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 fore-and-aft sailing rig whose mainsail is triangular, with its luff set along the mast and its foot usually controlled by a boom. Also called a Bermuda rig and historically a Marconi rig, it commonly includes one or more headsails set before the mast. It may be used on sloops, cutters, ketches and other arrangements,…
A designated place for a vessel to lie, or a sleeping place aboard. In a harbour or marina, a berth is the allocated position where a vessel moors alongside, between piles or in another defined arrangement. Below deck, a berth is a bunk or other sleeping space. The word also appears in the expression “give…
A single navigation-light fitting that combines the red port sidelight and green starboard sidelight. The fitting is mounted on the vessel’s fore-and-aft centreline and uses internal sectors so that the red and green light are visible over their required respective arcs. It performs the same function as two separate sidelights when installed and approved for…
A curved section or loop formed in a rope without necessarily using either end. Many knots are formed by folding a bight in the rope and passing or turning it as required. The same word can also describe a broad, open bend in a coastline, so its meaning depends on whether the context is ropework…
A pump arranged to remove water that collects in a vessel’s bilge or other low internal space. Bilge pumps may be manual, electrically driven, engine-driven or portable. Automatic electric installations often use a level or float switch, while suction strainers, non-return arrangements and discharge pipework help the system operate without blockage or backflow. Pump capacity…
The lowest internal spaces of a vessel’s hull, where water and other liquids naturally collect. Bilge spaces lie below the normal working or accommodation areas and may be divided into separate compartments. Small amounts of water can enter through spray, rain, shaft seals, pipework or condensation, while fuel or oil may also find its way…
A stand or housing that supports and protects a vessel’s magnetic compass at the steering position. A traditional ship’s binnacle may incorporate lighting and corrector magnets or soft-iron correctors used during compass adjustment. On a yacht it may form part of the pedestal carrying the wheel, engine controls or instruments. The compass and its correction…
A pole fitted with a hook and usually a blunt point, used to pick up or control objects just beyond reach. A boat hook is commonly used to retrieve a mooring line, catch the ring or pick-up line of a buoy, recover a light object from the water or gently guide the boat away from…
The airflow component attributable to a vessel’s own motion through the surrounding air. It is a teaching term used when constructing apparent wind. The motion-wind vector acts opposite to the vessel’s velocity through the air; during ordinary forward motion it therefore appears to come from ahead and becomes larger as that velocity increases. Boat wind…
A strong post on a quay, pier or pontoon to which a vessel’s mooring lines are secured. Bollards are fixed to a structure capable of accepting the loads imposed by moored vessels. Their shape allows one or more lines to be led around them without slipping off. On board a vessel, a similar pair of…
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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