SOLAS4 vs GoAstern Games

In this interactive course you will learn about all the requirements of the SOLAS convention related to radio communications on board a ship (Part IV). You will learn the types of radio equipment, the requirements of the convention, the composition of radio equipment depending on the sea area. The course includes five different visual tests that will help you strengthen your knowledge. It will be interesting and informative.

Drill the seamanship skills every sailor is supposed to know — and most of us forget between certificates. Built for RYA Day Skipper and Yachtmaster candidates, Sea Cadets, and anyone who wants the basics back at their fingertips before the next passage. WHAT'S INSIDE Visual & audio signals • Morse code — ITU letters and digits, audio playback at 5–20 WPM, screen-flash and Aldis-lamp torch mode, microphone-based live decode • Semaphore — 8-position arm code, A–Z plus the J-prefix numerals • ICS maritime flags — letter flags and numeric pennants, full operational meanings (Oscar = man overboard, NC = distress, AB = need a tug urgently) • NATO phonetic — A–Z plus 0–9 with audio review and confusion drills Watch-keeping • Nav lights — fourteen vessel types × four aspects (head-on, stern, both beams), fog-signal audio playback, Rule 21 arcs-of-visibility diagram • Day shapes — IRPCS Rules 24–30 black-silhouette signals • IALA buoyage — cardinal, lateral, isolated-danger, safe-water, special, and emergency-wreck marks. Region A / B switch • IRPCS — twenty animated give-way scenarios covering Rules 9–18 Navigation • Chartwork — DR / EP / CTS, water and ground vectors, tidal triangles, fix and waypoint symbols • Tides — heights diagram, rule of twelfths and sinusoidal calculators, secondary-port corrections, time-at-height with a live tidal curve • Pilotage — transits, leading lines, danger bearings with a live NLT/NMT calculator, harbour-entry pre-flight, IPTS port traffic signals • GPS literacy — datums, COG/SOG/CTS, DOP, eight failure modes and how to spot them Safety • Mayday + DSC — interactive script builder for the Channel 16 voice call • Distress signals — IRPCS Annex IV non-flag signals (flares, EPIRB, SART, dye, arms-wave) • MOB recovery — six animated manoeuvres (figure-eight, beam-reach return, Williamson, Anderson, Scharnow, quick-stop) • Pre-departure check — 44-item interactive checklist with progress saved across sessions Seamanship • Knots — the eight RYA knots with step-by-step tying • Anchoring — anchor types, holding ground, scope, kedge use cases, setting and weighing procedure • Met Office weather — shipping-forecast terminology, forward and reverse drills HOW YOU USE IT Three areas: Games, Drills, and Reference. Games — flashcards with spaced repetition, beat-the-clock timed rounds, a mixed-exam mode that draws from every module, and Soundings — a battleships × minesweeper hybrid where you hunt a hidden fleet using IALA cardinal-mark clues. Two-player Bluetooth Hangman and Soundings for paired phones in range. Drills — procedural exercises with no scoring. Run through the MOB manoeuvres or work the pre-departure checklist before each passage. Reference — single-page lookup for every catalogue in the app. Pull it up at the chart table when you need to remember what a flag means at a glance. An in-game reference drawer opens with one tap from any game so you can check without losing your place. PRIVACY Progress and entitlement data are stored locally on the device. Sign-in is optional and uses a passwordless magic-link, Apple, or Google. No tracking, no ads.