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 spar that supports the head of a four-sided fore-and-aft sail. The gaff is attached near its forward end to the mast and extends aft and usually upward. Its jaws or other mast fitting guide it, while a throat halyard raises the forward end and a peak halyard controls the outer end and sail shape….
A waterborne craft or other structure used, or capable of being used, as a means of transport on water. In the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the term includes every description of water craft, non-displacement craft, wing-in-ground craft and seaplanes used or capable of being used for transportation on water. The exact legal…
An expression meaning to be in serious disagreement or conflict. A loggerhead was historically a long-handled iron tool with a bulbous end that could be heated, including for warming pitch aboard ships. The idea of people using such tools against one another is a proposed explanation for the idiom, but the specific story is not…
The system of lines, wires, spars and fittings that supports and controls a vessel’s masts and sails. Standing rigging supports the mast and normally includes shrouds and stays. Running rigging moves or controls sails and spars and includes halyards, sheets, guys, lifts and associated blocks and winches. As a verb, rigging means fitting, arranging or…
The exposed or upper part of a vessel situated on or above its weather deck. The phrase distinguishes deck-level and superstructure spaces or equipment from accommodation, machinery and storage below deck. What counts as above deck depends on the vessel’s layout and the particular deck being referenced. People working above deck are exposed to weather,…
Weather with little cloud and no precipitation or obscuration significantly affecting the observer. In everyday marine use, clear conditions normally indicate an open sky and good visibility. The word should not be treated as a complete forecast: strong wind, a difficult sea state, heat, cold or other hazards can exist beneath a clear sky. Visibility…
A report confirming that a line or other potential obstruction is free and no longer holding the vessel. During departure, a crew member may report that a mooring line is “clear” once it has been released, recovered aboard and is no longer able to foul the propeller, rudder or another fitting. The report gives the…
The uppermost corner or edge of a sail. On a triangular mainsail or headsail, the head is the reinforced corner from which the sail is hoisted by its halyard. It may carry a headboard, cringle, shackle or another fitting suited to the sail and rig. On four-sided sails, the upper edge may be a head…
A buoyant structure used to support a floating landing stage, bridge, platform or vessel hull. In a marina, “pontoon” commonly means the floating walkway alongside which boats berth, including its finger berths and access bridge. The same word also describes individual flotation units beneath catamarans, work platforms and temporary bridges. Pontoon height and movement change…
A sheltered berthing facility for recreational and small commercial craft, normally organised around pontoons, quays or mooring berths. Facilities vary but may include shore power, water, fuel, waste disposal, toilets, showers, repairs, storage and launching. A marina may lie within a harbour or occupy a separate basin protected by breakwaters or locks. Entry, speed, radio,…
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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