94 Boating & Marine Trivia Questions (Ranked from Easiest to Hardest)

Boating and marine activities are a popular pastime for many people, offering a chance to explore the open waters, enjoy the great outdoors, and experience a sense of adventure and freedom. Whether you're a seasoned boater or a newcomer to the sport, boating and marine trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of this exciting world and to learn more about the boats, ships, and waterways that make up the world's oceans, lakes, and rivers.

This list of boating and marine trivia questions covers a wide range of topics and is designed to challenge your understanding of the boating and marine world. Some of the questions are straightforward and can be answered by simple recall, while others require a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Regardless of your level of expertise, this list of boating and marine trivia questions is sure to be both educational and entertaining.

Whether you're a boater, a marine enthusiast, or simply someone who loves the water, this list of boating and marine trivia questions is sure to provide you with hours of enjoyment and learning. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how you fare? Let's explore the exciting world of boating and marine activities and see how much you really know!

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94 Boating & Marine Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2025)

1. Don't get it twisted: What K-word measurement of boat speed is a measure of one nautical mile per hour?

Answer: Knot

2. Which term that describes the turbulent water behind a boat can also be part of an expression that means you’re in the tumultuous fallout of something?

Answer: Wake

3. What word is used to describe a floating container anchored to the sea bottom so that it remains in position? It is often used to mark channels that help keep boats safe.

Answer: Buoy

4. What term that might remind you of soccer shoes is also what you call the boat fitting that is used to securely keep a vessel docked? They’re also called mooring clears.

Answer: Cleats

5. The Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie was the first person to use solar power to cross what body of water in 1996?

Answer: Pacific Ocean

6. What “D” word refers to the minimum depth of water a boat needs to float? The word can also be used to refer to the event when a pro sports league selects amateur players.

Answer: Draft

7. Which speedy merchant ship shares its name with both a fruit and a brand of sunscreen (which would come in handy if you’re on one of the inflatable recreational boats of the same name)?

Answer: Banana Boat

8. A ship that sailed perfectly due west after leaving San Francisco harbor would make landfall just south of the city of Sendai in which country?

Answer: Japan

9. The Cleveland Guardians have a Triple-A minor league affiliate in Columbus with what nickname? A term for a speedy merchant sailing vessel, it’s also the nickname of a pro NBA franchise in Los Angeles, CA.

Answer: Clippers

10. What “L” term describes a rope threaded through a pair of deadeyes, used to adjust the tension in the rigging of a sailing vessel? It can also be used to describe a cord worn around the neck with the ability to hold something in place, like a badge at a convention.

Answer: Lanyard

11. Alee means away from the direction of which weather phenomenon that’s important for sailing?

Answer: Wind

12. Don't worry, it can't suck your blood: a line that runs under the back edge of a modern mainsail shares what name with a parasitic animal?

Answer: Leech

13. If you get on the Maid of the Mist boat tour at Observation Tower, you are in which US State Park to look at its namesake natural spectacle?

Answer: Niagara Falls State Park

14. These boats become more stable the further apart the twin hulls are. Derived from Tamil, what is the name of these vessels that are first known to have appeared in 1662?

Answer: Catamaran

15. In the late 1950s, a nuclear-armed USAF B-47 bomber stationed at the Chennault Air Force Base/International Airport caught fire. Luckily, it was contained to the aircraft and didn’t put people in the surrounding areas at risk. What city is Chennault in? (Hint: The name sounds more like a place to go boating, not flying.)

Answer: Lake Charles

16. The term kayak comes from the word ‘qayaq’ meaning ‘small boat of skins’ from the Inuit language of which extremely large Atlantic island?

Answer: Greenland

17. What’s the term for the person who sells (and often delivers) supplies, groceries, and parts to a ship at sea? (Hint: It's also the first name of a sarcastic “Friends” character, but he worked in advertising, not maritime merchantry).

Answer: Chandler

18. City Island is an island in New York City with a population of ~4,000 residents and is known for its many seafood restaurants and New England-esque atmosphere of boating and fishing. City Island is technically part of which borough?

