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.To break an anchor free of the seabed and raise it until the vessel is no longer anchored by it. The vessel is normally manoeuvred or hauled towards the anchor while the rode is recovered, avoiding excessive side load on the windlass. When the rode is vertical the anchor is short stay; once broken out…
A mechanical device that applies, holds or controls tension in rope, wire or cable using a rotating drum or gypsy and gearing. Sailing winches commonly use a self-tailing or plain drum around which the line takes turns without being permanently stored. Other winches store wire or rope on a reel and may be manual, electric,…
The aerodynamic force or effective exposed area through which wind acts on a vessel and its equipment. Hull topsides, superstructure, rig, sails, covers, deck cargo and people contribute according to projected area, shape, height and wind angle. Windage affects leeway, low-speed manoeuvring, anchoring and mooring loads even when the vessel is not moving through the…
A powered or manual machine used to heave, veer and control an anchor rode. A chain gypsy engages calibrated chain, while a warping drum handles rope and a combined unit may manage a rope-chain rode. Windlasses may have horizontal or vertical shafts and use electric, hydraulic or manual power with a clutch and brake. The…
A charted category of unusually large buoy, generally more than five metres in diameter, whose size or function makes it a significant hazard or high-consequence object. IHO chart specifications use the category for items such as offshore loading or single-point mooring buoys and very large ocean-data-acquisition buoys. Their moorings, hoses, chains or operating exclusion areas…
The water area a moored or anchored vessel may occupy as it rotates or moves around its restraint system. For a single anchor it is influenced by deployed rode, vessel length, anchor position and movement caused by wind and current. A mooring’s riser, chain, elasticity and seabed geometry can create a different excursion pattern rather…
A permanent or semi-permanent rope termination or join formed by interweaving, burying or otherwise integrating the rope’s elements. Eye, short, long and end-to-end splices use methods specific to laid rope, double braid, single braid or high-modulus fibre. A correctly designed splice can retain more rope strength and create less bulk than a knot, but efficiency…
Mooring lines led diagonally to limit a vessel’s forward or aft movement alongside. A forward spring and an aft spring oppose movement in opposite directions. Their names describe where they lead and the movement they control rather than simply the end of the vessel from which they are handled, so terminology should be agreed clearly…
An inclined prepared surface leading between land and water for launching, recovering or building vessels. A slipway may be a simple ramp for trailers, a railed cradle system or a large construction berth. Gradient, surface, tidal access, depth, turning space, load limit and permitted users determine which vessels and equipment can use it. Algae, mud,…
A sudden shock load caused when slack in a line is taken up abruptly. An anchor, mooring or towing line can snatch when vessel movement alternately slackens and then jerks it tight. Inadequate scope, little elasticity, waves and poor lead can increase the load on the line, fittings and vessel. In a separate verb use,…
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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