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.
The articulated fitting connecting a boom’s forward end to a mast. Its joints allow the boom to swing from side to side and to change vertical angle while transmitting compression, bending and torsional loads between boom and mast. Some goosenecks are fixed at boom height, while a sliding type can move on a mast track…
A securely mounted rail or handhold used to steady and support people aboard a vessel. Grab rails are fitted where movement, heel or vessel motion could cause a person to lose balance, including coachroofs, companionways, cabins and machinery or working spaces. Their position should allow a useful handhold while moving between areas rather than requiring…
The anchor, cable and associated equipment used to secure a vessel to the seabed. Ground tackle includes the anchor and its chain, rope or combination cable, together with connecting shackles, swivels where used and the equipment needed to deploy, recover and secure it. The term may refer to one anchoring arrangement or collectively to the…
A protective barrier fitted around exposed parts of a vessel’s deck to reduce the risk of people falling overboard. On small craft, the guard-rail system commonly consists of stanchions supporting one or more tensioned wires or rails between the bow and stern pulpits. Openings or gates may be provided for boarding, and safety netting is…
A perimeter barrier of rails, guard wires or lifelines supported by stanchions to reduce the risk of people falling overboard. The arrangement may include rigid rails, wire or suitable rope, together with gates, pulpits and pushpits. Required height, spacing, strength and openings depend on the vessel and applicable standards, so a particular waist height is…
The upper edge of a boat’s side. Pronounced ‘gunnel’, the gunwale may be formed by the hull edge itself or finished with an inwale, outwale, rubbing strake or cap rail, depending on construction. On a decked craft the hull-to-deck joint may lie at or near it, but the terms are not always identical. The gunwale…
A line used to control or brace the position of a spar, pole or other movable item. In conventional spinnaker handling, the afterguy controls the outboard end of the spinnaker pole and works with a foreguy or downhaul and the sheet. Terminology varies between rigs and regions, and on some systems the two working lines…
A sailing manoeuvre in which the stern passes through the wind and the sails change from one side to the other. A gybe occurs with the true wind abaft the beam and may be deliberate or accidental. As the wind changes sides, a boom or other sail-handling equipment can cross the vessel rapidly and the…
A warning call that a sailing vessel is beginning a gybe and the boom is about to cross the boat. The call alerts the crew to keep clear of the boom, mainsheet and associated tackle and to carry out their assigned actions. It is normally made as the helm is applied after the crew has…
A descriptive sailing expression for a sail or line running outward rapidly after it is released or loses restraint. A sheet can fly out through a block or fairlead and a sail can blow out to leeward when its control is released. The phrase is not a single standard technical manoeuvre and its intended meaning…
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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