Virtually all nobbies are cutters as in this badge (single mast and two headsails). Bonita is as far as I know the only one that is rigged as a yawl.
We all enjoyed the meeting which I felt was very productive with some useful business done. We met a lot of OGA members from all over the country. It is most helpful to meet up face-to-face with people you normally only see on Zoom. There was also a very encouraging contingent of Younger Gaffers.
At the AGM the results of the OGA Photographic competition were announced, excellently judged by Sandy Miller who is a renowned marine photographer. Justin got a 'Highly Commended' for this picture taken from Bonitas cockpit.
This was taken in Lyme Bay heading westerly after a windy night at sea. As the sun came over the horizon in the east, we saw this magnificent rainbow, a sign, as it turned out, of more difficult weather ahead.
After the AGM on the Sunday morning we had a few hours to spare before the train home. D went in pursuit of culture in the art galleries. Preferring fresh air I walked down to have a look at the river Mersey and look at the Albert Dock.
The dock was a major piece of early Victorian engineering, but is not much used now apart from a few yachts. There are a few historic boats in the dock and some historic vehicles on the dockside. There is a London steam bus from 1902 - apparently a commercial failure, and withdrawn from service after a few months. The most interesting exhibit I thought was a propeller from the the liner Lusitania. Built in 1906, and sunk with great loss of life by a German submarine in 1915.
This is one of her 4 propellers and is 17ft in diameter, though I thought it looked smaller than I expected for such a large ship. The propeller was removed in 1982. Presumably the visible damage to the blades was caused when the ship hit the bottom, perhaps with the propellers still turning as its known that she sank very quickly.