Answer: The Bronx

19. The adage "A rising tide lifts all boats" is frequently attributed to what U.S. President, who did not coin the phrase but did use it famously in a 1963 speech?

Answer: John F. Kennedy

20. Pollywogs appear before King Neptune and his court to become shellbacks in a weird, unofficial U.S. Navy ceremony commemorating a sailor's first official crossing of what imaginary line?

Answer: Equator

21. What “B” boating company, based out of Mettawa, Illinois, makes the Mercury boat engines? The name is the same but unrelated to a Canadian province and a bowling company.

Answer: Brunswick

22. Which type of wooden boat, a cultural symbol of the Indian region of Kashmir, has a name which is an anagram of the name of a Colombian singer born in 1977? (Hint: the location of the consonants is the same in both names.)

Answer: Shikara

23. What “P” side of a boat refers to the left-hand area of that boat? It is a word that can also describe a city with a harbor.

Answer: Port

24. Which term describes a “pleasure boat” with a flat bottom equipped with tubes that keep it afloat? (Hint: A catamaran is one example)

Answer: Pontoon

25. What term is used for the pointed part of an anchor that is designed to catch in the seabed?

Answer: Fluke

26. Which L-word is the legal term for stuff at the bottom of the ocean? Usually, it’s goods you tossed overboard with a buoy attached since you have the intent of retrieving them from the sea floor later.

Answer: Lagan

27. If you don’t offload your cargo within the specified time limit you agreed to, what’s the D-word for the fee you’ll be charged by the shipping line?

Answer: Demurrage

28. Which term refers to a small sailboat (usually 14ft to 25ft) that can be hard to tell from a keelboat, except that it’s mostly used for trips that last 48 hours or less?

Answer: Daysailer

29. It sounds like rubbish, but it's not. The name of what Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails comes from the Javanese word for "boat"?

Answer: Junk

30. Which term that starts with A sounds like it would mean you’re over the deck but actually means you’re on it?

Answer: Above

31. What’s the B-word for a piece of standing rigging on a sailboat that sort of functions like the gas pedal?

Answer: Backstay

32. A bombara is a potentially precarious patch of water over which type of calcium-carbonate-containing undersea ecosystem?

Answer: Reef

33. With four gold medals and one silver, Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor in history. Which northern hemisphere country is he from?

Answer: United Kingdom

34. When navigating upstream/towards shore, what two types of buoys, one conical/semi-conical and always red, and the other cylindrical and always green, mark the starboard and port sides of a channel respectively?

Answer: Nun, Can

35. Breaking a winning streak of 132 years by the New York Yacht Club, a boat from which country (which also the country’s name in the boat name) beat the boat ‘Liberty’ in the 1983 America’s Cup?

Answer: Australia

36. Although victorious in the battle, on which ship was English war hero Horatio Nelson mortally wounded in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805?

Answer: HMS Victory

37. The ratline hitch, or builder's knot, is a knot made using two successive single hitches that is classically used for tying fenders onto boats. By what spicy name is the ratline hitch more commonly called?

Answer: Clove hitch

38. The oldest international competition in any sport is a series of races between sailboats. The competition is named for its trophy, which in turn is named for the first winner. What is the name of the competition?

Answer: America's Cup

39. What is a navigator who guides a ship over dangerous sandbars at the mouths of rivers and bays called? We're talking boats here, not planes.

Answer: Bar pilot

40. Riders occasionally hang onto the swim platform at the back of a boat while the boat is moving forward. Often, swimmers will let go of the platform and body surf on the boat's wake. What is this called? Although not illegal in some states, the U.S. Coast Guard views it as extremely dangerous due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and possible loss of consciousness, leading to death.

Answer: Teak surfing

41. What term describes the basement-like part of a boat’s hull that would be on the ground if it was out of the water?

Answer: Blige

42. What do you call the place on the sea floor where a ship's anchor lies? Various types of anchors were designed for different types of sea floor.

