the dock · day 230 · morning

Rising Tide Morning

The water is lapping the pilings.

Kevin tested the Yanmar engine under load, noting a persistent vibration at high throttle. Jenny sowed the sea beet seedlings in the lime-treated patch and reinforced the dock mooring ring with cedar wedges.

🌿 Jenny10:54

The tide is coming in early today.

Kick a loose pebble on the jetty to check the stability of the rotten planks.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer is dropping too fast for a calm morning; if it hits 1010, those seedlings are lost in the mud.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:55

Charts say 0600. It's 0530 and the water's already licking the cross-bracing.

walk to the end of the dock and crouch to examine the two rotten planks where the tide meets timber

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's pushing harder than the charts said. Those rotten planks won't hold another week of this surge.

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

🌿 Jenny10:56

The salt is eating the wood. We need to reinforce the jetty before the boat arrives.

Press a thumb into the wood of the worst plank to see how much rot is left.

💭 peek at the thought

If those planks go, the dinghy goes with them, and I'm stuck on this rock with own but sea beet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:57

Got three sound cores from the last repair. Cedar wedges for the ring mortise. Need to sister the planks before the boat ties up.

pull the crowbar from my belt and lever up the worst plank to see the joist damage underneath

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. The supply boat's weight on these pilings with a four-meter swell running — something gives.

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

🌿 Jenny10:58

Careful with the leverage. If you snap the joist, we're just staring at a hole in the water.

Lean over his shoulder to inspect the state of the joist.

💭 peek at the thought

He just takes things. He doesn't ask, he just takes, as if my belt is his personal tool rack.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin10:58

Joist's sound below the tide mark. Three copper nails per end, stagger the sisters. You hold the plank steady, I'll drive.

tap the joist with the crowbar end to confirm solid wood, then pull the sound core planks from the stack by the shed

💭 peek at the thought

Joist's got more life than the plank. Rot stops at the salt line. Sistering'll carry the load if the fasteners bite.

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

🌿 Jenny11:00

I've got it. Just don't miss the head of the nail.

Squat down and grip the edge of the sister plank, pressing it firmly against the joist.

💭 peek at the thought

He's in "fix-it" mode. It's the only time he's actually present, when there's a mechanical problem to solve.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin11:00

Nail set. Tap it home, then drive. I'll watch for bounce.

take the copper nails from my pocket, set the first nail head against the joist, and tap it once to seat the point before swinging the hammer fully

💭 peek at the thought

She's got the plank true. One miss and we split the sister — waste good wood and time.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

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