Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The Courtmacsherry All Weather RNLI Lifeboat "Val Adnams" was called into action at 5.04 pm on Saturday to assist a 25ft pleasure boat in distress off the Seven Heads coast in West Cork. The pleasure boat had issued a "Mayday"…

Courtmacsherry RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat Val Adnams was called out by Valentia Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre at 11.35am on Thursday morning (30 May) to go to the immediate aid of a 26ft fishing/pleasure boat which had got into difficulties…

The final race of the Schull Harbour Sailing Club May Series was run on Sunday in West Cork following cancellation due to inclement weather on the previous day. The fleet started in the harbour in a fresh 22 knots westerly…

Volunteers from Irish lifeboat stations including Dun Laoghaire, Arklow and Union Hall were among the 2,500 guests at a special garden party at Buckingham Palace last Thursday (23 May) to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution…

The Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival in West Cork will be held this weekend, starting on Friday and continuing until Sunday. “This area has a long history of engagement with trans-Atlantic sailing ships, with Eastern-bound ships picking up a Pilot off…

The second race of the May league for the 'Genaveve Plate' was raced at Schull Harbour Sailing Club in West Cork on Saturday in near 'tropical' conditions, according to organisers. The fleet started downwind from the harbour line in a…

The opening race of the 2024 summer sailing season at Schull Harbour Sailing Club in West Cork was staged on Saturday in near-idyllic weather as the mixed cruiser fleet competed for the Rossbrin Boatyard Trophy. After starting in the inner…

While a strong solar storm is producing spectacular displays of Northern lights over Ireland, large numbers of basking sharks have been sighted in waters off the south and south-west coasts. “We have seen 60, 70, and even 80 basking sharks…

Donald MacQueen Street Jnr of Glandore and the Caribbean and formerly New York has gone from among us after an extraordinary life of nearly 94 years, in which he experienced a sometimes picaresque existence. Throughout it, he significantly encouraged, instructed,…

Members of the Kinsale Yacht Club Cruising Group had a wonderful start to the cruising season with a BBQ and overnight stay at the Naval Services Yacht Squadron in Haulbowline Naval Base in Cork Harbour. The event was organised by…

RNLI coxswain Mark Gannon with West Cork’s Courtmacsherry lifeboat was on a call out in December 1981 when he and his crew heard over the radio about the Penlee lifeboat disaster - when an entire lifeboat crew was lost off…

Afloat.ie regrets to record the death of Don Street of Glandore in his 94th year. For many years a Caribbean enthusiast, writing a series of successful pioneering pilot books for the area, he was also a renowned authority on ocean…

Look for a surefire cure for seasickness, and no better person to ask than someone who worked on a lightship off the Irish coast. Lightship duty was both tough and boring, highly dangerous during wartime, and particularly hard on the…

Cork County Council has confirmed funding for a foreshore license, design and site investigation for Keelbeg Pier in Union Hall. The Council and Union Hall pier users met with Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue to discuss the development of the old…

Schull Harbour Hotel has been announced as the new title sponsor for the Calves Week 2024 Regatta in West Cork. This partnership will last for the next three years and will bring a great racing and onshore festivities experience to…

Baltimore Sailing Club’s Joseph Griffiths will be joining the two Northern Ireland youth sailors selected for the Griffin Project 2024. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Griffin Project is a Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) initiatve which gives young sailors…