All our courses are engaging, interactive and fun! Whether formal training or simply looking to brush up, we take online learning to the next level.
Sailing EssentialsFreeA free course great for anyone who spends time on the water.
Essential Navigation & SeamanshipRYA course for beginners. Learn charts, tides, pilotage, and core seamanship with simple practice tasks.
Day Skipper TheoryMost PopularRYA course for inshore skippers. Plan day passages using chartwork, tides, weather, and COLREGs.
Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster® TheoryComing SoonRYA course for advanced navigation and passage planning, secondary ports, tidal streams, and offshore weather.
SRC (VHF) Marine Radio CourseRYA Short Range Certificate radio course. Study online, then take the practical exam with an RYA assessor.Are you looking for something nautical related? Our directory is an extensive list of courses and places associated with the marine industry. Hop over and search now.
We believe every day’s a school day on a boat! That’s why we built Nautical Know-How, dedicated to answering your questions. Even better, if it can’t answer your question immediately, you can request it, and we’ll add it to our knowledge base.
Nautical Terms & TerminologyUnderstanding the language of the marine world is like trying to learn a pirate’s secret code while juggling fish. Let us explain why a sheet isn’t for your bed, why “heave ho” doesn’t mean throw up (most of the time), and why “dead reckoning” is surprisingly less ominous than it sounds.
Why do we have tides?Have you ever wondered what causes the tides? Check out this video, which introduces the forces that create the tides we experience on Earth.
What causes our weather?A video introducing the drivers behind our weather, part of our RYA Day Skipper & RYA Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster® Offshore theory courses.
Buoyage FlashcardsFlashcards designed to help remember the buoys in the IALA system. If you want to learn them in detail, our module ‘Getting in and out of harbour‘, covers the IALA system and different buoys used.
Interactive Rule Book (COLREGs / IRPCS)Whether you’re a novice sailor or a seasoned skipper, we can help you navigate the IRPCS confidently and clearly. Our easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, plain English rule book with helpful interpretations of what each rule means.
The Salty Sea BlogFrom salty old sea dogs to fresh-faced deckhands, this blog is for anyone who finds peace, adventure, and a bit of mischief on the water. So hoist the main, set your course, and let’s sail into the stories, lessons, and musings that make life on the sea so irresistible.The difference in height between mean high water springs and mean low water springs. It represents the average tidal range around spring tides at a particular standard port, derived from observations rather than from one individual high and low water. Spring ranges are generally greater than neap ranges because solar and lunar tidal influences reinforce…
A period in the astronomical tidal cycle when the range between successive high and low waters is relatively large. Springs generally occur near new and full moon when lunar and solar tide-generating effects reinforce one another. The name refers to the tide springing or rising more strongly and has no connection with the season of…
An inclined prepared surface leading between land and water for launching, recovering or building vessels. A slipway may be a simple ramp for trailers, a railed cradle system or a large construction berth. Gradient, surface, tidal access, depth, turning space, load limit and permitted users determine which vessels and equipment can use it. Algae, mud,…
A substantial inlet or passage of water whose exact geographic form varies by regional usage. A sound may be a broad channel between land masses, a coastal inlet, or water separating an island from a mainland. Unlike strait, bay or fjord, the name does not impose one universal combination of width, origin or connection between…
A measurement of water depth or the act of obtaining that measurement. Traditional soundings use a lead line, while echo sounders determine travel time of acoustic energy between transducer and seabed. A charted sounding is normally reduced to chart datum, whereas an onboard display may show depth below transducer, keel or surface depending on its…
A tidal prediction location whose times and heights are obtained by applying published corrections to a standard port. Corrections may cover high- and low-water times and heights and can vary between springs and neaps or with the standard port’s predicted values. The exact method is publication-specific and may use interpolation rather than simple constant additions….
A shallow area or submerged elevation of the seabed that may pose a navigation hazard. A shoal may consist of sand, gravel, mud, rock or coral and can lie near shore or offshore. Whether it is dangerous depends on charted and actual depth, tidal height, vessel draught, squat, waves and the required under-keel clearance. Currents…
A raised threshold across a harbour, marina, lock or dock entrance that limits or retains water depth. A marina sill is commonly an underwater barrier designed to retain a minimum water level inside a basin as the tide falls. A sill also forms the lower threshold beneath lock or dock gates and can determine the…
A period when the horizontal tidal current at a particular location is weak or changing direction. Slack water can occur near the change between flood and ebb, but its time need not coincide with local high or low water because tidal height and horizontal flow respond differently. In rotary tidal streams the current may turn…
A ridge, chain or area of rock, coral or other consolidated material lying at or near the water surface. Reefs may be biogenic, volcanic, rocky or artificial and can be exposed, drying or fully submerged. Sandbanks and shoals can create similar navigation hazards but are not necessarily reefs because unconsolidated sand alone is not the…
If you belive the Earth is flat, you're about to fall of the end...
If you belive the Earth is flat, you're about to fall of the end...
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