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.Lines rigged on each side of a boom to guide and contain a sail as it is lowered. They normally lead from the mast or upper rigging to points along the boom, forming a cradle for a mainsail or similar fore-and-aft sail. They may be fixed, adjustable or integrated with a sail cover and are…
A pair or series of separated lights that define a navigational leading line when seen in vertical alignment.
A marked line with a weighted lead used to measure water depth and, in some forms, obtain a seabed sample. The line carries distance marks that are read when the lead reaches the bottom and the line is approximately vertical. A hollow or tallowed recess in the lead can bring up material indicating whether the…
A traditional warning call made as a sailing vessel begins or commits to a tack. The call alerts the crew that the bow will pass through the wind and that the sails, boom and sheets will change sides. It commonly follows a readiness call such as ‘Ready about’, but wording and exact timing vary between…
A shore lying downwind of a vessel so that wind tends to set the vessel towards it. A lee shore reduces the room available to recover from loss of propulsion, steering or sail control. Waves may steepen or break as they approach shallow water, and an onshore current can worsen the set even when the…
Unable to complete a tack because a sailing vessel has lost drive while pointing into or very close to the wind. With the sails luffing and little water flow over the rudder, the vessel may stop turning and begin to drift or make sternway. It commonly results from insufficient speed before the tack, excessive rudder…
Situated, moving or operating relatively close to the shore. The word is relative unless a regulation, forecast area, routeing measure or local publication gives it a defined boundary. It may describe waters, a direction towards the shore, or the landward side of another vessel or feature. Inshore water is not necessarily calm, shallow or safer…
The specialised United Nations agency responsible for global standards concerning the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping. IMO provides the forum in which member states develop and adopt international conventions, codes, recommendations and other instruments on matters including ship safety, pollution prevention, liability, facilitation and maritime security. Those instruments take legal effect through…
The internationally agreed navigation rules intended to prevent collisions between vessels at sea. Commonly called the COLREGs or collision regulations, the 1972 Convention sets out responsibilities for lookout, safe speed, assessing collision risk and vessel conduct, together with requirements for lights, shapes and sound signals. It contains 41 rules arranged in six parts and is…
An aid to navigation placed on or moored above an isolated danger with navigable water all around it. Under the IALA Maritime Buoyage System it is coloured black with one or more broad red horizontal bands and carries two black spheres as its topmark. Its light, when fitted, is white and shows a group of…
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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