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 chronological record of a vessel’s operations, navigation and significant events. Entries can include time, position, course, speed, weather, sea state, engine or sail changes, watch handovers, communications, drills, defects, incidents and persons aboard. The required content and retention depend on vessel type, flag, company and voyage; a private craft’s passage log may be less…
Angular distance east or west of the reference meridian, expressed from 0 degrees to 180 degrees. Longitude identifies a meridian on a chosen geodetic reference system and is written with E or W, commonly in degrees and decimal minutes or decimal degrees. The internationally adopted reference meridian passes through Greenwich, and longitude combined with latitude…
The continuous watch maintained by sight, hearing and all appropriate available means to detect and assess relevant hazards. A lookout may be a specifically assigned person or a duty shared within a watch, depending on vessel, conditions and applicable requirements. The task includes detecting vessels, lights, shapes, sound signals, navigation marks, floating objects, weather and…
To slow until a vessel has little or no movement through the water. As a vessel loses way, the flow of water over its rudder and other control surfaces decreases, so conventional steering normally becomes less effective. The point at which useful control is lost depends on the vessel, propulsion, wind, current and available manoeuvring…
The lowest tidal level predicted to occur under average meteorological conditions from any combination of astronomical influences.
The fixed reference mark on a compass that represents the vessel’s fore-and-aft heading line. The heading is read where the lubber line intersects the graduations on the compass card. The line and compass must be installed in known alignment with the vessel’s heading reference; an installation error becomes part of the compass error. Some compasses…
To steer a sailing vessel closer towards the wind. Luffing up reduces the angle between the vessel’s heading and the true or apparent wind and normally requires the sails to be trimmed for the new course. The term describes a heading change, whereas a sail itself luffs when its leading edge loses smooth airflow and…
The northerly reference direction indicated by a magnetic compass free from local compass error. Magnetic north follows the local direction of the Earth’s magnetic field and differs from true north by magnetic variation, whose size and direction change with location and time. It should not be described simply as pointing directly at the moving north…
Moving through the water rather than merely moving over the ground with the surrounding water. A vessel may be making way under engine, sail, oars, tow or another means; the expression does not require its own propulsion. Conversely, a vessel drifting with a current can move over the ground while making little or no way…
The average height of the two successive high waters during neap-tide periods at a stated location and over a defined observation period.
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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