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.Sailing closer to the wind than the sails and hull can support efficiently. When pinching, the sail’s leading edge may begin to lift and drive falls, reducing speed and water flow over the rudder. Although the heading points higher, the loss of speed and increased leeway can reduce progress made to windward. The boundary depends…
Angular vessel motion about a transverse axis, alternately raising and lowering the bow and stern. Pitch is one of the six rigid-body motions of a vessel and is commonly excited by waves, particularly when their encounter period relates to the vessel’s natural response. Unlike heave, which is vertical translation of the whole vessel, pitch is…
A graphical representation of positions, courses, bearings or other navigational information on a chart or plotting display, or the act of creating it. A plot may show a vessel’s fixes and dead reckoning, a planned route, a contact’s relative motion, tidal vectors, clearing bearings or danger limits. Paper-chart and electronic plotting use different tools but…
Struck or swept by a sea breaking over the vessel’s stern. A vessel is pooped when a following wave overtakes it and breaks onto the poop deck, afterdeck or cockpit. Water may flood open spaces, damage equipment or enter the accommodation, but the word does not necessarily mean that the vessel has been completely swamped….
A coastal or inland-water location equipped or designated for vessels to berth, shelter, transfer people or cargo, or obtain services. A port can include approach channels, anchorages, terminals, docks, marinas, repair facilities, customs areas and a harbour authority’s jurisdiction. Not every port performs cargo or passenger operations, and a port may exist within a harbour…
The standard spoken code word for the letter M in the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet. It is pronounced “MIKE” and is used to spell names, call signs and other information clearly over marine radio. The same word is used in the NATO phonetic alphabet. Mike is also associated with International Code of Signals flag M,…
Suspended microscopic water droplets or ice particles near the surface that reduce visibility but leave it at 1,000 metres or more. Under the meteorological distinction, fog reduces visibility below 1,000 metres while mist is the less dense obscuration above that threshold. Both can form through cooling moist air, evaporation or mixing, and visibility can vary…
A mast stepped abaft the mainmast on a multi-masted sailing vessel. On a ketch or yawl, the mizzen mast is the smaller after mast and carries the mizzen sail. Its position relative to the rudder stock forms the conventional distinction between those two rigs. On vessels with more complex rigs, “mizzen” identifies an after mast…
A substantial structure extending from the shore to shelter a harbour or provide a berthing face. A mole is normally built from rock, masonry, concrete or a combination of materials. It can reduce wave action within a harbour and may carry a roadway, railway, walkway, services or cargo-handling equipment. Its sheltered side may be designed…
A vessel whose main buoyant structure consists of a single hull. The term distinguishes conventional single-hulled vessels from multihulls such as catamarans and trimarans. A monohull may be sailing or powered and can have many different underwater forms, including displacement, semi-displacement and planing hulls. Its stability and motion depend on hull shape, loading, ballast 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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