Two beautiful vessels

What a beautiful sight to see - Tall Ship Phoenix of Dell Quay - 112ft Brigantine. You may have seen her as Sophie in Master and Commander or Retribution in Hornblower series 3.
I think she may have been in the dry dock as I heard that Ross Bridge was closed to traffic early this morning - which would have been to let her out on the high tide !

Off she went to round The Lizard and presumably heading for her home port of Charlestown

 On a much sadder note, here is a photo courtesy of the RNLI 377 of the Tall Ship Astrid, which was in Mount's Bay last Thursday on her way to Ireland. Sadly she lost engine power in bad conditions off the coast of Southern Ireland and was pushed onto rocks.
"The Astrid was one of 50 vessels taking part in a flotilla-style five-mile journey from Oysterhaven to Kinsale as part of Ireland's 2013 Gathering initiative.
As it started to sink around 12pm, the crew assembled on deck to await rescue.
Eighteen of the crew were rescued and taken back to Kinsale harbour in another vessel taking part in the event - the Spirit of Oysterhaven, with the remainder being ferried to land in a lifeboat.
RNLI crews reported that some of those rescued were in a very shocked state.
Crew members were medically assessed at Kinsale Yacht Club and none required hospital treatment.
The trainees on board the Astrid came from Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Belgium."

 Here she was at the Tall Ships gathering in Falmouth in 2008

and here she is in all her glory as she sailed past us on that wonderful day.

For anyone that loves these Tall Ships - here's a date for your diary !

Up to 50 ships will gather in Falmouth for three days of festivities between 28 – 31 August 2014. Vessels will be berthed at Queen’s Wharf in Falmouth Docks and will be open to the public for the three days preceding the race start, which will see training vessels and tall ships from around the world take part in competitive racing over three days before heading to Greenwich, London.