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.Signals and communication in the marine world are like a game of charades with the ocean as your stage. Picture a crew furiously waving flags screaming, “We’re out of snacks!” while another ship squints, trying to decode whether that’s a distress call or just terrible semaphore skills. Horns blast at decibels high enough to wake Poseidon, with meanings ranging from “I’m turning left” to “Move it or lose it!” And let’s not forget Morse code—nothing says “urgent message” like blinking a flashlight at a seagull for hours. Meanwhile, the VHF radio crackles with static and a dozen accents yelling about the weather, leaving everyone more confused than enlightened. It’s a symphony of organised chaos where somehow, miraculously, no one crashes into an iceberg. Usually.
The radio-frequency band from 3 to 30 MHz. Marine HF provides long-range voice, digital selective calling and data communications, principally by ionospheric sky-wave propagation beyond normal VHF and MF range. Coverage varies with frequency, time, season, solar activity, antenna and interference. GMDSS equipment, watchkeeping, licensing and channel use depend on vessel and sea area; HF…
A marine-radio system for sending digitally encoded alerts and calls to selected stations or groups. Digital Selective Calling, or DSC, operates through compatible VHF and MF/HF equipment and forms part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. A Maritime Mobile Service Identity identifies a vessel, coast station or group, allowing calls to be addressed…
The international reference time scale used for civil timekeeping, maintained close to Earth rotation by leap seconds. UTC is generated from atomic time and is the basis from which time-zone offsets are stated. It replaced Greenwich Mean Time as the principal technical reference for navigation, communications, meteorology and many legal or operational systems. UTC is…
A radio beacon that transmits essentially equally in all horizontal directions for direction-finding or identification. A receiver with an automatic direction finder can determine the relative bearing of an NDB signal and combine it with heading to obtain a bearing to or from the beacon. Marine radiobeacons historically supported coastal navigation, while NDBs remain more…
The radio-frequency band from 300 kHz to 3 MHz. Marine MF communications include the 2 MHz band used for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore voice and digital selective calling. Range is influenced by frequency, transmitter power, antenna, time of day, atmospheric noise and ground-wave or sky-wave propagation. The international MF distress and safety DSC frequency is 2187.5…
A ship-to-shore communication requesting medical advice for illness or injury aboard a vessel. The call connects the vessel with a telemedical or radio-medical advisory service through coast radio, satellite or another available communications route. The caller should provide position, contact details, patient history, observations, treatment given and available medicines or equipment. Urgency and distress procedures…
A shore facility that coordinates maritime search-and-rescue operations within an assigned search-and-rescue region. An MRCC receives distress alerts, assesses the incident, develops a search-and-rescue plan and tasks or coordinates suitable rescue units, vessels, aircraft and supporting services. It may work with adjacent centres and aeronautical rescue coordination centres. The centre coordinates rather than necessarily carrying…
An International Code of Signals flag whose single-letter meaning is “I require a tug.”. The Zulu flag may be displayed alone to convey this internationally assigned meaning. It can also appear as a character within multi-flag groups, where the complete group has a different coded interpretation. The signal communicates information or intention but does not…
An International Code of Signals flag whose single-letter meaning is “I am dragging my anchor.”. The Yankee flag may be displayed alone to convey this internationally assigned meaning. It can also appear as a character within multi-flag groups, where the complete group has a different coded interpretation. The signal communicates information or intention but does…
An International Code of Signals flag whose single-letter meaning is “Stop carrying out your intentions and watch for my signals.”. The X-ray flag may be displayed alone to convey this internationally assigned meaning. It can also appear as a character within multi-flag groups, where the complete group has a different coded interpretation. The signal communicates…
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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