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Nautical Quotes

Browse 131 quotes about Nautical.

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Nautical Quotes

“Ebb and Flow by Stewart Stafford Happiness, briefest harbour in a squall; Tempests funnel us to splintered docks, High-seas missions to a last port of call, Fading feast taste of a haven of stasis. Weather springs with raging misprision, All things far beyond fingertip calculation, If we go off course with Fool's Gold vision, The reefs of avarice shall starkly claim us. We set sail or are torn from fragile sanctuary, All these stays, noted in the strangers' ledger, The Fate Morgana's captain - marine actuary, Virtual kin crew with fish and fowl companions. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

FateExistentialismMortalityImpermanenceNauticalDark PoetryGothic PoetryMaritime StoriesSea PoetryOcean Poetry
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“I should say we’d reach England by Tuesday or thereabouts, with a decent wind behind us. It would be a lot quicker than that if we could just sail straight there, but I was looking at the nautical charts, and there’s a dirty great sea serpent right in the middle of the ocean! It has a horrible gaping maw and one of those scaly tails that looks like it could snap a boat clean in two. So I thought it best to sail around that.’ FitzRoy frowned. ‘I think they just draw those on maps to add a bit of decoration. It doesn’t actually mean there’s a sea serpent there.’ The galley went rather quiet. A few of the pirate crew stared intently out of the portholes, embarrassed at their Captain’s mistake. But to everyone’s relief, instead of running somebody through, the Pirate Captain just narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. That explains a lot,’ he said. ‘I suppose it’s also why we’ve never glimpsed that giant compass in the corner of the Atlantic. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.”

HumourNautical
Book:The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists
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“In a French accent developed through a lifetime of using English I said, 'Hello sir, I would like to row the English Channel in a bath please.' What actually arrived in the ear of the French Navy man was, 'Hello sire, I would like to fight a condom across a bath if you please.”

HumourMisunderstandingNavyTranslationNauticalMiscommunicationThe French
Book:In the Bath: Conquering the Channel in a Piece of Plumbing
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“Shandy looked ahead. Blackbeard, apparently willing to get the explanation later, had picked up his oars and was rowing again. 'May I presume to suggest,' yelled Shandy giddily to Davies, 'that we preoceed the hell out of here with all due haste.' Davies pushed a stray lock of hair back from his forehead and sat down on the rower's thwart. 'My dear fellow consider it done.”

FantasyMagicSeaYouthOceanEscapePirateNauticalShipCaptain
Book:On Stranger Tides
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“I phoned the Admiral back. 'It's no use, Admiral, the French speak nothing but French.' There was a short pause on the end of the line then his voice rattled into life like a sabre. 'They're lying, Tim!' 'What?' 'The French Navy must by law speak English, as English is the international maritime language of the sea.' 'Has anyone told the French that?' The line went dead for a moment before he thundered, 'Yes Nelson. At the battle of Trafalgar.' I tried to stifle an irresistibly British giggle not knowing if the Admiral was making a joke or not. I got it right. He was serious.”

LanguageHumourCommunicationNavyNauticalMaritimeThe FrenchFrench Navy
Book:In the Bath: Conquering the Channel in a Piece of Plumbing
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“The ship is arranged with the greatest nicety; her decks are as white as snow - her hammocks are stowed with care - her ropes are taught - her yards square - her guns run out - and a guard of marines, under the orders of a lieutenant, prepared to receive every member of the court with the honour due to his rank... The great cabin is prepared, with a long table covered with a green cloth. Pens, ink, paper, prayer-books, and the Articles of War are laid round to every member.”

SailingNauticalShipwreckWager
Book:The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
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“The monster under my bed is pitchpoling. See, when you’re in heavy seas you always face the bow forward. Steer into the waves. Seems to break the laws of nature but most times it works. You're gonna live to see another day. If your vessel gets turned sideways though, you get stuck in the trough and in heavy seas you can capsize. I don’t even worry about that so much. I can control that- I just steer the boat into the oncoming waves. Problem solved. Until it’s not.”

