at lunch. did not read all pages.
Open up the border, and splice in more water. looker-atters will look at the boats & never notice.
Or move the whole border. You would only have to detach the top and bottom seam where borders touch. Don't remove the red border, just re-sew the seam wide enough to grab the gap. trim seam to 1/4". re-sew border at top & bottom. That border will be a tad bit narrower than the other 3, but, no quilt police allowed! LOL...
or applique on top...pier posts or seagulls.