Wild Boat Fails That Are Ridiculous

Published

5 years ago

April 1, 2020

Money + Investing Staff

Boating may seem like the ultimate relaxing pastime, but when things go wrong, they really get bad fast. Even if fishing or docking your boat seems easy and leisurely, think again. Mistakes are incredibly costly!

Whether or not these people thought things through, they paid the price. If it’s a speedboat or a kayak, as the captain, you have to go down with the ship. Here’s a bunch of the most ridiculous boating fails that didn’t end so well.

Airborne Ejection

The most terrifying thing about racing speed boats is that they get airborne way too easily. Luckily, this guy was able to eject before taking a more brutal crash landing.

Beached

Whoever was driving this boat brought a whole new meaning to the term “beached”, because not only did this person literally drive on land, but they also left it there long enough to let the tide have its way with it.

Wake-Zone Runaway

Not only did this guy lose control of his boat, but he did so in the worst place imaginable. Not only does he eventually fall out, but the boat inevitably crashes into the concrete pillars as well.

Abandon Ship

When these men saw the size of the wave oncoming before they could reach land, only one of them was smart enough to try and just towards and over the wave so he wasn’t barrelled like the others.

Bye Dad

Even though this was a simple pedal boat, this father took on a bit too much water and found out that when that happens, boats no longer float. He went down in a heap, leaving his family scrambling.

Over Before It Started

Unfortunately, even before this mom and son team were pushed into the river, the boat was tipped over, sending them both sprawling into the shallow banks. At least they didn’t have to swim far to get out…

Dunked Kayak

Prior to this shot, this guy had some kids push his kayak in off the dock. Now, with him being an adult and all, it (predictably) nosedived immediately, causing him to take on water, flip, and of course, start sinking.

Ship Drop Disaster

If you’ve seen this popular GIF, you know only tragedy takes place after this moment. As this large cargo liner was being placed back in the water, the cables snapped and sent the boat crashing laterally, doing hundreds of thousands in damage.

No, The Other Boat

Hard to know what this guy was thinking, but most of us know you’re supposed to back the boat in, because, you know, cars don’t usually float. Going to be tough to explain this one to the wife.

Not The Actual Dock…

When people say a ship is “docking,” this isn’t quite what they have in mind. It’s tough to imagine how someone screwed up this bad, but safe to say they lost their job over this one.

Speedboat Backflip

Catch the wrong part of a small wake when you’re going to be up, up and away with the birds. Occasionally these guys have the composure to eject safely, but sometimes you’re forced to ride it out and brace for impact.

Parking Pad

Clearly this boater wasn’t paying attention, or was distracted for some reason because he had to be hauling to get all the way on the roof of this house boat. Good things the authorities showed up to asses the damage.

On The Rocks

While it’s hard to believe anyone would take their expensive speedboat and floor it towards some giant rocks, sometimes people lose control of the throttle. This guy on a jet ski seems to be inquiring the extent of the damages, but hopefully someone comes back for it.

Beer To The Bottom

This guy made his attempt to exit his boat a little too quickly, and while he may have gotten a foot to the dock, you can imagine what happened next. That’s right – cooler straight to the bottom. Patience is a virtue.

Hung Out to Dry

Oof, as if getting your trunks caught on something isn’t enough of an embarrassing struggle, imagine this happening to you in a speedo in front of all of your friends or family. This guy’s going to be stuck there in pain until one of his peers help him, but they might be laughing too hard to get over there as quickly as he’d like.

Do A Barrel Roll

Onlookers may feel an extra thrill when witnessing these speedboat flips, but trust us, it’s no fun for the driver whatsoever. Remarkably, this one did not one, but two total flips before nosediving right into the bay.

Surf’s Up

This little surf boat is supposed to be pulling riders out to the big waves, but it seems to have either gone a little too close, or too far depending on how you look at it. Unfortunately the boat, all the passengers and boards went tumbling over, which surely cost them some expensive equipment.

Banana Launch

If you’ve ever been towed on a float by a boat, you know that catching the wrong wake is cause for you to hold on for dear life. It’s hard enough to stay on already, but on the banana that’s just asking to ramp off the surf? Forget about it.

Head-On Collision

This poor guy had a lot of space around for him to miss this particular pole, but if you’ve seen this viral video, you know it doesn’t end well. This nose-first collision surely ended in some major injuries, and undoubtedly took the life of the boat.

