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.Progressive wear caused by rubbing between a line, sail, cable or other component and another surface. Movement under load can abrade fibres, coatings, stitching or metal at fairleads, cleats, spreaders, stanchions, sheaves and contact points. Internal fibre-on-fibre movement, heat and contamination may also damage a line even when external wear looks limited. Chafe protection spreads…
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 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…
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…
A mooring line leading from the bow area of a vessel to a shore fitting or other secure point. It helps control the bow’s position and is used with stern, breast and spring lines as required. The direction in which it leads determines whether it mainly restrains movement away from the berth, along the berth…
A spring line led from the bow area of a vessel towards a shore point farther aft. Its fore-and-aft lead primarily checks the vessel’s forward movement along the berth. It works with an opposing spring and other mooring lines to control surge, sway and yaw caused by wind, stream, tide or passing traffic. Names such…
A knot that forms a fixed loop which normally does not tighten when loaded. A correctly dressed bowline is widely used to form an eye around a suitable object or to provide a loop in the end of a line. It is often relatively easy to untie after a steady load, although this depends on…
A floating marker or device used for navigation, mooring, measurement or another designated purpose. Most navigational and mooring buoys are secured to a charted or defined position, while some scientific or tracking buoys drift. Shape, colour, topmark, light and sound can identify the function of an aid-to-navigation buoy under the applicable buoyage system. A buoy…
Close beside and generally parallel to another vessel, a berth or a landing place. A vessel comes alongside to embark or disembark people, transfer stores or cargo, receive services, or secure at a berth. Fenders protect the contact area and mooring lines control relative movement once the vessel is in position. Wind, stream, tide, wash,…
A device connected to a vessel by a rode and deployed to the bottom to limit the vessel’s movement. Different anchor designs hold by burying in the seabed, hooking suitable ground, resisting through shape and weight, or a combination of these effects. Holding performance depends on anchor design and size, bottom type, setting technique, load…
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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