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.To reduce a sail’s aerodynamic force by allowing airflow or pressure to escape from the working sail shape. Wind can be spilled by easing a sheet, twisting the sail, feathering closer to the wind, dropping a traveller or opening the leech through another control. The result can reduce heel, load or acceleration without immediately reducing…
A large lightweight headsail designed primarily for reaching or downwind sailing. A symmetric spinnaker has two interchangeable clews and is commonly controlled with sheets, guys and a pole; an asymmetric spinnaker has a defined tack and clew and may be set from a bowsprit or bow. Cut, cloth and intended wind angle vary widely. The…
A valve fitted to a through-hull opening so that water flow into or out of a vessel can be shut off. Seacocks isolate systems such as engine cooling-water intakes, toilets, sinks and drains. They are normally mounted directly on, or securely connected to, a skin fitting and must be compatible with the hull, pipework and…
The acquired ability to balance, move and work comfortably on a vessel in motion. Developing sea legs involves adapting posture, timing and movement to roll, pitch and acceleration and is separate from complete immunity to seasickness. Adaptation varies between people, vessels and conditions and can be lost after time ashore. Experience does not remove fall…
The coordinated use of personnel and facilities to locate people in distress, assist them and deliver them to a place of safety. Maritime SAR is organised through rescue coordination centres and sub-centres within agreed search-and-rescue regions and can involve coastguards, ships, aircraft, lifeboats, emergency services and other resources. The 1979 SAR Convention provides an international…
A navigational light that shows different colours or characteristics in defined directions or is visible only within a specified sector.
The international radiotelephony safety signal announcing an important navigational or meteorological warning or another safety message. The word is normally spoken three times, pronounced approximately ‘say-cure-ee-tay’, followed by the addressed station or all stations, the caller’s identity and the safety message under the applicable procedure. A digital selective calling safety announcement may precede voice traffic….
To make an anchor dig into the seabed and develop holding resistance. After the anchor reaches the bottom and suitable rode is paid out, a gradually increasing load aligns it and encourages the flukes or body to penetrate. Setting is verified by observing position, transits, rode behaviour or other evidence while applying a load appropriate…
A removable load-bearing connector formed by a bow or body closed with a pin or bolt. Common marine types include D, bow, screw-pin and bolt-type shackles used in anchoring, mooring, lifting and rigging systems. Shape, material, pin type, working load limit and certification must suit the direction and nature of the load. Side loading, point…
A propulsion arrangement in which an inboard engine turns a propeller through a shaft passing through the hull. The system commonly includes a gearbox, coupling, shaft, bearings, stern tube, shaft seal or stuffing box, and an external propeller supported by a strut or stern bearing where required. Alignment carries engine torque while allowing the hull…
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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