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.
An emergency in which a person has fallen or been lost from a vessel into the water. Immediate actions normally include raising the alarm, maintaining a continuous lookout and pointing, marking the position, deploying flotation and manoeuvring for recovery while making appropriate distress or urgency communications. The best recovery method depends on vessel, crew, weather…
Historically, a port-health document stating that no infectious disease was known to exist at a vessel’s port of departure. A clean bill could support the granting of pratique at the next port, while a foul or suspected bill could lead to quarantine or inspection. Requirements and terminology varied between jurisdictions and periods. Modern health clearance…
An expression meaning generally or when considered as a whole. Its origin is nautical. “By” described sailing close to the wind, while “large” described sailing with the wind free, from a more favourable direction. A vessel said to sail well by and large could perform under both broad types of wind angle. The phrase later…
An expression meaning very drunk, unsteady or out of control. In sailing, a sheet is a line controlling a sail rather than the sail itself. A vessel with several sheets loose or flying would have sails uncontrolled and could yaw or stagger in a way likened to an intoxicated person. The exact historical numbering is…
Sailing with the true wind coming from close to astern. On a run, sails are eased well out and a headsail may be blanketed by the mainsail. The apparent wind is normally lighter and farther aft than the true wind because the vessel is moving in the same general direction. Course instability, rolling and wind…
The lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail. On a mainsail it is secured near the gooseneck; on a headsail it is attached near the bow, furler or bowsprit. Tack also names the vessel’s relationship to the wind—port tack or starboard tack—and the manoeuvre of turning the bow through the wind. These meanings are related…
The left-hand side of a vessel when facing forward towards the bow. Port and starboard stay fixed to the boat, regardless of which way a person is facing.
A documented plan for navigating a vessel safely from berth to berth or between defined operational limits. It is developed through appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring and considers route, depths, tides, weather, traffic, regulations, reporting, pilotage, contingencies, abort points and the vessel’s capabilities. The plan must remain usable and be monitored throughout the voyage. Changes…
A line on which an observer’s position must lie according to one measured bearing, range, angle or other observation. Examples include a bearing line to a charted object, a radar range circle, a depth contour under suitable conditions or a celestial position line. Two independent LOPs may intersect at a fix, while three can reveal…
A proprietary inflatable man-overboard recovery system that provides a visible buoyant target and lifting arrangement. Depending on the model, deployment creates an inflatable horseshoe, recovery module or enclosure with light, drogue and lifting points to support and locate the casualty until recovery. It supplements rather than replaces immediate alarm, lookout, manoeuvring, position marking and rescue…
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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