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.Nautical weather terminology is like a secret language designed to keep landlubbers guessing. Why say ‘storm’s brewing’ when you can declare there’s a ‘cyclonic gale on the Beaufort scale’? And don’t even get us started on terms like ‘sea state 5’—is that a weather warning or a new action movie? Mariner-speak turns clouds into ‘cumulonimbus monstrosities’ and drizzle into ‘light spindrift.’ Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to figure out if we need a raincoat. Don’t worry, we can help you navigate this foggy jargon without needing a barometer tattooed on your arm!
An official warning that gale-force winds are expected or occurring in a specified marine area. Thresholds and wording follow the issuing service’s definitions and include validity and area information. Mariners should consider timing, local acceleration, sea state and shelter rather than treating the warning as a single wind value everywhere.
The specified values or constraints applied at the edges of a mathematical or physical model. In marine forecasting and tidal modelling they describe influences such as water level, flow, wind or pressure at the model limits. Results can be sensitive to inaccurate boundary conditions even when the internal calculations are sound.
A prediction of future atmospheric conditions for a specified area and period. Marine forecasts commonly address wind direction and force, sea state, weather, visibility and warnings. They should be checked from an appropriate official service, interpreted with the forecast area and validity time, and updated as observations change.
A global and regional numerical weather and climate modelling framework using an icosahedral triangular grid and nonhydrostatic dynamics. ICON was developed through German research and meteorological institutions and is used operationally by the German Weather Service, with global and nested regional configurations. Its grid avoids the severe polar convergence of a conventional latitude–longitude mesh. ICON…
The global numerical weather prediction configuration used by the UK Met Office for large-scale forecasts and boundary data. It is based on the Unified Model and operates in deterministic and ensemble systems, with atmosphere, land and coupled ocean components according to the operational configuration. It drives higher-resolution regional models including UKV. “UKMO Global” is an…
The United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s operational global numerical weather prediction system. GFS assimilates observations and forecasts atmospheric conditions worldwide, supplying fields used in public products, GRIB services and as input to other forecast systems. Its configuration, resolution and forecast schedule are updated over time. A single deterministic run is one possible forecast,…
An intergovernmental research institute and operational service producing global numerical weather predictions and Earth-system data. ECMWF provides deterministic and ensemble analyses and forecasts from medium-range through sub-seasonal and seasonal timescales, maintains a major meteorological archive and supports European Copernicus services. Model output is not itself a marine warning or guaranteed local forecast. Users should consider…
The Met Office’s high-resolution limited-area numerical weather prediction configuration centred on the United Kingdom and Ireland. UKV uses a fine inner grid with a coarser outer domain and boundary conditions from the Met Office global model. It resolves coastlines, terrain and some convective processes in greater detail than a global model. Higher resolution does not…
The United Nations specialised agency coordinating international cooperation in weather, climate, operational hydrology and related environmental observations and services. WMO establishes technical frameworks for observing, exchanging and using data and supports warning, forecasting and capacity-building through its member states and territories. National services remain responsible for their operational forecasts and warnings. Its maritime work includes…
A World Meteorological Organization data format for compact exchange of gridded meteorological and oceanographic fields. GRIB files may contain forecast wind, pressure, precipitation, temperature, waves, currents or other parameters on a defined grid at stated times and levels. GRIB2 provides richer metadata and encoding than GRIB1. A GRIB viewer turns model fields into charts but…
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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