Water Wedgie

Few things could be more embarrassing than giving yourself a wedgie on your own boat, all while you can’t even climb back up and unhook yourself. Sadly for this man, he was etched in history by an onlooking patron.

Eager Fisherman

Sometimes people are in a rush to be the first to the boat ramps, but you probably want to know your marina so you don’t flip your car right off the dock and into the water. Surely the rush wasn’t worth the cost.

Down With the Ship

It looks like these ladies were either a part of something very bad they had nothing to do with, or did something so unforgivable they can’t help but laugh. Either way, this is not a good situation, and let’s hope at least all the essentials were spared.

Heck Of A Catch

Deep sea fishing already takes a more experienced angler, but you never can really anticipate how strong a potential catch may be. Clearly for this guy, the fish got the best of him, and hopefully he didn’t get dragged too far before returning to his boat.

Big Air

This is definitely something you don’t see every day. Not only is catching air off of some sand ill-advised, it looks like these guys do it on purpose, and often. Just the sheer expression on his face says it all – they’re in it for the thrill.

Mazda Boat

If you told us Mazda makes a boat, we’d be confused, unless you were showing us this picture as a joke. This guy obviously got in over his head, as he was forced to climb out of his sunroof while he awaited help.

Yahtzee

The only thing worse than wrecking your boat has to be totaling your yacht in extreme fashion. Besides the fact that this boat barrel rolled at high speeds, this crash was captured with some truly precise timing.

Freightening

Well, maybe losing this much cargo along with the ship is worse than destroying your yacht. Clearly someone is at fault for either stacking the crates wrong, or possibly not distributing weight properly. We can assume the cost and damages were catastrophic.

Motor Boat?

Props to this innovative gentleman, who clearly is enjoying his time out on the water in his makeshift craft. It seems he didn’t want to ditch his old bike, so he did what any responsible owner would do – turn it into a boat.

Dock Or Hangar?

Talk about coming in too hot… This guy totally overshot this dock and rode right up to the pontoon that was nested away in the boat house. The fact that he went through the roof is even more impressive.

Sunk Overnight

This small fishing boat was just there yesterday, we swear! Well, it sunk to the bottom of the marina now, and the owner is not going to be happy that a slow leak turned out to be a killer.

No Worries

This was a great name for a boat until it definitely wasn’t. You’d think to name a boat something so free-spirited you’d be one to avoid danger, but whatever happened here is truly a bummer.

Kayak Fiend

Sometimes all it takes is a bunch of rain and some minor street flooding for kayak fanatics to go ripping down the road. This guy only needed a few inches to justify it, and he’s clearly living his best life.

Bad Strategy

The thing about kayaks though, is that you’re supposed to put them in the water first. Because if you try and do this, you’re going to nose dive and not have a fun time. Seems like common sense, but here we are…

Too Much Weight

A lot of people don’t realize how important weight distribution on a boat is, and when you put all your coolers and people on the same side, bad things are going to happen. This boat unfortunately tipped before it even got out.

Electrical Fire

The thing about all of the electronics in boating nowadays is that they open the potential for electrical fires, especially when it’s something that’s wired where you can’t see it. That’s what happened to this poor fellow, who’s going to need some good insurance.

Monitor Water Levels

It’s cool to live on the river and all, but if you don’t watch for the threat of potential rises in water levels, your precious boat might not have anywhere to go. This boat got lifted onto land, then was pulled back under water as it submerged.

Too Much Sandbar

Many people enjoy pulling up to the sandbar when it’s high tide, as it’s usually a great place for fishing action. But if you don’t watch the tide tables, you’re going to get stuck there, much like this guy did.

Could Be Worse

Despite his boat taking on water, this cheery gentlemen still took the time for an apparently cheesy photo-op. Goes to show you that even amidst the most unfortunate circumstances, you can still be thankful for the memories.

Roadworthy

Apparently this guy forgot he was on his boat and not in his car, because it looks like he was attempting to navigate from the water to the road, which clearly didn’t end well.

Come On In

The biggest problems with restaurant that offer dock-side parking is that when one person doesn’t know how to operate the boat, bad things happen for everyone. No hope in reconciling this one, you ruined people’s lunch!

Carried Away

It’s really a wonder how boaters end up so close to these barrier islands, but you’d have to think the closer you get, the more you want to slow down. But not in this case, where the captain clearly sent it all the way up on a rock.

Front-Row Paking

Again, what is it with people being unable to smash into large rock formations? Even if this was a legitimate attempt to park on a private island, you’re probably doing thousands of dollars in damages just by being lazy.

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