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.
The conventional direction used to determine the port-hand and starboard-hand sides of a buoyed route. It is generally the direction followed when approaching a harbour, river, estuary or other waterway from seaward. Where a route runs along a coast or has several branches, the competent authority determines the direction and charts may show it with…
A navigation light visible over a restricted sector and used to indicate a particular direction.
The measured separation between two positions or features. Marine distances are commonly expressed in nautical miles, where one international nautical mile is exactly 1,852 metres. Shorter distances may use cables or metres, while chart scales and electronic systems can use different units according to context and settings. A distance may be measured along a route,…
The calculated separation between a vessel’s current position and a selected waypoint. A GNSS receiver or chartplotter normally updates this value as the vessel moves and may use a great-circle, rhumb-line or other calculation configured by the system. It is often shown in nautical miles and contributes to time-to-go or estimated-arrival calculations. The value is…
A two-pointed hinged instrument used to transfer and measure distances on a chart. The points can span two positions, step a distance along a line or transfer a measurement to the chart’s distance scale. On a Mercator chart, distance is commonly read from the latitude scale at approximately the same latitude as the measurement, not…
An isolated marine structure used for mooring, berthing guidance or protection. A dolphin may be formed from a group of piles, a rigid column or a caisson. Mooring dolphins carry fittings to which lines are secured, while breasting dolphins provide a contact face that helps position a vessel alongside a berth. Protective dolphins can shield…
In the direction that a river or other watercourse normally flows. Downstream is generally towards the lower reaches or mouth, while upstream is towards the source. The terms describe the watercourse’s normal geographical direction and are useful when identifying banks, traffic direction and the relative position of features. In tidal rivers, the instantaneous current can…
In or towards the direction to which the wind is blowing. A position downwind lies on the lee side of the reference point. A vessel travelling downwind is making progress generally in the same direction as the true wind, although its exact point of sail may be a broad reach or a run rather than…
The vertical distance from a vessel’s waterline to its lowest immersed point. Also spelled “draft” in American English, draught may be measured forward, aft or at another stated position, with mean draught derived from specified readings. The lowest point may be a keel, propeller, rudder, drive leg or other projection rather than the hull shell…
A vessel or floating plant equipped to excavate or remove material from the seabed. Dredgers deepen or maintain channels and berths, recover aggregates, prepare construction sites and carry out other seabed work. Types include trailing suction hopper, cutter suction, grab and backhoe dredgers, each using different equipment and operating methods. A working dredger may be…
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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