These links may prove useful to those taking shorebased courses:

Sailing Issues (http://www.sailingissues.com/index.html) is an excellent website with detailed explanations of most aspects of navigation. Be aware though that in some areas it does go rather deeper than needed for the RYA Coastal Skipper course.

You could buy the Hydrographic Office Chart 5011 which contains explanations of all the chart symbols etc. Or you could download the US version for free from: http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/mcd/chart1/chart1hr.htm

Nathaniel Bowditch wrote “The American Practical Navigator” in 1798 and it has been maintained by the US Navy since. It is a mighty tome and it is available free from: http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/.  However, it is pretty technical and dry but it will answer nearly any navigation question you might ask. I have downloaded bits of it when needed and suppose that eventually I will have printed off all 38 chapters totaling 550 A4 pages!

Frank Singleton is a retired Met man and keen sailor. His weather web site (http://www.franksingleton.clara.net/) covers a huge area of weather forecasting and information. Exploration of the site will while away many happy hours (when the weather keeps you at home). Some of the material is advanced but there is a beginners area covering both day skipper and beyond.

The UK Met Office provides both weather forecasts and education on its web site (http://www.met-office.gov.uk/) . If you are selective then the education pages provide a good learning resource for both Day Skippers and Coastal Skippers. The site also provides both Inshore Waters Forecasts and Shipping Forecasts – both useful to us sailors. However, are you able to get further forecasts when you leave the shore?

All water users (including jet skiers!) must know the Rules of the Road (International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea – IRPCS). The detailed Rules can be found at: http://www.sailtrain.co.uk/Irpcs/internat.htm. This site also provides an excellent resource for Day Skipper and Coastal skipper students and also is a handy revision resource. A look at Skippers Tips on the site will be well worth the visit. More practice with the Rules can be found at: http://www.sailnet.com/collections/learningtosail/rules/start.htm

The Royal Yachting Association is the lead body for boating in the UK and a visit to its web site is always useful for a variety of boating information (http://www.rya.org.uk/). However, there is nothing within the site, which is helpful to those on the navigation classes!

Our local sailing clubs are Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club (http://www.nssc.org.uk/) and Newhaven Yacht Club (http://www.newhavenyc.co.uk/main.html) not to be confused with New Haven Yacht Club (http://www.newhavenyc.org/).
 

Cannot find what you are looking for then Google may well find it and also Wickapedia may also help.  Failing that you could just ask me!

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