Dreaming of escape on Ireland’s far-flung islands, David Bradford finds the reality of remoteness not quite as simple as it seems

Marsali Taylor swaps skippering her Offshore 8m for being crew on a converted herring drifter, with comfy berths in the former fish hold

Anchored in a quiet loch on the west coast of Scotland, Katherine Knight discovered the seabed was barren mud. She raised a small community and set out to replant the underwater desert with life-giving seagrass

W hilst the sun makes its way south ...

Your cruising destinations, near and far

I still remember the first time I saw the island. It was the summer of 2008 and I was standing on the shore of neighbouring Walney Island with nature guide and former Mayor of Barrow, John Murphy. We