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 tack a sailing vessel by turning its bow through the wind. As the bow crosses the wind, the sails cease drawing and then fill on the opposite side, placing the vessel on the other tack. The command may initiate a coordinated sequence of helm movement and releasing and trimming sheets, but exact calls and…
Moving a vessel stern-first through the water or applying astern propulsion. Applying astern power does not always produce immediate sternway because the vessel may still carry forward momentum. Once moving astern, many vessels steer less predictably than ahead, and propeller side force, wind, current, hull form and rudder arrangement can strongly affect the motion. Astern…
A sailing manoeuvre in which the stern passes through the wind and the sails change from one side to the other. A gybe occurs with the true wind abaft the beam and may be deliberate or accidental. As the wind changes sides, a boom or other sail-handling equipment can cross the vessel rapidly and the…
Suspended microscopic water droplets or ice crystals near the surface that reduce horizontal visibility below 1,000 metres. Fog forms through several processes, including cooling moist air to saturation, moving warm moist air over colder water, radiation cooling and evaporation into cold air. Mist is the corresponding obscuration when visibility remains at least 1,000 metres under…
The charted height of a feature above chart datum when that feature covers and uncovers with the tide. Drying heights are used for rocks, banks and areas that are above chart datum but submerged when the tide rises sufficiently. They are normally printed differently from soundings so the navigator can distinguish a height above datum…
The falling phase of the tide between high water and the following low water. Ebb describes changing water level; the associated horizontal flow is an ebb tidal stream. The stream may continue after local high or low water, reverse at a different time, or follow a channel rather than simply flowing directly away from the…
An instrument that measures water depth by timing sound pulses reflected from the seabed. A transducer sends a pulse through the water and receives the returning echo. The instrument uses the elapsed time and an assumed speed of sound in water to calculate and display a depth, often as a numerical value and a scrolling…
The measurement of water depth using the travel time of a reflected sound pulse. The pulse is transmitted towards the seabed and its echo is detected after travelling down and back. An echo sounder converts that elapsed time into a depth using an assumed speed of sound through the water. An echo sounding is an…
An official vector chart database issued by or under government authority for use in an Electronic Chart Display and Information System. Usually abbreviated ENC, it has standardised content, structure and format conforming to International Hydrographic Organization standards. Its geo-referenced objects can be queried and selectively portrayed, allowing ECDIS to perform route monitoring and safety checks…
A plotted position obtained by advancing a known position and applying estimated effects such as tidal stream and leeway. Usually abbreviated EP, it begins with a fix or another accepted position, then uses course steered, speed through the water and elapsed time together with the best available estimates of external movement. In traditional UK chartwork…
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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