Nautical object

What is the name of this nautical object? Where does it get positioned on the boat hull? Orientation star upwards? Terese got this for me last year when she teaching for the SLS in Lamu, Kenya. I want to attach correctly to Aeolus.

AEOLUS in Nantucket

AEOLUS is nesting with other dinghies at Children's Beach in Nantucket. She was there this last weekend to transport the Lochridge family members around the harbor at their 4th annual reunion on the island. In the background is the ferry EAGLE of the Steamship Authority that transported Aeolus to this destination.

AEOLUS - double ended skiff

AEOLUS is a double ended rowing and sailing skiff that my son Frank and I finished in 2009. This photo is taken at the inaugural launch from Preston's dock in Greenport NY. Aeolus is a lapstrake hull of stitch and glue construction from a kit supplied by Chesapeake Light Craft. She is 15 feet long and weighs only 95 lbs. Note her cotton lanteen sail from Lamu, Kenya.