Apart — Kevin at the dock, Jenny at the keeper's cottage

Midday engine test and seedling check

Kevin is at the dock running the Yanmar on the dinghy; Jenny is at the cottage checking sea beet seedlings and writing.

Kevin tests the Yanmar engine at varying throttles to isolate a persistent vibration in the transom. Jenny monitors the sea beet seedlings in the lime-treated patch for salt burn as the humidity rises.

🔧 Kevin — alone at the dock

You stand at the dinghy's tiller with the throttle in hand, the Yanmar idling smooth after its cold start. The high tide laps against the dock planks as you advance the lever to one-quarter, then half, feeling for the vibration in the shaft.

🔧 Kevin11:54

Kevin — advance throttle to three-quarters, hold for ten seconds to confirm vibration character, then ease back to idle and shut down.

💭 peek at the thought

Vibration's still there at half throttle — subtle, but steady. Feels like the shaft's still a hair off true, or the cutlass bearing's got play. Bracket's solid enough now. Need to pull the shaft and check the sleeve fit again, maybe true it in the lathe if the runout's more than a thou.

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

🔧 Kevin11:58

Kevin — pull the kill cord, step out onto the dock, and kneel to sight down the prop shaft from behind the transom, checking for wobble at the prop hub while slowly turning the prop by hand.

💭 peek at the thought

Engine's cold again. Vibration didn't change character through the range — same harmonic hum at three-quarters as at half. Not load-dependent. That points to the shaft or the prop itself, not the bracket flexing. Prop's bronze, could've taken a knock before I got it. Shaft sleeve I machined ran true on the lathe, but the shaft's old stock. Might be bent.

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

🌿 Jenny — alone at the keeper's cottage

You sit at the cottage table with the letter to Tom open beside your notebook, the morning's limpet shells pushed aside. The sea beet seedlings are visible through the window, the shade cloth rippling over the lime-treated patch as you add a line about the crate's contents.

🌿 Jenny11:52

Jenny — make sketch: Sea Beet Seedling Layout (Proposed Expansion)

💭 peek at the thought

The list is growing, but the garden is still just a promise. I can't keep documenting the things that arrive; I have to start deciding what stays.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🌿 Jenny11:56

Jenny — walk to the garden to check the shade cloth ties.

💭 peek at the thought

My stomach is still humming from the limpets, but the low mood is sticking. I need to move or I'll just stare at the wall until the light goes.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🌿 Jenny12:00

Jenny — inspect the edges of the sea beet leaves for any yellowing salt burn.

💭 peek at the thought

The salt air is heavy today. If I don't get these seedlings established, the whole lime-treatment was just a waste of energy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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