50+ Breathtaking Sailing Quotes and Captions

There are few things as great and wonderous as a trip at sea. Breathing in the sea air, hearing the sound of waves crashing against the boat, and the pull of the wind have few comparisons to describe just how astonishing it feels. The only real way to understand many of these sailing quotes or sonnets written at sea is to experience the open water for yourself!

If you are an experienced sailor looking to caption your trip out at sea, or even if you aren’t a sailor and just want a nice caption for your sea photo, then we got you! The following is a list of the best sailing quotes and captions from around the internet for your Instagram pics! While they were gathered with the intent of using for a social media post, that doesn’t mean they aren’t perfect for any other scenario.

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Sailing Quotes for Instagram

Whether you’re here to find a sailing quote to caption an Instagram pic or just searching for some sailing inspiration, these are some of the best quotes about sailing from around the internet! Let me know if you have some that aren’t on this list that should be added!

• “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” —Lewis Carroll
• “You can. You should. And if you are brave enough to start, you will.” —Stephen King
• “The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats.” – Ernest Hemingway
• “You haven’t lived until you’ve sailed.” – David Sedaris, Theft by Finding: Diaries
• “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
• “To young men contemplating a voyage, I would say GO.” – Joshua Slocum
• “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
• “Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit.” —Brooks Atkinson
• “The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen
• “There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” – Joseph Conrad
• “It’s remarkable how quickly a good and favorable wind can sweep away the maddening frustrations of shore living.” – Ernest K. Gann
• “Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be Pirates.” – Mark Twain
• “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” —William Ernest Henley
• “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ernest Hemingway
• “Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time.” – Joseph Conrad
• “A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd
• “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
• “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Inspirational Sailing Quotes

Sailing is one of the most thrilling and inspirational activities!  If you want to describe your adventure with some inspirational posts then these sailing quotes are the ones for you!

• “A bad day sailing is 100 times better than a good day at work.” – Anonymous
• “How inappropriate it is to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Sea.” – Arthur C. Clarke
• “To be successful at sea we must keep things simple.” – Pete Culler
• “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.” – Andre Gide.
• “To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
• “The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” – Joshua Slocum
• “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
• “No literature is richer than that of the sea. No story is more enthralling, no tradition is more secure.” – Felix Riesenberg
• “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
• “On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.” – Rumi
• “They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; these men see the works of the Lord; and His wonders in the deep.” – Book of Common Prayer
• “Sometimes there is no time for the sea to calm down! If you have to reach your target, let your voyage start and let the storm be your path!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan.
• “Calm sailing doesn’t come from calm waters, it comes from having a good navigator; a good crew and a good vessel.” – Anthony T. Hincks.
• “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
• “In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” – Rachel Carson.
• “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
• “Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal, and not the storm of life.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Funny Sailing Quotes

There are serious moments in life, but that doesn’t mean every moment should be serious. If you’re looking for a little sailing humor, then these are the best funny sailing quotes around!

• “Only two sailors, in my experience, never ran aground. One never left port and the other was an atrocious liar.” – Don Bamford
• “Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk.” – Sir Francis Chichester
• “Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations.” – Unknown
• “The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “I had to choose between her and the boat, she said. Any sailor will know it is a lot more difficult to get a new boat than a new wife, so I bought her a one-way ticket back to Norway.” – Peter Tangvald
• “Out of sight of land, the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.” – Charles Davis

Short Sailing Quotes

Some messages are more powerful because of their brevity. If you’re looking for a short saying about sailing, then these short sailing quotes are perfect! Feel free to copy and paste any of them!

• “A man is never lost at sea.” – Ernest Hemingway
• “Now…bring me that horizon.” – Captain Jack Sparrow
• “The sea hates a coward.” – Eugene O’Neill
• “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “I wanted freedom, open air, and adventure. I found it on the sea.” – Alaine Gerbault
• “Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.” – Van Morrison
• “The sea finds out everything you did wrong.” – Francis Stokes
• “Home is where the anchor drops.” – Unknown
• “Who is staring at the sea is already sailing a little.” – Paul Carvel
• “To be successful at sea, we must keep things simple.” – Pete Culler
• “Go small, go simple, go now.” – Larry Pardey
• “Every time I slip into the ocean, it’s like going home.” – Sylvia Earle

Adventurous Sailing Quotes

The act of sailing itself is adventurous. Why not describe that adventure with one of these adventurous sailing quotes!

• “The art of the sailor is to leave nothing to chance.” – Annie Van De Wiele
• “The most challenging times bring us the most empowering lessons.”—Karen Salmansohn
• “There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” ―Joseph Conrad
• “The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.” ―Carl Sandburg
• “A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind.” – Webb Chiles
• “I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.” – Alaine Gerbault
• “He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea.” – Dr Thomas Fuller
• “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
• “The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator.” – Edmund Gibbon
• “It’s in moments like these that you forget how soothing the sea can be, and you remember its power and force.” —Michelle Segrest
• “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” – Seneca
• “One’s destination is never a place, but always a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Best Sailing Quotes About Life

Sailing has many lessons that are analogous to living life. Since there are so many great things to learn from sailing, we collected some sailing quotes that mention these lessons. 

• “On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.” – Rumi.
• “Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
• “You haven’t lived until you’ve sailed.” – David Sedaris
• “It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.” – George William Curtis
• “When I’m out sailing, I don’t wonder what heaven is like because I know.” – Anthony T. Hincks
• “On life’s vast ocean diversely we sail. Reasons the card, but passion the gale.” – Alexander Pope
• “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
• “Sail through the good days, and on bad days pick a spot of blue sky to steer toward.” – Richelle E. Goodrich
• “To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
• “Have an anchor so that life doesn’t toss you around.” – Debby Ryan.
• “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd
• “Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.” – Augustus Hare
• “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” – Fitzhugh Dodson
• “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
• “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” – Willa Cather
• “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward.
• “It is not that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better.” – Sir Francis Drake
• “The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” – Joshua Slocum
• “At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.” – Robin Lee Graham

Sailing Boat Quotes

• “The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself.” – John Rousmaniere
• “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
• “The big boats get the glory, but small boats make the sailor.” – From the movie “Wind”
• “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
• “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

Quotes For Sailors

• “It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears.” – John F. Kennedy.
• “I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
• “We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.” – Aristotle Onassis.
• “The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective.” – Henry David Thoreau
• “On life’s vast ocean, diversely we sail. Reasons the card, but passion the gale.” – Alexander Pope
• “Work like a captain and play like a pirate” – Unknown
• “The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use.” – Dom Degnon
• “Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” – Christy Ann Martine
• “The sea is a desert of waves, a wilderness of water.” – Langston Hughes

More Quotes and Captions for Instagram

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