That's my sister, Elizabeth. One of many sisters. This was her first chance to actually go sailing. We showed her many — but not all -- of the boaty things on Red Ranger: we hoisted most of the sails, we had a pleasant drift, we dropped the anchor, had some lunch, and raised the anchor. We held a few things back.

Since the marina is a little over an hour from Reagan National Airport, we could go sailing in the morning and get her onto her flight the same evening.

Then.

Work.

Which Elizabeth did not have to participate in.

About 5 years ago, CA made our striking red sail covers. The stitching on the long mains'l zipper has been failing in places.

Before attempting to sew anything, we brought the cover to the apartment, and — as you can see — gave it a relaxing soak in the tub.

Once we got the mildew and bird doo out of it, we can look at the alternatives for repair.

• Replace the zipper with a new YKK® Vision® Zipper. Restitch with more zig-zig stitching that might last longer.

• Consider some alternative closure. Ties. Dot Common-Sense® Fasteners.

The touchy part is the thread. We thought we had the top-of-the-line UV-resistant polyester thread. But. It seems to have rotted in places. CA thinks that some kind of rain/sun flap (or fly) that covers the zipper might be a helpful addition.