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Home Tattoos 101 best boat tattoo ideas you’ll have to see to believe!

101 best boat tattoo ideas you’ll have to see to believe!

by Jamie Wilson
Ship Tattoo

If you’re looking for some amazing boat tattoo ideas, then you’re at the right place. Here we have brought you a list of the best boat tattoos.

Boat Tattoo
@primanzini via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

Boat and ship tattoos have various meanings.

In the past, a sailor, mainly men, could be seen donning these tattoos. However, nowadays women also ask for these tattoos.

If you’re wondering what does a boat tattoo mean or what do boat and ship-related tattoos mean, there are a lot of answers. They symbolize new journeys, beginnings, safe homecoming, good luck, bravery, life, and more. Keep on reading for more ships and boat sleeve, leg, arm, chest tattoo ideas.

Vintage Boat Tattoo

Nothing beats the scenic beauty of a ship or boat sailing calmly on the sea or in the ocean. Such calmness, serene elements of life can also be effectively implemented or inked as tattoos.

Vintage Boat Tattoo
@tattooist_eheon via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

If you are wondering what a cool vintage boat tattoo design looks like, then the above picture is a beautiful representation of the same. It showcases an old boat or ship sailing in the sea calmly while the entire scene is locked inside an exquisite gilded framed mirror with two lovely flowers at the bottom of the stand. You can also make your own adjustments and tweaks to this design and add more vibrant and boat related features that depict your life.

Pirate Ship Tattoo

Be it Captain Jack Sparrow or Anne Bonny, we have all been fascinated by pirate stories in our childhood. With the emergence of ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean movie series, the love for the rulers of the sea increased manifold. So if you plan on looking for Davy Jones’s locker, encountering the mythical Kraken, or going to the end of the world, then a Pirate boat tattoo design might just be what you are looking for.

Pirate Ship Tattoo
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The above picture is a prime example of a unique and dark tattoo design. The cool sleeve arm design shows a pirate ship under the skeleton of a pirate. These dark and detailed elements can bring out a great yet personal body art where deep passion can be found. If you are a fan of the anime ‘One Piece’, then you are in luck! You can definitely go for similar pirate tattoos. So, there is no need for parley, just watch the sun on the horizon singing, ‘Yo Ho Ho, and a bottle of Rum’!

Fishing Boat Tattoo

What is considered as a leisure or a favourite pastime for others can also become a popular and great tattoo choice for many people including both men and women. A wide type of fishing boat and other fishing-related and associated boats that usually sail calmly in the sea can be inked by both men and women as a full sleeve design.

Fishing Boat Tattoo
@anthony_merchel via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

Fishing is fun, unique, and a cool way that people take part actively in. Thus, having a full painting of a boat can be simple yet cute. Just like the above picture, a fishing trawler can be seen with a school of swordfish jumping from the water. So sailors, what are you waiting for? Look for an artist and get the ink of life on your wrist or leg. These tattoo ideas are good body art designs that depict unique styles and once you ink them, they can uplift the mood on a dark night.

Row Boat Tattoo

‘Row, row, row your boat’ is a famous nursery rhyme that we have listened to while growing up and now can become a cool tattoo design or a new style to show your love for boats or ships. Be it sailing or rowing a boat, it can be a great experience for both men and women.

Row Boat Tattoo
@rocknrolltattooglasgow via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

As shown in the above picture, we can see a man rowing a single boat out in the sea. The picture is a lovely representation of Pink Floyd’s iconic album art ‘The Endless River’. So all you Pink Floyd fans, gather round and go for this simple, yet unique art that is bound to look cool as sleeve or half sleeve tattoos.

Simple Boat Tattoo

Simplicity can often be the best what one can wish for. And that too is also valid when it comes to tattoo ideas. While a majority of people believe in going for unique, complex sleeve style tattoos, it is often seen that simple style tattoo ideas steal the show with their simplicity and elegance.

