Astrid got to  be 95 years old before she ended up on the rocks, literally. She is a Dutch tall ship which was used as a training vessel, but sadly ran aground near the entrance to Kinsale harbour. Now her future remains uncertain, with it unlikely that she will sail again. Taken onto a barge she now sits at the dockside in Kinsale.

So despite very grey conditions, we headed off to see a former star of the sea. Her rigging was all tangled, some of the structures were twisted and there was a lot of grime and dirt from being on her side for a little over a month. Despite all this, she did not appear to my untrained eye to be in that bad shape (from what we could see). Unfortunately, while I rattled off a handful of shots , we were asked to leave as the quayside was meant to be closed off to visitors. So here is Astrid, her glory days apparently behind her.

A Sense of Foreboding

Twisted

Interested Spectators

Astrid Bows Out

A Little Forlorn

I am glad to report that no-one was seriously injured or died when the Astrid ran aground on 24th July 2013.