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.A spar that supports the head of a four-sided fore-and-aft sail. The gaff is attached near its forward end to the mast and extends aft and usually upward. Its jaws or other mast fitting guide it, while a throat halyard raises the forward end and a peak halyard controls the outer end and sail shape….
The system of lines, wires, spars and fittings that supports and controls a vessel’s masts and sails. Standing rigging supports the mast and normally includes shrouds and stays. Running rigging moves or controls sails and spars and includes halyards, sheets, guys, lifts and associated blocks and winches. As a verb, rigging means fitting, arranging or…
The exposed or upper part of a vessel situated on or above its weather deck. The phrase distinguishes deck-level and superstructure spaces or equipment from accommodation, machinery and storage below deck. What counts as above deck depends on the vessel’s layout and the particular deck being referenced. People working above deck are exposed to weather,…
The uppermost corner or edge of a sail. On a triangular mainsail or headsail, the head is the reinforced corner from which the sail is hoisted by its halyard. It may carry a headboard, cringle, shackle or another fitting suited to the sail and rig. On four-sided sails, the upper edge may be a head…
A buoyant structure used to support a floating landing stage, bridge, platform or vessel hull. In a marina, “pontoon” commonly means the floating walkway alongside which boats berth, including its finger berths and access bridge. The same word also describes individual flotation units beneath catamarans, work platforms and temporary bridges. Pontoon height and movement change…
A trade name for ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fibre used in high-strength, low-stretch marine ropes and fabrics. The fibre has a high strength-to-weight ratio, floats, absorbs little water and resists many chemicals and ultraviolet exposure. Marine uses include halyards, control lines, lashings, soft shackles, standing rigging and protective textiles. Performance depends on the product grade, construction, cover,…
Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than visible light and longer than X-rays. Solar ultraviolet radiation is commonly divided into UVA, UVB and UVC bands. The atmosphere blocks almost all UVC and much UVB, while UVA and some UVB reach the surface and can damage skin and eyes. At sea, exposure may be increased by long…
A rotating set of blades that produces thrust by accelerating water astern or ahead. Marine propellers are mounted on a shaft, saildrive, stern drive, pod or outboard gearbox. Diameter, pitch, blade area, number of blades and rotation direction are matched to the vessel, engine, gearing and intended operating conditions. Poor selection or damage can cause…
A rotating shaft that transmits torque from an engine or gearbox to a propeller. In a conventional shaft installation it passes through the hull via a stern tube and seal or stuffing box, is supported by bearings, and connects to the gearbox through a coupling. The propeller is secured at the outer end, commonly on…
A water-lubricated bearing that supports a vessel’s propeller shaft near its passage outside the hull. The bearing has longitudinal water channels and a resilient or composite bearing surface within a rigid shell. Water flowing through the grooves lubricates and cools the shaft as it rotates, and the unit is commonly fitted in a stern tube…
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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