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.
To move or turn a vessel by hauling towards an anchor or other secure point laid away from it. The anchor may be carried out by a boat, deployed from the vessel or set by another suitable method, after which a windlass, capstan, winch or tackle hauls the vessel along the rode. Repeating the process…
An anchor carried or laid away from a vessel so that hauling on its rode can move, turn or assist the vessel. A kedge is often smaller and easier to transport than the main bower anchor, but small or lightweight is not its defining property. It may be used for kedging, warping off a grounding,…
A portable compass designed to measure the magnetic bearing of a visible object. The user sights a landmark, navigation mark, celestial body or other vessel while reading its bearing. Successive bearings can establish a position fix, monitor whether a contact’s bearing is changing or help follow a planned bearing. Readings are magnetic unless converted and…
To turn a sailing vessel closer towards the wind. The instruction changes the vessel’s heading and usually requires the sails to be trimmed in as the apparent wind moves forward. It is broadly synonymous with luff up or head up in this context, although command usage can vary between crews. The turn is limited by…
With a vessel’s bow pointing directly into the true wind. A sailing vessel placed head to wind normally has little or no aerodynamic drive from its fore-and-aft sails, which luff unless backed or otherwise controlled. The condition is used during some sail-hoisting, lowering and reefing operations, but the best heading depends on the sail, rig,…
A projection of land extending from a coast into the sea or another body of water. Headlands are often visually prominent and may serve as charted landmarks, but they need not be high or narrow. Their shape reflects geology, erosion and deposition, and bays commonly lie between adjacent projections. Tidal streams, wind and waves can…
Forward movement of a vessel, with the bow leading through the water. A vessel making headway is moving ahead relative to the surrounding water, the opposite of making sternway. Headway creates water flow over the rudder and may therefore improve steering response, although the effect depends on the vessel and any propeller wash. The word…
The elevation of a navigational light’s focal plane above its stated vertical datum. For a shore light, the chart or light list states both the height and the datum used; the datum varies by hydrographic authority and location and must not be assumed always to be Mean High Water Springs. The focal plane is the…
The vertical distance of the sea surface above the chart datum at a stated place and time. Adding predicted height of tide to a charted drying height or depth gives an estimate of water level or available depth, provided the same datum is used. Chart datum is often related to Lowest Astronomical Tide but its…
The steering position or steering control of a vessel, and by extension the person operating it. The physical control may be a tiller, wheel, joystick, steering lever or other interface connected mechanically, hydraulically or electronically to rudders, drives or thrusters. ‘Take the helm’ means assume steering control, while helm orders direct the required steering action….
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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