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.
In a direction forward of the vessel’s starboard beam and to the right of its heading. The expression gives a relative sector rather than an exact bearing. A contact anywhere between nearly dead ahead and nearly abeam to starboard may be described this way, with a relative bearing or clock bearing added when greater precision…
In a direction abaft the vessel’s starboard beam and to the right of its centreline. The expression describes the relative sector between approximately abeam and astern on the starboard side rather than a single bearing. A more precise report can add relative bearing, clock position and distance. The sector moves with the vessel’s heading. A…
Directed or moving from the water towards the land. The term commonly describes wind, current, waves or movement relative to a coast. An onshore wind blows towards land; an onshore current sets towards it, but their directions need not be the same and can vary along an irregular coastline. Onshore conditions can create a lee-shore…
Rough, broken or confused water produced when strong flow passes over an irregular seabed or meets another stream. Overfalls commonly form near banks, shoals, ledges, headlands and abrupt changes of depth, where tidal flow is accelerated or disturbed. They can also occur where streams converge. The surface may become steep and chaotic even when nearby…
The sideways movement of a vessel through the water caused mainly by wind acting on its exposed surfaces. Leeway carries a vessel downwind of the direction in which it is heading. The leeway angle is the angle between the vessel’s heading and its resulting track through the water, and it varies with wind strength, point…
One section of a route or passage between two defined points. In a route made from waypoints, each leg begins at one waypoint and ends at the next. It has an intended direction and distance, and may also include a planned speed, estimated time and navigational constraints. Monitoring progress along a leg involves comparing the…
The vessel’s overall fore-and-aft length measured between the specified extreme points. LOA usually spans the foremost and aftermost permanent parts of the hull or vessel, but standards, marinas and authorities differ over whether bowsprits, pulpits, davits, rudders, outboards and other projections are included. It is therefore a defined measurement only when the convention is stated….
A fixed structure carrying a navigational light intended to assist mariners by marking a position, route or hazard.
An enclosed section of a waterway in which the water level is changed to transfer vessels between different levels. A chamber is closed by gates and filled or emptied through sluices, culverts or pumps until its level matches the waterway ahead. Locks range from manually operated canal structures to large controlled systems for ships, and…
The distance or speed value indicated by a vessel’s log instrument at a recorded time. A cumulative distance-log reading is entered in the navigation record at regular intervals and compared with the previous reading to find distance run through the water. Some instruments also display instantaneous speed through the water. The reading is affected by…
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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