Buying An Expensive Yacht Does Not Make You An Exerienced Captain!

Buying a boat doesn’t make you a captain anymore than buying a set of pots and pans makes you a chef, but you can see clearly in this compilation of yacht mishaps that doesn’t stop some of these boat drivers from thinking they know what they’re doing.

I’ll admit right now, I’m no captain, having my share of problems trying to park a jet ski last time I was on the water. However, I’m keenly aware of my shortcomings behind the wheel of a watercraft and know better than to take over the wheel unless I’m in open water away from pretty much any other craft and not trying to dock.

These guys, some of whom have to be pretty experienced vessel operators, may just be having bad days, but they are still responsible for these massive, expensive yachts and the damage caused in these mishaps. There’s at least one incident caused by an engine that seems to be stuck wide open and powers the boat hard into a sea wall.

Others look and sound as if they may have been pushed into the dock or other vessels by the howling winds, which is no excuse but certainly explains the difficulty in getting the boat to go exactly where the captain wants it. Vessels of this size definitely catch the wind, making them a handful to navigate even with modern aids meant to help with such a situation.

However, it appears most of these incidents come down to operator error. Let’s be honest, it’s not easy to steer a vessel the size and heft of a large house on the water, and sometimes the captain is just off his game, or maybe even has no business at the helm. It seems unlikely too many unqualified operators would manage to land jobs operating yachts of this size and expense, but who knows what they put on their resume not thinking they might have to actually drive one of these behemoths!

https://youtu.be/Omp3ZB4pUJs?t=5