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.
A dimensionless factor describing how satellite geometry amplifies ranging and timing errors in a GNSS position or time solution. Satellites spread widely across the sky usually give lower DOP and stronger geometry, while clustered satellites or poor vertical distribution give higher DOP. Variants include geometric, position, horizontal, vertical and time DOP according to the components…
The international radiotelephony spelling word for the letter Z. It is used to spell call signs, identifiers and words clearly over voice radio. Its prescribed spoken form is represented as ‘ZOO LOO’. Zulu is also used informally for Coordinated Universal Time in military and aviation time-group notation, and the International Code of Signals assigns a…
A United States government agency responsible for science and services relating to weather, climate, oceans and coasts. Usually abbreviated to NOAA, it is part of the US Department of Commerce. Its work includes weather forecasting and warnings, climate and ocean observation, hydrographic surveying and nautical charting, coastal services, fisheries management and environmental research. Mariners may…
A map projection formed by projecting the Earth’s surface from its centre onto a tangent plane. Every great circle appears as a straight line, making the projection useful for planning the shortest route on a spherical Earth. Scale and shape distortion grow rapidly away from the tangent point, and only less than one hemisphere can…
Waves or turbulent water generated by a vessel’s hull or propulsion system. Hull-generated wash forms part of the wake, while propeller and thruster wash can create strong local jets even when the vessel has little speed over the ground. Shallow or confined water can amplify wave height, bank interaction and seabed disturbance. Wash can endanger…
A scheduled period of duty during which assigned personnel maintain specified responsibility for a vessel and its operations. A navigational watch can include lookout, steering, position monitoring, collision avoidance, communications and machinery awareness, while separate engine, anchor, cargo or security watches may operate. Watch length and organisation vary with vessel, crew, regulation and voyage. A…
The vessel’s path through the water after allowing for leeway but before applying tidal or other current. In traditional chartwork, compass course is corrected to true and adjusted for leeway to obtain the water track. Adding the current vector then gives the predicted ground track, so the construction separates motion relative to the water from…
The fore-and-aft length of a vessel’s hull at the water surface for a stated loading and attitude. LWL is measured between the forward and after intersections of the hull with the specified waterline. It changes with displacement and trim and, on overhanging hulls, can increase as the vessel heels or settles into a wave. The…
A vessel’s movement or momentum through the water. Headway is forward motion and sternway is astern motion. ‘Steerage way’ describes sufficient relative water flow for useful steering response, but the amount required depends on rudder, propulsion, current and vessel design and is not the sole technical meaning of way. A vessel can retain way after…
A defined geographic position used as a reference in navigation or route planning. A waypoint is normally stored as latitude and longitude and may mark a course alteration, reporting point, approach position or user-created reference. It can be part of a route without representing a physical buoy, landmark or safe-water mark. Coordinates, datum, name 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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