Not-So-Smooth Sailing: Legendary Boating Fails Captured On Camera

By: Kate Row | Last updated: Mar 21, 2024

Many aspire to buy a boat someday, but a surprisingly large number of boat owners
have no idea what they’re doing once they step off dry land. Whether it’s a lack of
basic knowledge or just plain old poor judgment, these beautiful boaters have all
made embarrassing—and in some cases, costly—mistakes.

What’s bad for them (but good for us) is that someone managed to capture these
mistakes on film. These boat owners shouldn’t be allowed to play with boats in the
bathtub. If you’ve ever thought about owning a sea vessel of any size, remember not
to be like these folks.

All Washed Up

Landlubbers ahoy! It looks like this family was heading for a nice day on the ocean.
Although their boat looks like it’s in fine shape, the family seems less than
sea-worthy. The first rule of boating: boats go in the water. It’s possible this clam parked in a shallow area while the tide came in.

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Now they’re landlocked. It’s going to take a lot of work to shift that thing into the water without causing damage to the bottom. Those poor kids must have been bored
out of their minds—or laughing themselves silly at their parents’ mistake.

Getting Backed Up

The fact that we’re looking at the front of this sinking car leaves us to determine that this person tried to attach a line to their boat. The person in blue looks so
nonplussed over there—as if they knew exactly how this was going to go down.

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That’s one heck of a way to spend your kids’ college savings, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately, hairdryers and buffering won’t do much to get all that saltwater out of the leather seats. We hope everyone made it out of the car safe and sound.

Speed Master

This speedboat enthusiast seems to have found the only obstacle in the water to
smash his craft into. We can’t help but wonder what happened one second after this
photo was taken. Hopefully, he managed to veer away in time—or at least before he
crumpled the bow.

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Even if he managed to steer away, he probably caused serious damage to the boat
and himself. Luckily, he’s wearing a life jacket. So what exactly was this guy trying to accomplish? Given that someone took his photo, he was probably trying to show off.

All Terrain

We love the idea of all-terrain vehicles, but we suspect this campervan wasn’t built
with this kind of terrain in mind. It looks like it’s still above the surface, but sinking below water isn’t where we’d like to wake up on a camping trip.

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As well as having lost their lodgings, it seems these would-be “boaters” also lost their means of transportation (unless they’re willing to slowly drift along the water until the waves swallow their sunken campervan).

Hanging Out On The Sea

This can happen to the best of us. While climbing off the boat, your speedo gets
snagged on a rough corner of the ship. This guy must have been in a lot of pain if the speedo didn’t snap off. If it did, he must have been pretty embarrassed.

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The look on his face and how he’s hanging his arms says it all. It’s a look of knowing defeat. It’s surprising how much the speedo is able to stretch. We hope this guy didn’t get hurt too badly. It certainly makes for a memorable moment.

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Catch Of The Day

Ah, the open sea—the sea breeze, the sky, and freedom as far as the horizon.
Fishing is a great activity while you’re out there, but sometimes, as these guys might attest—you’re going to need a bigger boat.

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It looks like they’ve hooked a great prize—it’s just a shame that it’s going to cost
them their boat, by the looks of things. A jet ski isn’t the best vessel for hauling a catch that size. This maritime mishap might be enough to make even landlubbers
blubber.

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Froth Ahead

These poor boaters seem to have caught a wave—it’s just unfortunate their boat isn’t
a surfboard. The surge appears to have overwhelmed their little ship. We just hope
that the water didn’t flip them over or sink them!

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It’s a good reminder to wear a lifejacket on a boat, as these two seem to have
forgotten. You can always get washed overboard if the sea turns nasty! If it isn’t
wrath, it’s froth. Behold the ocean’s mighty spray of foam!

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Leap Of Faith

The thing about taking a leap of faith—whether that be a life-changing decision or a
jump into the sea—is that you can always fall instead of meeting the other side. This unfortunate young woman seems to have tripped on her way up.

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This group shot of friends jumping in the air out of a boat has been ruined (or you
might say improved) by her face-first fall into the water. It’s a good reminder that we all fail sometimes and that it’s okay to laugh when we do.

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Land To Sea Transportation

Either this guy spent all his month on a nice car and a fancy jet ski, or he’s too lazy to read up on boat trailer laws and regulations. Nevertheless, it’s almost impressive how the car seems to be handling the weight.

