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 situation in which the available information indicates that two vessels may collide unless appropriate action is taken. A steady or nearly steady compass bearing with decreasing range is a strong warning, but appreciable bearing change does not always remove risk when approaching a very large vessel, a tow or at close range. All available…
For a sailing vessel to turn rapidly or unintentionally towards the wind. A round-up commonly occurs when heel, rudder load or weather helm exceeds the available steering control, particularly in a gust or with excessive sail. The sails may luff and the vessel may slow sharply or pass through the wind. Reducing heel and restoring…
A steering surface that produces a turning force by deflecting water flowing past it. A rudder may be hung on the stern, supported by a skeg, balanced around a stock, mounted as a spade or incorporated into other arrangements. It works only when there is sufficient relative water flow, which can come from vessel movement…
A position fix obtained by advancing an earlier line of position to the time of a later observation. It is commonly used when the same charted object is observed twice from a moving vessel, but observations of different objects or other lines of position can also be combined. The earlier line is transferred by the…
A navigation mark indicating navigable water around the mark. Under the IALA Maritime Buoyage System, a safe water mark has red-and-white vertical stripes and, when fitted, a single red spherical topmark. Its white light uses one of the characteristics allocated to this type of mark. It may mark a channel centreline, mid-channel point, landfall or…
The direction approximately at right angles to the vessel’s centreline on its port side. An object abeam to port has a relative bearing close to 270 degrees, or 90 degrees to the left of the bow. In less precise speech, ‘on the port beam’ may refer to a small sector around that direction rather than…
The after part of a vessel’s port side, or the relative direction abaft the port beam. As a structural location it lies towards the stern on the left when facing forward. As a lookout report, an object on the port quarter lies in the sector between approximately abeam and astern to port. The directional reference…
The tack on which the wind is coming from the vessel’s port side. On a conventional fore-and-aft rig the mainsail and boom are normally to starboard, but sail position is evidence rather than the defining rule and unusual or backed sails can mislead. Tack is determined by the side from which the wind is received….
A proprietary chartwork plotting instrument combining a rotating compass rose with straight edges and distance scales. It is placed on a paper chart and aligned with a meridian or parallel so courses and bearings can be plotted or measured without walking parallel rulers across the chart. Versions may include common chart-scale distance markings and conversion…
The wind direction occurring most frequently at a location during a stated period or season. A prevailing direction is a statistical description derived from observations and is often shown by a wind rose. It may change by season, time of day, weather pattern or height above the surface, and the most frequent direction need not…
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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