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.
The magnitude of a vessel’s velocity relative to the Earth’s surface. SOG is commonly derived by GNSS from successive positions or signal measurements and is paired with course over the ground. It differs from speed through the water because current and leeway alter ground movement, while wind affects it indirectly through vessel motion. SOG can…
A local circulation in which near-surface air flows from water towards warmer land because of differential heating. It commonly develops by day as land heats faster than the adjacent sea, creating pressure differences and a return flow aloft. Onset, direction, depth and strength depend on coastline orientation, terrain, water temperature, cloud, stability and the background…
A tidal prediction location whose times and heights are obtained by applying published corrections to a standard port. Corrections may cover high- and low-water times and heights and can vary between springs and neaps or with the standard port’s predicted values. The exact method is publication-specific and may use interpolation rather than simple constant additions….
A navigational light that shows different colours or characteristics in defined directions or is visible only within a specified sector.
The international radiotelephony safety signal announcing an important navigational or meteorological warning or another safety message. The word is normally spoken three times, pronounced approximately ‘say-cure-ee-tay’, followed by the addressed station or all stations, the caller’s identity and the safety message under the applicable procedure. A digital selective calling safety announcement may precede voice traffic….
A vessel whose hull operates with substantial buoyant displacement support while also developing dynamic lift at higher speeds. Semi-displacement forms can exceed the practical speed range of a comparable pure displacement hull without achieving the low immersed volume and lift-dominated condition of a full planing craft. They often have flatter after sections, moderate length-to-beam ratios…
The forward impulse or surge imparted to a vessel or floating object by waves or swell. In traditional nautical usage, the send of the sea describes the bodily movement or momentum produced as a wave lifts and carries the vessel. It may be felt near a harbour entrance, shoal, wall or other place where wave…
To make an anchor dig into the seabed and develop holding resistance. After the anchor reaches the bottom and suitable rode is paid out, a gradually increasing load aligns it and encourages the flukes or body to penetrate. Setting is verified by observing position, transits, rode behaviour or other evidence while applying a load appropriate…
A prescribed geometric shape displayed by day to indicate a vessel’s status, operation or restriction under the collision regulations. Balls, cones, diamonds and cylinders, normally black, are displayed singly or in specified combinations and orientations. They can indicate circumstances such as anchoring, being aground, not under command, restricted manoeuvrability, fishing, sailing while also under power…
The Met Office marine forecast for the named sea areas around the British Isles. It contains gale warnings in force, a general synopsis and forecasts of wind direction and force, weather and visibility for each area; sea state is also included in the operational product. It is issued on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard…
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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