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.The direction in which a vessel should be steered to achieve a required track after allowing for expected set and drift. A course-to-steer calculation combines the intended ground track with the forecast tidal stream or current and, where appropriate, leeway. The result may first be a true direction and then be converted through variation and…
The appropriate flag of a host state flown by a visiting vessel in accordance with local law and maritime custom. It is normally hoisted after clearance or entry into the host state’s waters at the position customary for a foreign national flag, often the starboard spreader on a yacht. The correct design may be a…
A proprietary plough-pattern anchor with a hinged shank. The name is commonly pronounced “secure”. Its weighted plough-shaped fluke is intended to turn and dig into suitable seabeds as load is applied, while the hinge allows the shank to change angle relative to the fluke. Setting and holding depend on anchor size, seabed, scope, deployment and…
To overturn a vessel beyond its normal stable operating attitude, potentially onto its side or fully inverted. Capsize can result from excessive wind or wave force, loss of stability, flooding, shifting load, collision or handling error. The outcome differs greatly between a self-righting yacht, recoverable dinghy, multihull, open powerboat and larger vessel. A knockdown from…
An aid to navigation indicating that the named side of the mark is the side on which to pass or find the safest water. North, east, south and west cardinal marks are named for the quadrant in which they lie relative to a danger or feature. Their black-and-yellow bands, paired cone topmarks and, when fitted,…
To release a mooring, towing or other securing line from its fitting. The expression is commonly used when a vessel leaves a berth, buoy, rafted position or tow. A line may be cast off from aboard, released ashore and recovered, or slipped so that it can run free without someone remaining on the berth. The…
A multihull vessel with two hulls connected by crossbeams, a bridge structure or a deck. Catamarans may be sail- or power-driven and range from small beach craft to cruising yachts, workboats and large ferries. The hulls are usually similar, but need not be identical in every design, and accommodation or payload may be carried in…
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 business or person supplying equipment, consumables or provisions for vessels. A ship chandler commonly serves commercial ships in port, sourcing and delivering stores, tools, safety equipment, spare parts, deck supplies and provisions within a vessel’s turnaround time. A yacht chandler generally sells equipment and maintenance supplies for recreational craft. The term describes the supplier’s…
A defined or naturally navigable passage through a body of water. A channel may be the naturally deeper part of a river, estuary or coastal area, or a surveyed and dredged route maintained for shipping. Buoys, beacons, leading marks, lights or charted limits may identify its sides and alignment. Charted depth, width and marking do…
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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