The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

The saying adapts a nautical metaphor to argue that “fortune” tends to favor competence. Winds and waves are indifferent forces, but the most capable navigator reads conditions, anticipates danger, and uses skill to turn hazards into advantage. In that sense, what looks like luck is often the visible result of preparation, judgment, and experience. The line also carries a moral about agency: success is not merely bestowed by circumstances; it is earned by those able to steer through them. As a maxim, it encourages self-reliance and mastery rather than resignation to fate.