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.
At or just below the water surface, so that water washes over the object or feature. The term may describe a low deck or a natural feature such as a rock. On a nautical chart, an awash feature is one whose relationship to the water surface varies with tide, waves or water level, so the…
For the wind direction to change anticlockwise when viewed on a compass. For example, a change from north through northwest towards west is backing. The opposite change, clockwise around the compass, is called veering. Backing describes the direction of change, not its cause, speed or forecast significance. Local effects, weather systems and frontal passages can…
A black ball-shaped day signal used alone or in combinations to show a vessel’s status. Depending on its number and arrangement with other shapes, a ball can contribute to signals for conditions such as being at anchor, aground, not under command or constrained by draught. The complete display must be interpreted rather than treating every…
A fixed aid to navigation that marks a position, hazard, boundary or route.
The maximum width of a vessel, measured across the hull at the stated reference level. Beam is a principal dimension, but published figures may refer to moulded beam, extreme beam or another defined measurement and can include or exclude projections. The widest point is not necessarily at the vessel’s longitudinal midpoint. Beam influences space, resistance…
A point of sail with the true wind coming approximately across the vessel’s beam. The vessel’s course is roughly at right angles to the true-wind direction. Because the vessel is moving, the apparent wind normally comes from forward of the beam, and sail trim must respond to that apparent wind rather than to the nominal…
To alter a sailing vessel’s course farther away from the wind direction. Bearing away increases the angle between the bow and the wind, for example from close-hauled towards a reach or from a reach towards a run. “Bear off” and “fall off” are related expressions, although preferred usage varies. As the apparent wind moves aft,…
The horizontal direction of an object or point from an observer, expressed relative to a stated reference. A true bearing is measured clockwise from true north, a magnetic or compass bearing from the corresponding north reference, and a relative bearing from the vessel’s heading or fore-and-aft line. Bearings are commonly written as three figures from…
The forward-left area or direction from a vessel when looking towards the bow. “Port” identifies the vessel’s left side when facing forward, while “bow” identifies its forward part. A report that an object or vessel is “on the port bow” therefore places it in the forward port quarter relative to the observer. The expression provides…
Farther towards the stern than a stated point or object on a vessel. It is a relative positional term: equipment abaft the mast lies on the stern side of the mast, while a compartment abaft the bridge lies behind the bridge in the vessel’s fore-and-aft orientation. Abaft does not necessarily mean at the stern and…
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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