Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

“Get your bearings — always think water safety”. That’s what Dublin Port harbourmaster Capt Michael McKenna is urging sailors, anglers, kayakers, windsurfers, kitesurfers, paddleboarders, swimmers and jetski users to remember on the lower reaches of the Liffey and out into Dublin…

Porpoises, dolphins, fin whales, puffins and guillemots near the Cliffs of Moher...master of the new Aran island ferry Shane McCole promises much marine life on the new direct run between Galway city and Inis Mór. The 40-metre vessel Saoirse na…

“Like a real live James Bond movie.. another absolutely insane adventure” is how the ocean and cold water swimmer Nuala Moore describes it. She’s talking about the relay which she and Donegal swimmer Anne Marie Ward participated in to swim…

“I never thought Cork would ever finish,” says Nuala Moore of that wonderful part of this coastline which she navigated in 2006. Moore was then one of six swimmers who undertook a round Ireland relay swim of 1,330 km in…

There are no words to describe the impact on relatives and friends of having someone lost at sea, but Elleesa Rushby’s own family experience is informing research she is undertaking on its toll. It is known as ambiguous loss, and…

Optimism is not a sentiment one associates with the Irish fishing industry at the moment – but Kerry based Dr Kevin Flannery does feel there are some reasons to be cheerful. Flannery, a rare fish expert, former fisheries officer, chair…

When the Arctic walrus nicknamed “Wally” arrived in Kerry’s Valentia and then swam over to Wales, award-winning filmmaker Doug Allan was away working on a feature film in Nepal. However, Allan has heard of such visits before – albeit unusual…

Tuning in to the rhythms of the reef, singing happy birthday to belugas, how polar bears will smell you before they see you, why sharks get a bad press and how it’s more common for surfers than divers to get…

“A near-collision with a drilling ship, two capsizes, lots of peanut butter and Nutella consumed” was how Jasmine Harrison (21) of North Yorkshire described her successful Atlantic crossing earlier this year. Harrison set a new world record for the youngest…

The Aberdeen of the Irish Atlantic rim – that’s the potential future for Shannon Foynes, the State’s second port after Dublin. It faces an exciting future, with ESB’s Moneypoint site in County Clare to be transformed into a green energy…

Is Ireland “ocean literate”? Tireless campaigners for better awareness of our impact on our marine environment may not be so sure, but Galway-based scientist Dr Noirín Burke is ever optimistic. Dr Burke is director of education at Galway Atlantaquaria in…

“Aquabikes” caught the attention of former Irish Times journalist Kevin Myers back in 1982. The Irishman’s Diary writer was seriously concerned about the pressure windsurfers were putting on the RNLI Dun Laoghaire lifeboat at the time. He had read about…

Turbot Island's main claim to fame has been its sighting by trans-Atlantic aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown before they crash-landed at Derrygimlagh bog in north Connemara on June 15th, 1919. Turbot or “Inishturbot” is a few miles west…

No fire brigade, no doctors, no ambulance service – when a problem arises at sea, seafarers have to tackle it themselves. That’s what makes the seafarer a “special breed” who is always “solution-focused”, according to Port of Galway harbourmaster Capt…

Communities who believe they are at risk from wind turbines and other proposed new infrastructure deserve more than just a tightly managed consultation exercise, however, well the consultation is conducted. That’s the view of chartered surveyor Michael Ocock, who has…

Polar explorer, adventurer and boatbuilder extraordinaire Jarlath Cunnane is moving apace with his lockdown project to build a replica of the James Caird, the Shackleton Antarctic expedition lifeboat. Cunnane’s main aim is to remember the Scots carpenter Henry or Harry…