacular eye-to-eye encounter with a whale.
37. “Our whale continued to circle us and was very curious. At one point he swam right next to Seefalke’s port side, turned onto his side and looked right at us.” —Michelle Segrest
38. “All those hours of being sick and uncomfortable were only a distant memory now and totally worth it for 40 minutes of a glorious encounter with this gentle giant of the sea.” —Michelle Segrest
Learning to Sail
You never forget your first sailing experiences. As I began learning to sail on The Baltic Sea in 2013, I began to fall in love with the art of sailing and the sea. Read about my first sailing experience and my Top 10 Tips for Beginning Sailors.
39. “In losing complete awareness of time, I felt pure freedom. I was becoming one with the sea.” —Michelle Segrest
40. “Learning to sail is a lifetime commitment and not just a one-course seminar.” —Michelle Segrest
41. “When you sail for the first time, you have one of two experiences. It becomes a one-time, bucket-list thing you check off your list, or it becomes a part of your soul forever.”—Michelle Segrest
Adjusting to Living Full-Time on a Sailboat
It took a while to get used to living full-time on a sailboat while sailing the world. Read about how to make the adjustment to a life at sea and what it’s really like to live life sideways.
42. “I noticed all the many bruises and cuts and scrapes that seem to have tattooed my limbs—battle scars of a true sailor that are telling the story of my journey.” —Michelle Segrest
43. “If you nurse every wound you get on a sailboat, you will spend all your time nursing wounds. It’s best to just blurt a four-letter word and keep going.” —Michelle Segrest
44. “When you live on a sailboat, you learn to live on at least a 20-degree tilt. You sleep on a tilt. You cook on a tilt. You pee on a tilt. You are just sideways—all the time.” —Michelle Segrest
45. “This is a grand experience, and I’m grateful every day for the opportunity to challenge myself. But I can’t pretend it’s all sailing and sunshine all the time.” —Michelle Segrest
Sailing the Spanish Atlantic Coast
Read about how we found adventure in unexpected places while discovering the best private beaches in Spain as we sailed along the Spanish Atlantic Coast.
46. “Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be dramatic or poetic, heart pounding or profound. It can be all of the above or something totally and completely unexpected.” —Michelle Segrest
47. “Perhaps you have experienced this personal nirvana that makes you continue to want and need the next special experience. I believe this is what makes your passion a part of your heart and soul and not just a hobby.”—Michelle Segrest
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Sports Heroes
48. “Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball." —Billie Jean King
49. “Set your goals high and don’t stop till you get there.”—Bo Jackson
50. “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.”—Andre Agassi
51. “Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”—Bethany Hamilton
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Celebrities and Artists
52. “You need something to open up a new door, to show you something you seen before but overlooked a hundred times or more.” —Bob Dylan
53. “Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” —Jamie Lyn Beatty
54. “You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.” —Diane von Furstenberg
55. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” —Katharine Hepburn
56. “Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.” —Bob Marley
57. "If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out and meet it." —Jonathan Winters
58. “You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” — Shonda Rhimes
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from World Travelers and Adventurers
59. “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” –Ibn Battuta
60. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” —Amelia Earhart
61. "I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea." —Alaine Gerbault, French Aviator
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Business Leaders
62. “One of the greatest discoveries a person makes, one of their great surprises, is to find they can do what they were afraid they couldn’t do.” —Henry Ford
63. “If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.”—Tony Robbins
64. “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”—Jim Rohn
65. “The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.”—Jim Rohn
66. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” —Stephen R. Covey
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Movies
67. “The big boats get the glory, but small boats make the sailor.”—From the movie “Wind”
68. "Now—bring me that horizon.” —Captain Jack Sparrow, The last line from “Pirates of the Caribbean”
69. "That's what a ship is, you know—it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs. But what a ship is, really is, is freedom." —Captain Jack Sparrow, “Pirates of the Caribbean”
70. “Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”—Captain Jack Sparrow, “Pirates of the Caribbean”
71. “Carpe diem! Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” —From the movie “Dead Poets Society”
Inspirational Sailing Quotes from Surprising and Unknown Sources
72. “There’s a big, wonderful world out there for you. It belongs to you. It’s exciting and stimulating and rewarding. Don’t cheat yourselves out of this promise.” —Nancy Reagan
73. “A bad day sailing is 100 times better than a good day at work.” —Anonymous
74. “I am not afraid. I was born to do this.” —Joan of Arc
75. “The good seaman weathers the storm he cannot avoid and avoids the storm he cannot weather.” —Unknown. This is one of my all-time favorite quotes and is my mantra while at sea. Does anyone know who originally said it?
Please leave your favorite and most inspirational sailing quotes in the comments.
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