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.Understanding the language of the marine world is like trying to learn a pirate’s secret code while juggling fish. You’ll wonder why a “sheet” isn’t something you sleep under but a rope that controls a sail. “Bowsprit” sounds like a sneeze, “booby hatch” isn’t a bird’s hideout, and “port” doesn’t come in a glass—it’s just left. If someone yells, “Man overboard!” don’t ask which direction they swam. And heaven help you if you think “scuttlebutt” is gossip—well, actually, you’d be right about that one. By the time you’ve figured out that “head” means toilet and “galley” isn’t an alley with gourds, you’ve already been hit with a wave and lost your hat to the wind they call a “nor’easter.”
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.
A signal or device that uses a controlled energetic chemical reaction to produce light, smoke, sound or heat. Marine pyrotechnics include rocket parachute flares, hand flares, smoke signals and line-throwing cartridges. Their colour, duration, altitude and pattern carry recognised meanings or serve particular alerting and locating functions; not every pyrotechnic is a distress signal. They…
A plain yellow International Code of Signals flag whose single-letter meaning is ‘My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique’. Free pratique is the health authority’s permission for a vessel to have contact with the port after arrival formalities. The flag is traditionally displayed on entering a foreign port until the required clearance is…
The international radiotelephony spelling word for the letter Q. It is used to spell call signs, identifiers and words clearly over voice radio. Its prescribed spoken form is represented as ‘KEH BECK’. The word’s spelling-alphabet use is separate from the single International Code of Signals flag Q, which has a health and free-pratique meaning. Context…
A fast, turbulent tidal stream, often concentrated by seabed or coastal features. Tidal races form where large volumes of water are forced through narrow channels, around headlands or over abrupt changes of depth. Eddies, overfalls and steep waves may develop, especially near the strongest part of the stream. Conditions can deteriorate sharply when wind opposes…
A radio-detection system that measures the range and direction of objects by transmitting energy and processing returned echoes. Marine radar can detect coast, vessels, buoys, rain and other reflecting targets and supports position checking, collision assessment and navigation in restricted visibility. Pulse, broadband and solid-state systems use differing waveforms, frequencies and processing but share the…
A passive structure intended to increase the strength of radar energy returned from a vessel or object. Corner reflectors and other geometries redirect incident radar energy towards its source and are fitted particularly to small craft or low-reflectivity structures. Performance depends on frequency band, orientation, elevation, heel, mounting height and obstruction by rig or equipment….
To secure two or more vessels alongside one another, or the resulting group of vessels. A raft may form alongside a berth, mooring or anchored vessel when space or circumstances make individual berths impractical. Fenders and breast lines control contact between vessels, while springs and lines to shore or the primary mooring distribute the combined…
The vertical difference between a high water and an adjacent low water. A falling-tide range is measured from high water to the following low water, while a rising-tide range can be measured from low water to the following high water. Range varies through the spring-neap cycle and with longer astronomical constituents and local geography. Observed…
A digital chart made from a georeferenced image of a paper nautical chart. A raster chart preserves the printed chart’s appearance as a grid of pixels. Navigation software can place the vessel’s position and other overlays on the image, but the individual symbols, soundings and lines are not separate selectable objects as they are on…
The speed of a tidal current at a stated position and time. Rate is normally expressed in knots and paired with set, the direction towards which the water flows. It changes through the tidal cycle and with springs, neaps, depth and location, and can differ substantially across a channel or near a headland. Atlas and…
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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