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.
To change tack by turning a sailing vessel’s bow through the wind. During the manoeuvre the sails luff and then fill on the opposite side as the vessel passes through the no-go zone. Sufficient momentum, coordinated steering and controlled release and trimming of sheets are needed, with exact timing depending on vessel, rig and conditions….
Changing from one tack to the other by turning the bow through the wind, or progressing by a series of such manoeuvres. A single tack moves the sails from one side to the other; repeated tacking allows a sailing vessel to make progress towards a destination lying within its direct no-go sector. The optimum headings…
To assume responsibility for operating a vessel’s steering control. A proper handover identifies the course or heading, steering mode, traffic, wind and current, vessel response and any current helm order. The person taking over should confirm control and demonstrate that the wheel, tiller or autopilot interface is responding as expected. Taking the helm does not…
A narrow projection of sand, shingle or other sediment extending from the shore into the water. A spit forms through the transport and deposition of material by waves and currents and remains attached to land at one end. Its outer end may curve or develop shoals, and parts of it can be exposed, awash or…
The difference in height between mean high water springs and mean low water springs. It represents the average tidal range around spring tides at a particular standard port, derived from observations rather than from one individual high and low water. Spring ranges are generally greater than neap ranges because solar and lunar tidal influences reinforce…
A period in the astronomical tidal cycle when the range between successive high and low waters is relatively large. Springs generally occur near new and full moon when lunar and solar tide-generating effects reinforce one another. The name refers to the tide springing or rising more strongly and has no connection with the season of…
General Nautical Terminology,Weather (Meteorology)
A substantial inlet or passage of water whose exact geographic form varies by regional usage. A sound may be a broad channel between land masses, a coastal inlet, or water separating an island from a mainland. Unlike strait, bay or fjord, the name does not impose one universal combination of width, origin or connection between…
A measurement of water depth or the act of obtaining that measurement. Traditional soundings use a lead line, while echo sounders determine travel time of acoustic energy between transducer and seabed. A charted sounding is normally reduced to chart datum, whereas an onboard display may show depth below transducer, keel or surface depending on its…
The component of a vessel’s velocity over the ground in a specified desired direction. Speed made good can be measured along the intended track, towards a waypoint or in another stated direction and is the rate of change of distance made good. A vessel may have high speed over the ground but low or negative…
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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