This week, as always, you’ll get the best and the unusual maritime stories on This Island Nation with Afloat.ie. So click on this link below now, because podcasts are meant to be listened to and when you listen, you are one of ‘the family of the sea’...

But do you ever think of other members of the family.... The seafarers....

I hope you will think more about them after you listen to the Podcast and a man who is dedicating his work to raising public awareness about their importance to those of us who live on land...

And you will also be taken on a voyage between Ireland and France and hear about the development of the wine trade and an explanation, perhaps, of why the Irish have become afficionados of wine!

What you may not know is that this particular trade had associations with the slave trade.....

Away from that pleasant – and unpleasant – aspect of life, there’s also the story of the SOAP Report, released to mark a most unusual marine wildlife journey. But it’s not about soap - it’s about Penguins...

Over now to the Podcast here on Afloat, where there’s a lot more to hear about the maritime world: