Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#galwayharbour – The Galway Harbour Company will today lodge a planning application with An Bórd Pleanála to significantly expand its existing footprint. Current Port capacity is seriously inadequate if it is to compete for, and win, new national and international…

#mgmboats – Irish boat firm MGM Boats has proved a big hit with its boats for sale stand at this week's London Boat Show, according to managing director of the Dun Laoghaire company, Gerry Salmon. Salmon says clients are looking…

#BuyingABoat - The head of a UK yacht brokers association has urged those thinking of buying a boat in 2014 to beware as prices tumble in Britain's second hand market. As Jane Gentry - CEO of the Yacht Brokers Designers…

#Oil - Fresh from securing the contract to appraise the Spanish Point prospect in the Porcupine Basin off Ireland's south-west coast, Dolphin Drilling has announced a new $255 million deal for the North Sea. Scandinavian Oil-Gas reports that the Aberdeen-based…

#Sunbeam - The National Monuments Service is making efforts to preserve the wreck of the schooner Sunbeam dislodged by the recent storms on a Kerry beach after more than a century beneath the sand, according to The Irish Times this…

#radiocourse – An online version of the RYA Marine Radio Short Range Certificate course has been launched at the London Boat Show and is now available via an interactive app for PCs and Mac with an iPad version coming online…

#maritime – Getting your message across has never been easier thanks to the power of the internet. From computers to smartphones to tablets, access to the web today is almost ubiquitous - increasingly even out on the water! - and…

#Fishing - A Galway senator has called for Government assistance for inshore fishermen devastated by the recent storms that have ravaged the west coast, damaging vessels, piers and slipways - and devastating many small coastal shellfish farms. As Galway Bay…

#IrelandSpain – LD Lines new Ireland-France-Spain routes service ferry Scintu is tonight making her maiden inbound voyage to Rosslare Europort with an arrival expected just after 21.00hrs, writes Jehan Ashmore. As reported last night on Afloat.ie, the Scintu departed St.Nazaire…

#Surfing - Devon surfer Andrew Cotton, a regular at Ireland's big wave hotspots, was spoilt for choice as the 'black swell' moved in on the coastlines of Western Europe earlier this week. But as the video above shows, he plucked…

#Search&Rescue - Surfers haven't been the only ones benefitting from the recent stormy weather, as RTÉ News reports on a Cork-based boat builder that's been testing its top models in the wild Atlantic swell. Youghal-based search-and-rescue (SAR) and pilot boat…

#Sunbeam - Gaeltacht-based journalist Seán Mac an tSíthigh has posted an image to Twitter of the wreck of a schooner exposed by the recent storms after 111 years buried in the sand. According to the Irish Shipwrecks database, the British…

MARINE NOTICE No 2 of 2014 Erne Navigation TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF PUBLIC JETTY AT CROM The public mooring jetty at Crom on Upper LoughErne is now closed for improvement work untilMid-March 2014. Waterways Ireland regrets any inconvenience that this may…

Following Ocean Safety's involvement in supplying Mullion PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices) to the Scottish Fisherman's Federation, Ocean Safety is set to work with Mullion on a further large scale contract. This involvement will see Ocean Safety assisting Mullion in fitting…

#rshyr – Royal St George Yacht Club offshore sailor Jerry Collins is no stranger to offshore racing having participated in four Fastnet races, two of which were on Sigma 38, Persistance. The Dubliner has also completed five Round Ireland Races, and is…

Once again the time has come to decide who among the deserving winners of Sailor of the Month should take the top honour of Afloat's Sailor of the Year. As in previous years, Afloat magazine is asking the public to…

#IrelandSpain – As previously reported on Afloat.ie, LD Lines launches a new passenger and freight ferry service linking Rosslare Europort in Ireland, the France west coast port of St.Nazaire and the northern Spanish port of Gijón. Click for LD lines…

The annual Holiday World Show Dublin, returns with holiday offers – including some auatic offerings –  from 24th to 26th January in RDS Simmonscourt. Celebrating its 25th year of making holidaymakers dreams come true, the Show is a one-stop shop…

#Surfing - Though the recent spate of Atlantic storms have made things difficult for inshore fishermen and devastated coastal areas throughout the country, one contingent that's been welcoming the wind is the world's big wave surfing community. As The Irish…

#beneteau – After a reported strong 2013, including the opening of Greystones Harbour Marina in County Wicklow, Irish boating firm BJ Marine is gearing up for 2014. Representing major international boating names Beneteau, Fairline, Sea Ray and Greenline, BJ Marine…