Sydney man instantly regrets getting on friend’s boat after realising he’ll be stuck there for four hours amid dwindling small talk and 30-degree heat

SINKING FEELING: A local man has had a mini meltdown today shortly after stepping onto a friend’s boat and realising there would be no socially acceptable way to leave for at least four hours.

Mark Delaney says his regret set in approximately 90 seconds after departure, as the conversation stalled at, “So yeah… busy week?”

“It’s 30 degrees, but I won’t swim as the harbour is shark infested and I’m honestly wondering what the hell I’m doing here,” he told DBT via a phone interview.

“Someone even just came up to me and said: ‘Day for it.'”

After 30 minutes, Delaney says the small talk had fully degraded into recycled topics like property prices, overseas weddings, and whether anyone else was also ‘thinking of doing a half marathon at some point.’

“And there’s only 8 beers in the esky to share among 6 of us!” he says.

Psychologists say “boat regret” is extremely common.

“The moment people agree to a boat trip, they picture themselves with wind in their hair, effortless joy, maybe a sunset,” explained Dr. Fred Lim.

“The reality is bad sunburn and running out of things to say at 12.30pm while bobbing near Shark Island.”