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.Steps or a steep ladder providing access through a companionway between deck levels. On a small craft they commonly lead between the cockpit and accommodation and may be removable to provide machinery access. Larger vessels may use more conventional stairs, but the term still refers to the access within the companionway rather than to the…
An instrument that indicates direction relative to a defined north reference. A magnetic compass aligns with the local horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field and indicates magnetic or compass direction. Gyrocompasses and electronic heading systems use different principles and may indicate true or calculated heading when correctly configured. A magnetic compass is affected by…
A proprietary plough-pattern anchor with a hinged shank. The name is commonly pronounced “secure”. Its weighted plough-shaped fluke is intended to turn and dig into suitable seabeds as load is applied, while the hinge allows the shank to change angle relative to the fluke. Setting and holding depend on anchor size, seabed, scope, deployment and…
To overturn a vessel beyond its normal stable operating attitude, potentially onto its side or fully inverted. Capsize can result from excessive wind or wave force, loss of stability, flooding, shifting load, collision or handling error. The outcome differs greatly between a self-righting yacht, recoverable dinghy, multihull, open powerboat and larger vessel. A knockdown from…
A multihull vessel with two hulls connected by crossbeams, a bridge structure or a deck. Catamarans may be sail- or power-driven and range from small beach craft to cruising yachts, workboats and large ferries. The hulls are usually similar, but need not be identical in every design, and accommodation or payload may be carried in…
Progressive wear caused by rubbing between a line, sail, cable or other component and another surface. Movement under load can abrade fibres, coatings, stitching or metal at fairleads, cleats, spreaders, stanchions, sheaves and contact points. Internal fibre-on-fibre movement, heat and contamination may also damage a line even when external wear looks limited. Chafe protection spreads…
A fore-and-aft sailing rig whose mainsail is triangular, with its luff set along the mast and its foot usually controlled by a boom. Also called a Bermuda rig and historically a Marconi rig, it commonly includes one or more headsails set before the mast. It may be used on sloops, cutters, ketches and other arrangements,…
A designated place for a vessel to lie, or a sleeping place aboard. In a harbour or marina, a berth is the allocated position where a vessel moors alongside, between piles or in another defined arrangement. Below deck, a berth is a bunk or other sleeping space. The word also appears in the expression “give…
A pump arranged to remove water that collects in a vessel’s bilge or other low internal space. Bilge pumps may be manual, electrically driven, engine-driven or portable. Automatic electric installations often use a level or float switch, while suction strainers, non-return arrangements and discharge pipework help the system operate without blockage or backflow. Pump capacity…
The lowest internal spaces of a vessel’s hull, where water and other liquids naturally collect. Bilge spaces lie below the normal working or accommodation areas and may be divided into separate compartments. Small amounts of water can enter through spray, rain, shaft seals, pipework or condensation, while fuel or oil may also find its way…
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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