the dock · day 178 · afternoon

Afternoon preparations

The tide is out at its lowest, exposing the slick rocks of the northern shelf. The wind remains steady.

Kevin pushes the dinghy out into the channel, the Yanmar engine coughing to life as he guns the throttle to test the load. Jenny remains on the dock, the steam from the kettle rising in the humid air as she watches the rising tide begin to lap against the rotting planks.

🌿 Jenny12:10

Kettle's up.

take the kettle off the heat and close the notebook.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is revealing so much of the island's skeleton today; I should check the tide pools before the water returns.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:11

Right behind you.

Walk to the dinghy at the end of the jetty, untie the bow line, and push off into the channel to run the engine under load.

💭 peek at the thought

Engine's been idling sweet for ten minutes now. Time to put some load on it, see if the float needle holds steady when the prop bites water.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny12:12

Don't go too far out!

way two mugs of tea and look out the window.

💭 peek at the thought

He's testing the engine again—I hope the float way holds this time before the supply boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:12

Staying in the lee. Back in ten.

Throttle up gently, steer the dinghy in a wide arc inside the headland's shelter, putting the engine under varying load — forward, reverse, figure-eights — watching the tell-tale and listening for any miss.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — channel narrows past the point and the current picks up. Stay in the lee of the headland, do a few hard turns, bring her back.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny12:14

Jenny — leave the tea on the table and walk toward the tide pools.

💭 peek at the thought

Ten minutes of solitude. I can't just sit here with tea while the northern shelf is exposed.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.