FearsNauticalOcean QuotesShip QuotesBoating
Book:Motion of Intervals
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“In the evenings the boat spun on its anchor and mist fell to its knees, raining directly into seawater. Trees grew on red buoys, bald eagles lifted out of dark trunks like white-steepled chapels, a raven ate a crab in the boat's crow's nest, and schools of herring, who sometimes migrate in rolled-up balls five or six inches thick, broad-jumped the incoming tide.”

NatureTidesNautical
Book:A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck By Lightning
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“As madcap whitecaps hammered at the hulls, the bowsprits breasting saw-toothed waves now high and mighty, now abject, the Sun looked down and watched the boats—so bantam, meek, and of no consequence—become engulfed by stormclouds smothering the sallow sea. A norther hurled its curses at the fleet as in return garboards and sheerstrakes groaned amidst the helter-skelter of loud shouts. With drenched and veiny arms the tillers clenched the quarter rudders, trying to prevent the roaring ocean, frothing at the mouth, from swallowing the ships they’d sworn to guide while thinking: Who, in the last instance, can withstand its infinite, digestive force? Anon this beast became a lesser cause for fear, supplanted by the high-pitched shrieks of something neither man nor animal that lurked beyond them in the ebon drear, its contour barely visible by turns when intermittent bolts transpierced the sky. (Canaäd, XV 271-91)”

PoetryNauticalLeviathanEpic PoetryMediterranean Sea
Author:D.A. Wood
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“The humblest craft that floats makes its appeal to a seaman by the faithfulness of her life.”

CraftsAppealsSailingFloatsFaithfulnessNauticalSeamen
Book:The Napoleonic Novels: The Rover & Suspense: From the Renowned Author of The Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes (Including Author’s Memoirs, Letters & Critical Essays)
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“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

WorldSometimesMotivationalMovingLyingHeavenThis WorldWindGreat ThingsShipsSailSailingAnchorsPortHolmesNauticalYachtSailing And The SeaSailing ShipsShips At SeaSailboatSailors And The SeaCruise ShipsSailing And WindSailing And Love
Author:Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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“A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.”

LifeInspirationalMotivationalActionPastSuccessChangeInspiringCourageMilitaryAdventureConfidenceSafeTravelBuiltShipsTime TravelSailTraveledSailingFunny TravelNot Giving UpSailorInsperationalPortComputer ProgrammingComputer ScienceProgramming LanguagesRisk-takingGreat TravelInspiring TravelComputer LanguageTravel AdventureAdventure And TravelWise WomenNauticalGreat RiskInspirational AdventureSailing And The SeaLife AdventureAdventure And LifeSailing ShipsInspirational Adventure TimeShips At SeaSea LifeSailboatMaritimeSailors And The SeaAdventurous LifeFunny AdventureCruise ShipsSafe HarborGreatest AdventureSailing And LoveExploration And Adventure
Author:Grace Hopper
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“I've been reading and researching various aspects of history - Dickens' London, Nelson's sea battles, Magellan's nautical explorations, the weapons and battles and key figures of the American Civil War - for most of my life. I pick up a book here or there or see a documentary or talk with an expert in the subject, and my curiosity about the one area of study and discovery always leads to another.”

BookWarReadingStudySeaSubjectsFiguresKeysBattleWeaponsPicksDiscoveryAreasAspectCuriosityVariousLondonExpertsCivil WarExplorationDocumentariesAmerican Civil WarNelsonDickensNauticalMagellan
Author:Gary Paulsen
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“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

LifeInspirationalMotivationalWomenAbilityInspiringEducationPositivePositive ThinkingWindDirectInspirational AttitudeCancerPositivityPositive AttitudeSailGraduationSailingInsperationalLoving LifeAdaptabilityMy AttitudePower Of Positive ThinkingAdjustingWise WomenPositive Thinking And AttitudeNauticalBest AttitudeKeep A Positive AttitudePositive Thinking AttitudeGreat AttitudeLife AttitudeUpbeatGreat Positive AttitudeInspirational GraduationCancer PatientsShort Positive AttitudeWhite CollarInspirational Positive AttitudeEncouraging BasketballPositive Thinking InspirationalCancer CourageAdapting To ChangeSailing And WindHappy MondayCreating Your Life
Author:Dolly Parton
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