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.Marine navigation has its own secret language, and let’s face it—half of it sounds like someone making things up after too much grog. You’ve got your ‘dead reckoning,’ which isn’t nearly as ominous as it sounds, and ‘bearing,’ which has nothing to do with polar bears but everything to do with pointing the right way. Don’t even get us started on ‘knots’—why measure speed like you’re tying a shoelace? And then there’s ‘fix (not for your engine) and ‘DR’ (spoiler: it’s not a doctor). If you’re baffled, don’t worry—we’re here to help you decipher this nautical code so you can sound like a pro, not a landlubber who’s lost their compass.
Official or authoritative publications giving descriptive navigation information that supplements nautical charts. They can describe coast and harbour approaches, hazards, currents, climate, routeing, regulations, reporting, pilotage, facilities and local procedures that cannot be shown fully on a chart. Hydrographic offices issue regional volumes under names such as Sailing Directions or Pilots. The correct volume, edition,…
A voyage or distinct navigational leg made by a vessel between defined places or operational stages. A passage can be coastal, offshore, inland or between nearby berths and need not cross open water. It is commonly supported by a passage plan covering appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring from berth to berth or through another clearly…
A vessel-specific table or graph showing magnetic-compass deviation for a range of headings. Deviation is the angular error caused by the vessel’s own magnetic fields and is determined by swinging the compass and comparing known headings or bearings. The card records east or west corrections, often with separate values for principal and intercardinal headings and…
A collision-warning condition in which another object’s bearing remains nearly steady while its distance decreases. If two vessels continue with unchanged velocity, a steady relative bearing and closing range indicate that their tracks lead to the same point at approximately the same time. Repeated visual bearings, radar plotting or reliable relative-motion data can reveal the…
An official publication announcing corrections or information affecting nautical charts and navigational publications. Notices can provide permanent chart corrections, temporary or preliminary information, publication amendments and details of new or changed aids and hazards. Numbering, frequency, format and correction procedure depend on the issuing hydrographic office or competent authority. A notice must be matched to…
A bearing expressed by a named cardinal or intercardinal direction rather than by degrees. The four cardinal directions are north, east, south and west; intercardinal and secondary-intercardinal points divide the compass further. A named bearing can be true, magnetic or compass-referenced, and that reference must be stated when it matters. Cardinal wording is useful for…
Navigational and meteorological warnings, forecasts and other urgent safety-related information broadcast to ships. Usually abbreviated to MSI, it includes navigational warnings, meteorological warnings and forecasts, search-and-rescue information and other urgent messages relevant to safe navigation. The information is coordinated for defined service areas and issued by authorised providers. MSI is distributed through services including NAVTEX…
A satellite-based system that provides positioning, navigation and timing information to compatible receivers. GNSS is the collective term for constellations including the United States GPS, Europe’s Galileo, Russia’s GLONASS and China’s BeiDou, together with augmentation systems and regional services. A receiver measures signals from multiple satellites to calculate position and time. Accuracy and integrity depend…
An RYA training publication containing simulated nautical-almanac and pilotage information for shorebased navigation exercises. Northern and Southern Hemisphere editions are paired with the appropriate RYA training charts and course exercises. They provide practice tables and information resembling real navigation publications so students can learn chartwork, tides, pilotage and passage planning in a controlled fictional setting….
A fictional non-navigational chart produced for teaching and practising RYA navigation and chartwork exercises. Training charts reproduce many conventions of real paper charts and are paired with specified RYA course books, exercises and training almanacs. Different numbered charts cover the northern or southern training schemes and must be matched to the intended material. They are…
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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