Floating pot marker rope as seen in Clew Bay

Discarded and lost fishing gear remains a serious and often invisible hazard for cruising sailors in Irish and nearby waters. A recent near‑miss in the St George’s Channel, when viewed alongside a previous Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) investigation off the West Cork coast, underlines how quickly these encounters can escalate and how critical early, practical responses can be. 

In the early hours of Wednesday 4 March, a cruising yacht was motoring north in very light winds in the St George’s Channel, en route from Milford Haven in Wales towards Bangor, Co Down. At just before 1 am, approximately midway between Wicklow Head and Bardsey Island (position 52°51.16’N 005°17.85’W), the crew felt a sudden thump, and the engine stopped immediately. While the engine would run in neutral, it could not be engaged in gear, indicating that something had fouled the saildrive. In darkness, all that was visible was a long “tail” trailing astern. With only light winds but relatively settled conditions, the crew were able to continue under sail at around 3-4 knots through the water, with reduced speed over the ground due to the tide. 

It was not until daylight and later arrival in Greystones Marina that the scale of the problem became clear. What had initially appeared to be a stray line was in fact the cod‑end of a trawl net, over 10 metres long and more than 3 metres wide, wrapped around the saildrive. A tow was required for the final approach to the harbour, and the yacht was safely secured later that afternoon. 

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A nicely written, eclectic selection of anchorages around the British Isles. The accounts of the chosen anchorages have been authored by distinguished cruising sailors and experienced journalists. The two-page description of each anchorage is brief, accompanied by coloured chartlets and photographs throughout, giving enough information to entice a sailor or other visitor to call into these places.

This is a book worth including in a cruising yacht’s on-board library, so that it might be dipped into while planning a cruise or exploring around the British Isles.

Publisher: ‎ Adlard Coles

Print length: ‎ 256 pages

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1399423540

When Alex and I crossed the Atlantic, we read books non-stop, hundreds of books. Yet when we remain fixed to land, there seems to be little time to spend with books until something anchors us to one spot. And so, last week, a little carpal tunnel surgery gave me several days of respite from chores. And glory be, I read a book. In two days, cover to cover, I devoured the words of Garrett Carr’s The Boy from the Sea. His debut novel, a masterpiece.

Garrett hails from Donegal and teaches creative writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre of Queen’s University Belfast. Although not a book about sailing, it is most certainly a book highly recommended to take along on a summer cruise.

A fisherman walking along the shore encounters a baby in a barrel on the rocky shore near Killybegs. Without any thought, he snatches the baby up and takes it home to his wife and tells her they are going to keep it. They already have a son, but they soon adopt this mystery child as their own. As this child matures, it becomes clear that he is ‘special’ and makes people feel content. Things go well for a spell, when the fishing is good.

But the story takes many twists as the family struggles with declining fishing stocks, competition from ever larger vessels, lack of money, jealousy for attention, animosity between the ‘brothers’, and demands from other family members. The style of writing is evocative and the reader becomes engrossed. Halfway in, I couldn’t put it down.

It’s a novel of self-discovery for all involved, compassionate and lyrically written. For a few days, I forgot about my pain as I bathed in theirs. It ends on a hopeful and quiet note, with much to be considered.

Picador Press

Hardcover and Paperback, ‎ 336 pages

ISBN: 978-1035044535

Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford
2026
Hardcover, 223 pages, with Appendix
ISBN: 978-0-691-27321-1
eBook: 978-0-691-27322-8

Have you ever wished you could learn more about whales but couldn’t stand the thought of the scientific jargon that usually accompanies such works? Fear no more. Whale is a plain English and marvellously illustrated book about the lives of whales.

The author, Asha de Vos, is a marine biologist and pioneer of blue whale research in the Indian Ocean. She is the founder of Oceanswell, and her work has been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC, and TED. In 2024, Asha was invited to join the UN Secretary General’s Scientific Advisory Board. Yet her book is more of a naturalist’s take on cetacean life.

For example, Asha explains that cetaceans experience menopause and are among the few species that do. Orcas may live 20 years of their lives after childbearing years, and during those years, when they are not burdened with their own children, they spend time passing on their knowledge to their grandchildren, mostly their grandsons. This is perhaps a behaviour witnessed off the Iberian Peninsula.

And did you know that when whales sleep, they only shut down half the brain at a time? That’s because breathing is not involuntary as it is for us humans, they must think about every breath they take. So, they rest half the brain at a time so the other half can remember to breathe.

Now here’s an interesting titbit: Male whales do not have external genitalia. Their genitals are contained within a genital slit below their bellybutton to reduce drag. The penis emerges only when necessary, which can make identifying gender tricky.

