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.A waterproof hat with a broad brim shaped to protect the face and neck from rain and spray. The rear brim is longer so that water runs clear of the collar, while the front and side brim gives protection without obstructing vision excessively. Traditional versions were made from oiled fabric; modern examples commonly use coated…
A substantial inlet or passage of water whose exact geographic form varies by regional usage. A sound may be a broad channel between land masses, a coastal inlet, or water separating an island from a mainland. Unlike strait, bay or fjord, the name does not impose one universal combination of width, origin or connection between…
A measurement of water depth or the act of obtaining that measurement. Traditional soundings use a lead line, while echo sounders determine travel time of acoustic energy between transducer and seabed. A charted sounding is normally reduced to chart datum, whereas an onboard display may show depth below transducer, keel or surface depending on its…
A long structural member used to support, extend or control sails, rigging, signals or equipment aboard a vessel. Masts, booms, yards, gaffs, bowsprits, spinnaker poles and whisker poles are spars. They may be timber, aluminium, steel or composite and carry compression, bending, torsion and local loads through fittings and rigging. A spar’s section, support and…
The component of a vessel’s velocity over the ground in a specified desired direction. Speed made good can be measured along the intended track, towards a waypoint or in another stated direction and is the rate of change of distance made good. A vessel may have high speed over the ground but low or negative…
The magnitude of a vessel’s velocity relative to the Earth’s surface. SOG is commonly derived by GNSS from successive positions or signal measurements and is paired with course over the ground. It differs from speed through the water because current and leeway alter ground movement, while wind affects it indirectly through vessel motion. SOG can…
To reduce a sail’s aerodynamic force by allowing airflow or pressure to escape from the working sail shape. Wind can be spilled by easing a sheet, twisting the sail, feathering closer to the wind, dropping a traveller or opening the leech through another control. The result can reduce heel, load or acceleration without immediately reducing…
A large lightweight headsail designed primarily for reaching or downwind sailing. A symmetric spinnaker has two interchangeable clews and is commonly controlled with sheets, guys and a pole; an asymmetric spinnaker has a defined tack and clew and may be set from a bowsprit or bow. Cut, cloth and intended wind angle vary widely. The…
A local circulation in which near-surface air flows from water towards warmer land because of differential heating. It commonly develops by day as land heats faster than the adjacent sea, creating pressure differences and a return flow aloft. Onset, direction, depth and strength depend on coastline orientation, terrain, water temperature, cloud, stability and the background…
A valve fitted to a through-hull opening so that water flow into or out of a vessel can be shut off. Seacocks isolate systems such as engine cooling-water intakes, toilets, sinks and drains. They are normally mounted directly on, or securely connected to, a skin fitting and must be compatible with the hull, pipework and…
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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