"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" is a single from New Zealand art rock group Split Enz's album Time and Tide. It was written by Tim Finn and released as a single in 1982.

The song is a reference to the time it took pioneers to sail to Australia and New Zealand (hence the reference to "the tyranny of distance" - a history by Geoffrey Blainey), and a metaphor that refers to lead singer Tim Finn's nervous breakdown.

The song was "discouraged from airplay" in Britain during the Falklands crisis by the BBC for reasons of morale - it was thought that references to leaky boats was not appropriate during the naval action in the war.

An introductory piece titled "Pioneer", written by Eddie Rayner, appears before the song on the Australian and New Zealand release of History Never Repeats - The Best of Split Enz. This track is not present on the American release. This track also forms an introduction to "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" on its original album release (on Time and Tide).

The video shows band members dressed in nautical gear as well as Maori performers practicing traditional Maori acts called poi.

The song entered the RIANZ New Zealand singles charts at number 31 on 13 June 1982, and peaked at number 7 for two weeks. It spent a total of 16 weeks in the top 40.

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