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Checking the wing mirror might be a little tricky, though. This image is emblematic of a person who always looks forward in life, never backward. This motorist must be
pretty strong, too, considering the size of the jet ski.

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Reaching Across

Just look at that guy smiling as his friend struggles to stride across with that box! Okay, it is pretty funny. Still, not jumping up and lending a hand is a mean thing to do. That box looks like it’s packed with gear, refreshments, or bait.

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In two seconds, that box is going to turn into sunken treasure at the bottom of the
ocean—unless this guy can perform a standing front flip. Somehow, we doubt that’s
going to happen. We just hope that he can swim!

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Messed Up The Parking

First, it’s “docking,” not “parking.” Secondly, the boat needs to stay on the water, not the roof. How or why this boat is now jammed into the ceiling of this restaurant is beyond us. It probably had something to do with a thrill seeker with a little too much confidence.

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This looks like something straight out of an action movie. We imagine that the
follow-up wouldn’t have been so thrilling and most likely involved a few days in court followed by a few more in the cooler.

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Totally Screwed

We can imagine what this guy thought before he put 12 angry, boat-sinking holes in
his pride and joy: “It sure would be nice to have a futon/sunbed/jacuzzi onboard
while we’re out at sea!” Unfortunately, it appears that he got a little zealous with the idea.

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If it were up to us, we probably wouldn’t take it out on the water with all this damage,but maybe he’s managed to patch it up on top. This does seem like a good way to repel sharks—or underwater thieves.

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Doing All The Heavy Lifting

When they say that pick-up trucks can haul anything, they really aren’t kidding! This is one innovative way to carry a boat to the water, although we can’t help but wonder how sturdily it’s attached to the roof. It looks like it’s one breeze away from calamity.

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At least this guy has something of a trailer on the back to distribute some of the
weight. He could have just strapped it to his truck and called it a day. Well, he
managed to get it up there, but how on earth does he expect to get it down to the
water?

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Putting The Horse Before The Cart

Someone should have laid down the basics for this guy before he drove his truck
down the ramp. The boat goes in the water—not the truck. Truck, dry. Boat, wet. In
times like these, we wonder how they even managed to save up and buy the boat in
the first place.

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Well, you live, and you learn. Sometimes you have to drive your land-based vehicle
into the sea before realizing that cars don’t work too well in the water, unlike the boat you just brought with you. Someone should probably tell him to take the boat off the trailer before floating it on the sea, just for good measure.

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Extra Vigilance, No?

Just like motorists know to exercise more caution on the roads while driving at night or in dark environments, we assumed it was a no-brainer for seamen too. But this image shows us how wrong we were in our assumptions.

Source: Marine Parts Source/ Twitter

Whether this person had no idea what “extra vigilance” means or he simply decided to throw caution to the wind, this is one of the most annoying boat fails we’ve ever seen.

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Positive Vibes Only

You’re probably familiar with the “Keep Calm and Carry On” labels we see now and again on posters, internet memes, clothing, etc. If ever there were human representations of that motivational quote, it would be these ladies.

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Source: Psyne/Twitter

Many of us would know to look for ways to save our lives if we were stuck in the middle of the sea on a sinking cruise boat. But not these ones who see every emergency as an opportunity to pose for the camera.

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Life Happens

This boat fail was never meant to happen as the owner did absolutely nothing wrong. So, this is our reminder that sometimes things could still go wrong even if we did all we could. It’s life; we shouldn’t beat ourselves up for it.

Source: Marine Parts Source/ Twitter

Nothing to see here, except an owner watching helplessly as a freighter crashes into his fishing boat after it loses control.

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It's Got To Be Photoshop

Although the poster made it clear that this is no photoshop, we couldn’t find any logical explanation for this other than it has to be. Well, except that there was a very terrible tidal surge that left it that way.

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Source: Kev Beatie/Facebook

So, we did a little digging and discovered that the boat collided with an underwater reef which left it trapped on the rock top and 10 feet in the air. Oops!

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What the…?

This is one “what on earth is happening here?” moment that we never thought we’d see. In order to make any sense out of this, we’d like to get into the operator’s mind to find out how it works.

Source: thesaltstrong/Instagram

Were they trying to dry the boat out or did they think that was just a good way to park it? Well, maybe whatever the plan was worked at anyway as it didn’t sink at least.

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