Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Marine journalist and sailor Arthur Reynolds has passed away peacefully in Blackrock, Co Dublin, in his 94th year. Reynolds, founding Editor/Publisher of The Irish Skipper and publisher in the mid-1970s of Ireland Afloat, was a lifetime sub-editor and a former night…

Loughs Agency has confirmed the appointment of Sharon McMahon as Chief Executive Officer. Mrs McMahon will assume the role on a permanent basis following a recent selection process, having served as the Agency’s most senior official in an interim capacity…

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has dismissed the remaining members of the Inland Fisheries Ireland board after multiple resignations within the past 10 months left it without quorum. As The Journal reports, five members of the board including its chair Professor…

PSE Kinsale Energy Limited will be carrying out pipeline and debris clearance surveys commencing on or around Friday 17 February, weather depending. The approximately 10 days of surveys will take place along the routes of decommissioned — but remaining in-situ…

Patrols at sea by the Revenue Commissioners’ maritime unit are a key theme of a new documentary made by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (RnaG) on cocaine use on the west coast. Customs officers with the Revenue Commissioners’ patrol vessel were…

Atlantic rowers Dr Karen Weekes and Damian Browne, sea swimmer Jane Curtin and kayaker Dan Clohisey are among winners at the annual Outsider magazine awards.  The awards sponsored by Sport Ireland celebrate “people and organisations who are doing amazing things…

A call for fresh inquests into the deaths of 50 people in the 1979 Betelgeuse tanker explosion on Cork’s Whiddy Island has been made by international maritime expert Michael Kingston. Kingston, whose father Tim died in the explosion, has written…

The sailing world has lost a pioneering multihull designer and boat builder. Derek Kelsall, the man who during his life created the modern-day trimaran, who famously introduced Eric Tabarly to multihulls and who was one of the first to champion…

Dear Reader, It was another busy year at Afloat.ie in 2022, and we want to express our thanks for your continued support. Because of your generous backing and our other supporters, Afloat.ie reached 1.9m unique readers last year. Our website…

The British government tried to claim State immunity when seeking to recover a sonar array from one of its submarines which dragged an Irish fishing vessel backwards in 1989. As The Irish Independent reports, State Papers reveal that Irish civil…

We wish our followers in Ireland and worldwide a very Happy Christmas, a prosperous New Year, and great sailing and boating in 2023. Whether inshore or offshore, on sea, river, lake or canal, and whether local, regional, national or international,…

A Defence Forces veterans’ charity has been approved of a €1m grant for the development in Cork city of a hostel to help ex-servicemen who have fallen on hard times. Cork City Council advanced the grant to the charity ONE,…

The Department of Transport has been advised that a geophysical survey will be undertaken in the north Celtic Sea, south of Co Cork, for equipment testing and training purposes. The operations are subject to weather and operational constraints but are…

Campaigners for a heated outdoor swimming pool at the site of Dublin City Council’s ill-fated whitewater rafting course proposal have released conceptual images to visualise how it could transform the Docklands area. Last year the two doctors behind the plans…

The Government is investing 14 million euro to develop adventure tourism, including wild swimming and kayaking, as part of its national outdoor recreation strategy. The five-year strategy was published by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys in Castlecomer…

BreakingNews.ie reports that two bodies have been recovered from waterways in Co Clare over the weekend following in two separate incidents. In Ennis, a body was recovered from the River Fergus on Saturday afternoon (26 November) after it was found…