So, there you go, learn about how whales, live, eat and procreate, how they learn, and how they interact with other species. This is about the lives of whales, not about their biology. Enjoy!

The attached document details all the changes and includes a map of where the CG stations are located and their respective working channels. This document is worth printing out and keeping in the boat’s chart table.

Photo and document credit Irish Coast Guard.

• Map of Ireland with new Coast Guard Channels. Print this out and keep it on your boat for when needed. Click here to download
• Marine Notice No 61 with all the related information. Click here to download

Hts = High Transmission site

Note: Channel 16 is not affected by these changes. Channel 67 is also available when required but may not be actively monitored at all times.

30,000 pleasure boats transit the Gibraltar Straits every year and 130 boats a year have a close encounter with an orca along the way. About 25 boats a year suffer significant rudder damage.

Ocean Cruising Club Member and Connecticut Port Officer, Bob Osborn, was welcomed to the Gibraltar Straits by a pod of orca in the summer of ’25. Within a few minutes he lost both his hydrovane rudder and 1/3rd of his main rudder. In this Webinar Bob interviews Rui Alves who runs the Orca reporting website orcas.pt. Bob describes his orca encounter, and Rui explains the statistics, the behaviour and how best to avoid and respond to attacks.

Links and Attachments

• Link to Webinar Recording

Well, of course this reminded me of Norman Kean’s article on the Equation of time in the ICC News, where he explained this phenomenon quite elegantly. The big surprise came when I found this as far back as the 2022 spring issue!

Here is the article:

The Equation of Time Revisited

by Norman Kean

I have often wondered why we don’t change our clocks symmetrically on either side of the winter solstice. We put them back two months before it, but we don’t put them forward until three months after it. If we did it symmetrically, we’d be changing the clocks the last Saturday in February. But I had a thought. At the end of October, the sun is 16 minutes ahead of the clock, but at the end of February it’s 12 minutes behind. If we were to change the clocks the last weekend of February we’d be back to the miserable gloomy mornings of January 21 or so. Whereas in October, the mornings are almost half an hour brighter than they are now, thanks to the Equation, and get brighter again when the clocks go back. Somehow the loss of the evening light isn’t so painful then, and we’ve had an extra month of it anyway. In the spring, by waiting until March, when the sun has caught up by 7 minutes, but more importantly the day is a good bit longer anyway. Then the loss of the morning light isn’t felt so badly.

Equation of Time

I know that not everywhere in the world changes the clocks at the same time. But I think the asymmetry is common to all. I may of course be talking rubbish. I have also to remind myself that the gloomy-morning problem affects us particularly at 9 degrees west, while the dates were decided in London, zero degrees, where the sun rises half an hour earlier at the moment. When the idea of sticking with summer-time for 12 months is discussed in the UK, the gloomy morning problem in Aberdeen is usually cast up. Whereas – given that Ireland would have little choice but to follow the UK’s lead (and hence Northern Ireland’s) – the gloomiest mornings would actually be in Skibbereen and Westport.

I did once write to the government about that, when the topic last came up, because I don’t think anyone in it had a clue. Anyway, they’re four degrees east of here. I didn’t refer to the Equation of Time because they definitely would not have understood that.

By TimeZonesBoy – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17593495. Distinguished from summertime in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. 

When DST observation begins, clocks are advanced by one hour (as if to skip one hour) during the very early morning.

When DST observation ends and standard time observation resumes, clocks are turned back one hour (as if to repeat one hour) during the very early morning. Specific times of the clock change vary by jurisdiction.

The Centenary of the Irish Cruising Club will not occur until 2029, but during the past year and more, Commodore Alan Markey and his energetic and effective management team have been guiding and leading this “homeless” sailing organisation in an impressive and efficient high-achieving style that merits special recognition here and now.

Alan Markey, Commodore of the Irish Cruising Club. The challenge of smoothly running such a diverse organisation clearly involves periods of serious thought. Photo: ICC

The “Sailing Club of the Year” is an informal contest which has been on the go in one form or another since 1979, and since 1986 – 40 years now – it has been under the umbrella of the Frank Keane Motor Group. The contemporary support of the Group’s totally-electric MG Motor marque is particularly appropriate for an award announcement this morning for an organisation whose members’ many activities place a high emphasis on a strong level of environmental awareness and protection. And their mode of voyaging across the high seas and along interesting coastlines is one of the longest-established examples of the regular use of renewable energy.

Continue reading in Afloat here

The latest “Sailing Club of the Year” was a world leader in gender equality