Answer: Holding ground

43. With regard to German U-boats in multiple global conflicts, what does the "U" stand for?

Answer: Untersee (German) or Undersea (English)

44. Even though New Zealand are the holders, the 37th America’s Cup in 2024 will be held in which European city?

Answer: Barcelona

45. The Canadian Navy has the letters HMCS at the beginning of each of its ships. What does this currently stand for?

Answer: His Majesty's Canadian Ship

46. A Scandinavian word for "beard" gives us the name of what rudder-like lowest point on an outboard motor?

Answer: Skeg

47. When Australia II won the America’s Cup in 1983, breaking the New York Yacht Club 132 year winning streak, the winning yacht club was based in which Australian city?

Answer: Perth or Fremantle

48. Ready to enter service in early 2024 for Royal Caribbean Cruises, what is the name of the world's largest cruise ship that will take the mantle over from the Wonder of the Seas, also by Royal Caribbean?

Answer: Icon of the Seas

49. Often used before the names of British Royal Navy ships according to Collins Dictionary, HMS is short for what three-word phrase that vaguely references a prominent female royal figure?

Answer: Her Majesty's Ship

50. Mongolia, Rangoon, General Grant, and Henrietta were some of the steamers used in what 1873 Jules Verne novel depicting Phileas Fogg circumnavigating the Earth?

Answer: Around The World In Eighty Days

51. Under the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, how far out from the shore do a nation's territorial waters stretch, where the country has full jurisdiction over vessels?

Answer: 12 Nautical Miles

52. What is the term for a two-masted sailing vessel with a mizzen mast slightly smaller than the main and stepped forward of the rudder stock or post?

Answer: Ketch

53. NASBLA is a national nonprofit that works on public policies around recreational boating. "NAS" stands for "National Association of State" ... but what does "BLA" stand for?

Answer: Boating Law Administrators

54. What four-letter “C” verb means to lay down a line in a circular manner, and is also a noun describing a spiral sequence of rings?

Answer: Coil

55. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, and based on C. S. Forester’s 1935 novel, what continentally-named 1951 film shares its name with the steamboat that gets siblings Rose and Samuel Sayer and mechanic Charlie Allnut into a perilous adventure?

Answer: The African Queen

56. Although New Zealand was the holder, the 2024 America's Cup match was held in which European city?

Answer: Barcelona

57. What was the name of the ship that Roald Amundsen used to help him on the expedition where he became the first person to get to the South Pole in 1911?

Answer: Fram

58. Killing what type of bird, some species of which have wingspans over 10 feet wide, is very bad luck in maritime tradition, as they are said to carry the souls of dead sailors?

Answer: Albatross

59. If you’re moving aft, which part of the boat are you headed for? (Hint: It’s the boating term that means “back”.)

Answer: Stern

60. Who was the famous captain of Patrol Boat PT-109 who famously swam miles for help when their boat was sunk by Japanese boats on August 2, 1943? This man was famous for other reasons two decades later.

Answer: John F. Kennedy

61. You can see it in movies and on television. Every time a ship is looking for submarines or buried treasure, they use sonar. SONAR stands for Sonic..what two words?

Answer: Navigation and ranging

62. Commonly used in older ships before being superseded by modern technology, what is usually kept in a ship’s binnacle?

Answer: Compass

63. What “F” term refers to any navigable channel for a boat to travel in? It is a term also used in golf to refer to a more navigable part of a course, between the rough.

Answer: Fairway

64. What four-word idiom for preparing to deal with a crisis comes from the nautical meaning of using long, thin strips of wood or metal to secure a ship's tarpaulins?

Answer: Batten down the hatches

65. What was the name of the captain of "The Love Boat" in the TV series of the same name?

Answer: Merrill Stubing

66. What “C” term refers to international rules designed to prevent boats from hitting each other while out to sea? It is a one-word combination of a word for an impact and a word for those rules.

Answer: Colregs

67. To demonstrate that ancient people of the area could have made long sea voyages using the materials and technologies they had before European contact, Thor Heyerdahl led the Kon-Tiki Expedition on an 8,000km journey across which ocean?

