Sailing Stories From Around The World 2025
Our top picks of sailing stories from around the world are varied. Sometimes the next best thing to being on a sailboat is reading about other people’s adventures in them, and the stories you can find are just about as diverse as it gets.
Before we set off to create our very own sailing adventure, we spent hours scouring people’s sailing stories on the internet, reading books and watching true story films.
Sometimes we were feeling brave and in the mood for something terrifying, other times we loved just daydreaming about beautiful places and faraway lands. We’ve made a list of our top sailing stories so that when you’re done with reading ours you still have something to entertain you!
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Different Kinds Of Sailing Stories
Sailing stories have been told since the moment man created sailing boats. People would gather round the fire to listen to fisherman’s tales of sea monsters, or adventurers tell of foreign lands.
Luckily for us, we no longer have to seek out a drunk old man with a large bushy beard in an ale house to hear stories of the sea and all its terrifying wonder.
Sailing stories now come in many different forms – books, audiobooks, blogs, podcasts, videos and films. There really is something for everyone!
We’ve split up our list into fiction and non-fiction stories, and organised them by type to make it easy for you to find just the thing you’re looking for! Hopefully one of them will inspire you to try out sailing for yourself, or start a life of adventure on the sea!
Non-Fiction Sailing Stories
First up we have our top real-life sailing stories! Â
Books
Reading a good book is one of the most pleasurable things in life. Especially when you live on a sailboat with limited power and data. I LOVE physical books, but we can’t carry too many on board so I’ve got some carefully selected ones that I rotate when we find a book swap in a marina. These are some of the best sailing stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading aboard.
If you don’t have space on a sailboat (or in your house) for actual books then I highly recommend investing in a Kindle. Mine has had so much use since moving aboard (get the waterproof version for sailing or holidays).
A Voyage For Madmen
The true story of the famous 1968 Golden Globe sailing race: the first single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the world. A wonderfully told story that covers all sorts of the emotions felt from being at sea, and what it can ultimately drive men to do.
Endurance
Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men set sail for the South Atlantic on board a ship called the Endurance, with the goal of crossing the Antarctic over land. The ship was trapped, then crushed in ice, where Shackleton and his men became castaways on one of the most savage regions of the world.
For Better, For Worse
This book tells the story of a family who have a bit of a midlife crisis, leave their jobs and home and move onto a sailboat on the French canals. It’s told from both the husbands and wifes perspectives, and is hilarious. If you want something lighthearted and fun then this is a great read!
Blogs
Obviously we love a good blog. I think sailing blogs are totally underrated. YouTube has taken over and people have forgotten they can read. Actually, some of the best stories from the best sailors are written down by people who don’t want their faces plastered over the internet.
Give these blogs a read and you’ll see what I mean!
Swell Voyage
Liz, surfer and environmentalist, became captain of her own 40ft boat named Swell. She has since sailed over 20,000NM to Mexico, Central America, and the South Pacific. Her sailing boat is powered solely by wind and solar power.
Her blog is a brilliant read, with some interesting stories and lots of good advice on how to stay environmentally friendly.
Sailing Totem
Not many sailors keep their blogs updated, as they tend to focus more on videos these days. But Sailing Totem still puts up regular sailing stories on their blog, and we love reading them! This family have circumnavigated the world and write about their adventures along the way.
Podcasts
We’ve got really into podcasts since moving aboard. You can listen to them while you’re sailing in calm weather and they pass the time on really long passages. The trouble is finding good ones!
Not to worry, we’ve done the hard work for you. Give these ones a listen.
The Sailing Podcast
Out of production but we still think it’s well worth mentioning. The Sailing Podcast hosted interviews with lots of interesting people – from YouTubers like Sailing Uma and Sailing La Vagabonde, to sailing legends like Lin Pardey.
There are a lot of episodes on here with stories from sailboat cruisers like us, so we might be a little biased!
Sailing Stories
Sailing stories from the high seas is exactly what it says it is! Its podcasts feature some famous names and some quality listening. You’ll want to pay attention though, and listen in order. Check them out!
YouTube
Literally every sailor out there is making stories about their adventures and plastering them over YouTube. You can watch dreamy footage of tropical islands, spicy sailing through storms or get a taste of life at sea. Whatever floats your boat, you’ll find it on YouTube!Â
We have already put together the top sailing channels out there (we’ll let you decide whether or not they’re top for you!) but also, here are two of our favourites for you to check out. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you’ve enjoyed this post – it really helps us out 🙂
Wind Hippy Sailing
She’s awesome, here’s a little snippet of what she has to say about herself, but just go and watch her videos!
‘Just a minimalist single-hander slowly cruising the world on my Grinde 27′. Some background: I grew up on my parent’s Cal25 while they were completing their own circumnavigation. Sailing is in my blood, and I’ve spent more than half my life living on a boat.’
New Kids On The Dock
We recently started watching this Aussie couple and are really enjoying their videos. I’m not sure why they don’t have more subscribers. Go and help them out and subscribe to their channel. They’re having some awesome adventures!
Films
Getting lost in a film about sailing is one of our favourite date night activities. There are so many to choose from, like, so many. Here are a few of our top picks.
Adrift
Ok, certainly not a happy watch, especially when you know it’s based on a true story. But this film really did inspire us. What an incredible woman to survive for so long on so little. I still get a little teary just thinking about it!
Maidentrip
Maidentrip is a documentary about Laura Dekker’s year and a half voyage to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world. Dekker, born in Holland, set sail from Gibraltar in 2010 and made the journey in a year and half, finishing a few months after her 16th birthday. Incredible.
Fictional Sailing Books
Prefer to lose yourself in fantasy rather than fiction? Well we’ve got some great suggestions for you. Some of these are perfect for kids too, so you can inspire them before that next sailing holiday.
Life of Pi
Yann Martel’s prize-winning fantasy novel tells the story of Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel. After his boat is shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean, Pi survives 227 days stranded in a lifeboat with Richard Parker – a Bengal tiger. The film is more famous, but we prefer the book!
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
A classic. The novel is most notable for Verne’s description of Captain Nemo’s Nautilus which accurately predicted features of modern submarines – vessels that were still decades away from being invented when the book was published in 1870. There are also giant whales and octopus attacks….
Kensuke’s Kingdom
So this is most definitely designed for kids, but I couldn’t put it down. Michael has it all. His family, a life at sea, no school and a dog. Until he falls overboard and gets washed up on a desert island, and finds he isn’t there alone. It has a little of everything in it, and of course a happy ending.
Conclusion: Sailing Stories
As you can see, you won’t find any shortage of sailing stories. These are just our top picks, there are so many more tales from the ocean out there to inspire, terrify and distract you from your boring 9-5.
The only thing left to do now is to get out there are start making some sailing stories of your own!
Follow us on any of our social media profiles to get up to date sailing and travel stories, and leave a comment below if you enjoyed this post. Thanks so much for reading!
It was the ideal day to go sailing. It was sunny with a few cloudy patches, and the temperature wasn’t oppressively high. With a crew of six and a commander who went by the nickname “Happy Captain,” we knew we were in for a treat.
For the sake of ensuring that everyone was content, the skipper inquired as to what we anticipated from our sailing session. It was amazing experience with the Best Sailing Club In San Diego Bay.