Red red red, I only see red!

What is this exciting installment about? Definitely not “Fun with flags” by Dr. Sheldon Cooper! [We don’t mind if you take some time to watch that video, it is rather funny. — ed.]
…

Welcome back to my new and bladder-bursting episode of “Red flag”. Now what is this all about? Let me elucidate you! [Btw. moronic Australian English testers: that one was for you! — ed.]

Oleander was normally found on a mooring before I rescued her from certain death. [Not that she repaid him in kindness. — ed.] Therefore when it is windy and raining, water will not get through the air gaps of the companionway’s washboards, since she’d turn bow into the wind. However, in a marina where the boat can’t turn with the wind, I noticed that Scottish horizontal rain does get in and moreover can flood through the washboards and drip into the area underneath the sink where I store my cutlery. I have found the cutlery enjoying swimming lessons in these cases. And it is a pain to clean and dry everything. Also the wind can really get cold inside so something needed to be done.

I ordered up some canvas and turnbutton eyelets+washers to make a “red flag” that would match my sprayhood and would be fit for purpose to protect the interior of the boat in a marina. With the aid of Dorothy and Dave (where Dorothy did the sewing since I was afraid to break the sewing machine and did in fact manage to break a needle, Dave provided the pine wood and advice on how to hammer the eyelets+washers) I managed to make something that worked. [Although you did also manage to make a mistake in your measurements which meant that you had to use a bungie-cord to make things work as suggested by Dorothy since you didn’t have enough space to screw in turnbuttons. — ed.]

Anyway, this is what it looks like:

It is easy to undo, and you could even use it when running with the wind to prevent the wind blowing into the cabin. Or to shield the sun from shining in, or a million other uses!

Also, even though it was a cold but beautifully sunny day, look what the night had brought:

And doesn’t she look pretty despite being an absolute pain at the moment?