Answer: The Pacific Ocean

68. The fictional character James Bond holds what rank in the Royal Navy that is immediately junior to captain?

Answer: Commander

69. Not just a term for train cars, which word can also refer to a ship’s galley/kitchen?

Answer: Caboose

70. Now a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland, what is the name of Queen Elizabeth II’s royal yacht, which was decommissioned in 1997?

Answer: Britannia

71. In 1972, which cruise line’s first ship (Mardi Gras) wasn’t clowning around when it tried to set sail from Miami on its maiden voyage—and immediately ran aground?

Answer: Carnival

72. Off the coast of which country will you find the wreck of the USS Arizona, which was sunk during the Second World War?

Answer: United States

73. What “Ab” term refers to a position out the side of a boat on either side? If split into two words, it could mean a particular long sturdy piece of lumber used to support the roof.

Answer: Abeam

74. Designed for coastal warfare, Lockheed's LCS is a Combat Ship whose "L" stands for what word that roughly means "a shoreline area"?

Answer: Littoral

75. Who was famously seen for the first time ever as a sailor on a steamboat on November 18, 1928?

Answer: Mickey Mouse

76. In 1899, the first ship-to-shore radio transmission was sent from a lightship to a coastal receiving station located at the Cliff House in what city on the West Coast of the U.S.? The message was "Sherman is sighted," about the return of a troopship from the Spanish-American War.

Answer: San Francisco

77. As opposed to the “true wind” that is the actual wind speed, which “obvious” term applies to the wind you can feel when you’re on a boat?

Answer: Apparent

78. Formerly a British Minesweeper, what was the name of the boat which became Jacques Cousteau’s long-term research vessel?

Answer: Calypso

79. In 1983, for the first time in its history the America's Cup was won by a boat that was not representing the U.S. From what country did the winning boat hail?

Answer: Australia

80. The 1975 sinking of what freighter in Lake Superior inspired a #2 single by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot the following year?

Answer: Edmund Fitzgerald

81. Dockyard analogy: working on the dock is to longshoreman, as schlepping stuff around the ships is to what nine-letter S-word profession?

Answer: Stevedore

82. One knot is equal to one nautical mile per hour. Rounded to the nearest tenth of a kilometer, one knot equals how many kilometers per hour?

Answer: 1.9

83. In 2021, Team New Zealand won the America's Cup for the fourth time, defeating a boat from which European country?

Answer: Italy

84. The International Maritime Signal Flags are a way of communicating between ships. The flag representing "my vessel is healthy" (as well as representing the letter "Q") is simply a square of what color?

Answer: Yellow

85. Australia II won the 1983 America’s Cup thanks in no large part when specially designed “wings” were added to which part of the boat?

Answer: Keel

86. The largest warship ever constructed is named after which former US president, the last one not to serve a full term?

Answer: Gerald Ford

87. Which nautical term is used when a boat has to slow down or speed up or go in a different direction to avoid colliding with another boat?

Answer: Give-way

88. What was the name of 74 foot ketch bought by Hollywood actor Errol Flynn in 1937? It is synonymous with his adventures and shares a name with a desert wind

Answer: Sirocco

89. What two-word phrase refers to the last part of a boat’s rope or chain, also used to refer metaphorically to doing something unpleasant until it is completely finished?

Answer: Bitter End

90. We heard a rumor that a bunch of catty sailors chatting around a water cask spawned what 11-letter nautical term for "gossip"?

Answer: Scuttlebutt

91. Which boat, featured on the Canadian ten-cent coin, is characterized by having at least two masts with the front mast lower than the mainmast? The 1910 Westward yacht was one of these.

Answer: Schooner

92. You might think that someone got drunk and misspelled the oldest brewery in the US, but which keelboat design, a recognized class in World Sailing (and a former Olympic class), is in fact named for the Norwegian word for 'youngster'?

Answer: Yngling

93. What was the name of the US presidential yacht which was commissioned by Herbert Hoover until it was sold by Jimmy Carter?

Answer: Sequoia

94. What five-letter "B" word can mean either an open bay on a coast into which a boat might travel, or a loop of rope used in that boat's nautical riggings?

Answer: Bight

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