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 mariner with detailed local knowledge who advises the person navigating a vessel in pilotage waters. A maritime pilot boards or remotely assists a vessel for a port approach, river, canal or other area where specialised knowledge is required. The pilot advises on local depths, currents, traffic, tugs, berths and procedures, but the exact legal…
Sailing closer to the wind than the sails and hull can support efficiently. When pinching, the sail’s leading edge may begin to lift and drive falls, reducing speed and water flow over the rudder. Although the heading points higher, the loss of speed and increased leeway can reduce progress made to windward. The boundary depends…
Angular vessel motion about a transverse axis, alternately raising and lowering the bow and stern. Pitch is one of the six rigid-body motions of a vessel and is commonly excited by waves, particularly when their encounter period relates to the vessel’s natural response. Unlike heave, which is vertical translation of the whole vessel, pitch is…
A graphical representation of positions, courses, bearings or other navigational information on a chart or plotting display, or the act of creating it. A plot may show a vessel’s fixes and dead reckoning, a planned route, a contact’s relative motion, tidal vectors, clearing bearings or danger limits. Paper-chart and electronic plotting use different tools but…
A coastal or inland-water location equipped or designated for vessels to berth, shelter, transfer people or cargo, or obtain services. A port can include approach channels, anchorages, terminals, docks, marinas, repair facilities, customs areas and a harbour authority’s jurisdiction. Not every port performs cargo or passenger operations, and a port may exist within a harbour…
Suspended microscopic water droplets or ice particles near the surface that reduce visibility but leave it at 1,000 metres or more. Under the meteorological distinction, fog reduces visibility below 1,000 metres while mist is the less dense obscuration above that threshold. Both can form through cooling moist air, evaporation or mixing, and visibility can vary…
A substantial structure extending from the shore to shelter a harbour or provide a berthing face. A mole is normally built from rock, masonry, concrete or a combination of materials. It can reduce wave action within a harbour and may carry a roadway, railway, walkway, services or cargo-handling equipment. Its sheltered side may be designed…
A buoy connected to seabed ground tackle and intended to provide or identify a point for securing a vessel. The vessel normally connects to a pickup line, pendant, ring or riser associated with the buoy rather than anchoring independently. Buoy colour, markings, ownership and permitted use vary by jurisdiction and purpose; some mooring buoys also…
An annual publication of predicted astronomical data used for celestial navigation and related calculations. It tabulates the Greenwich Hour Angle and declination of the Sun, Moon, navigational planets and selected stars, together with auxiliary information for reducing observations and determining time. National almanacs may also contain sunrise, sunset, twilight and other reference tables. A nautical…
A unit of distance defined as exactly 1,852 metres. The international nautical mile is approximately 1.1508 statute miles and underlies the knot, which is one nautical mile per hour. Its length was chosen to approximate one minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth. One minute of latitude is close to a nautical…
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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