Here are 3 photos not related to the Christmas Tall Ships event


The above photo shows the Irish National Sail Training Vessel Asgard II passing the Roches Point Lighthouse at the entrance to Cork Harbour, Ireland. This picture is a photograph by John Eagle. I found it at the "top five" site authored by William A. Britten.



Above is a part-scan of a postcard - photo by Thomas K. Mueller ("Edicion La Gomera" Tel. 80 54 77) - showing two replica ships of the Christopher Columbus fleet off the Canary Island of La Gomera. This was taken in 1992, during the 500th anniversary celebrations of the European discovery of America. La Gomera was Columbus' (Cristobal Colon in Spain) last port of call, where he took on fresh water and reportedly visited the Countess, before sailing into the unknown west.



Photo sent by Deirdre Ní Chonghaile, who adds: "Class A1 Ships begin the second leg of the Tall Ships Race 1998 Vigo-Dublin. However idyllic this August day looks, gale force nine struck a few hours later. Murphy's law (of the sea) - if you're heading north, you'll get a northerly. Half the ships ended up closer to South America than Ireland!"
The magnificent Juan Sebastian de Elcano, the only Spanish Sail Training Tall Ship, leaving harbour at Santa Cruz de La Palma in mid January. Almost 100 years old, she is the property of the Spanish Navy and reserved for training naval cadets.

Departing under full sail and with much ceremony - whistles are used to communicate with the deck hands and the crew's own brass band played on the afterdeck as officers stood to attention - she was set to head across the Atlantic for Rio de Janeiro, first leg of a round the world voyage.

The Elcano is named after the C16th Basque explorer who led Magellan's fleet to complete the first ever round-the-world sailing, after Magellan was killed in the Phillipine Islands.

The photo is not so magnificent: you can tell this is one I took myself :-(

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There's also my own photos from my time on board Asgard II during the Christmas 1997 Tall Ships Encounter