Simple Boat Tattoo
@apply_pomade via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

The innocent style and unique art style of a tattoo artist can be brought out by just a simple outline of a boat calmly sailing across the sea. Art appeals to the viewer, so search for your own simple boat related tattoo design and ask your artist to ink the very best design which you crave so dearly!

Nautical Abstract Tattoos

In recent times, complex and abstract art have taken the globe by storm and similar is the case with tattoos. These tattoos are not only cute but also bring out the creativity of the artist who designs these drawings. Abstract art can have a wide array of things ranging from comic to mythical elements encased in an abstract concept.

Nautical Abstract Tattoos
@charlest_tattoos via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

Just like the picture above, we can see a ship being crushed and finally engulfed by a creature that seems to be a hybrid of an octopus and a squid. A squid has 10 legs while an octopus has 8 legs. However, the beast in this tattoo design has 9 legs and is seen to crush the ship. This beast is supposedly loosely based on the Scandinavian sea monster Kraken which is infamous for destroying ships in the ocean. So what are you waiting for? Go for some cool nautical tattoos with your own personalised tweaks!

Boat Tattoo With Compass

For every journey, you need to know where you are heading. And the best device that gives the accurate direction of the journey is a compass. Ever since its invention, this device has come in handy for all travellers and sailors are no exception to that. Thus, having a tattoo design of a boat with a compass makes all the sense.

Boat Tattoo With Compass
@custom.cult.tattoo via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

In the above picture, we can see a splendid boat tattoo and a lovely compass pointing towards the north. Above, we can see an abstract glimpse where a boy is sitting on a crescent moon with a fishing rod. This added element brings extra charm to the design thereby making it cute.

Sailor Tattoos With Boat

A sailor is the commander of the boat or ship and having a design that has pictures of sailors in them can be a perfect tribute to them.

Sailor Tattoos With Boat
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In general, these tattoos are known to be in full sleeve designs and are usually preferred by men. Tattoos of ships and sailors are unique and thus can be a perfect way to flaunt your tattoo out in the street!

Paper Boat Tattoo

Many of our childhood memories are full of making paper boats in the rain and playing with them. We cannot deny that those are some of the fondest memories we have of our childhood. These tattoos usually represent the innocence, and a sense of joy, freedom, and ecstasy you have felt in your younger days. Sailors can be seen donning these tattoos as well.

Paper Boat Tattoo
@mario_tats via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

Watercolour designs work wonders with simple outline tattoos and that can be very well seen in the picture above. You can go for detailed structured paper boat tattoos as well. Choose your favourite and ink them.

American Traditional Tattoo Of Boats

Though different styles of tattoos have evolved over the ages, however, as the saying goes, ‘Old is Gold’, remains eternally true. Old School American tattoos are traditional design styles and they will never go out of fashion.

American Traditional Tattoo Of Boats
@lighthousetattoopiercing via Instagram – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

Ship tattoo designs like the one shown above is a perfect example of an old school style of tattoo design. The nautical design depicts seas in which a ship sails with birds flying in the clouds. These ship tattoos or body art are extremely cool and unique and can often serve as sleeve style tattoos that can be inked on the arm as well as other body parts like the leg or on the chest and wrist. These tattoos can be inked by both men and women and little tweaks like pirates, a vessel or a modern portrait can prove to be wonderful designs.

Other than the tattoo design ideas we have suggested, there are more you can opt for. Such as full sleeve ocean and boat tattoos, boat and sea world tattoos, Kraken and ship tattoos, and more. These tattoo designs not only brings an added zest to the normal options that are available but also brings about a diverse range in terms of culture and traditions that are associated with tattoos. With viewers of the modern age being hooked to the iconic series ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ there are going to be many tattoo enthusiasts who would be looking to get their first tattoo inked that of a ship or a boat!

Feature Image from Pinterest – Love this design? Try a Temporary Tattoo

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