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 spar set across a mast to support and spread a square sail or another transverse sail arrangement. A square sail’s head is bent or attached along the yard, whose braces rotate it horizontally and whose lifts and halyards support or raise it according to the rig. Yards may be fixed, lowered, hoisted or sent…
Lightweight streamers used to show local airflow over a sail or wind direction around a vessel. Pairs placed on each side of a headsail luff indicate attached or disturbed flow and help adjust sheet trim and steering. Leech telltales show flow leaving a sail, while shroud or masthead telltales can indicate local apparent wind but…
The horizontal movement of water associated with the astronomical tide. A tidal stream is described by its set, the direction towards which it flows, and its rate, usually in knots. It may reverse between flood and ebb, rotate continuously or form eddies, and its timing need not coincide with local high and low water. Predicted…
A set of charts showing predicted tidal-current direction and rate at successive stages of a tidal cycle. Arrows show set and figures commonly give spring and neap rates for hourly intervals before and after a reference port’s high water. Some atlases use different time references, symbols or interpolation methods, so the legend and edition govern…
The periodic change in sea level produced principally by the gravitational interaction of the Moon, Sun and Earth and by the Earth’s rotation. Astronomical tide is the predictable sum of many constituents whose periods and amplitudes vary by location because of basin shape, depth and coastline. It produces high and low waters and is related…
Published predictions of tidal times and heights for stated locations, dates and reference datums. Tables commonly list high and low water for standard ports and provide corrections or direct predictions for secondary locations. They may also include tidal curves, coefficients, time-zone information and explanatory notes, but tidal streams are often published separately. The correct year,…
A lever attached to the rudder head or steering system and moved to control the rudder. On a simple arrangement, pushing the tiller to port turns the rudder so that the vessel’s bow turns to starboard when moving ahead, and vice versa. Some vessels use linkages or auxiliary tillers, so the exact movement should be…
The estimated time remaining before a vessel reaches a selected waypoint or destination. Often abbreviated to TTG, it is calculated from the remaining distance and an assumed or measured rate of closing. Navigation equipment may update the value continuously using speed made good towards the selected point rather than total speed over the ground. The…
A geographic or administrative region using the same civil-time offset from Coordinated Universal Time. Time zones are commonly expressed as UTC plus or minus a number of hours and sometimes minutes. Governments define civil zones and daylight-saving changes, while marine forecasts, radio schedules, tide tables and logbooks may remain in UTC or another explicitly stated…
A low raised strip or structural edge along a deck margin that helps retain feet and loose objects aboard. A toe rail may be timber, metal or moulded into the hull-to-deck joint and can include drainage gaps or perforations. On some vessels it also carries fittings or contributes to edge stiffness, but those functions depend…
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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