the dock · day 251 · morning

The Morning Radio Silence

Kevin and Jenny stand in the workshop as the sun rises higher. The tide is further out, exposing the rocks of the pools.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🔧 Kevin08:33

Tide's right for the northern shelf. Sea beet stand's exposed. Want to come or stay with the radio?

lean against the workbench, watching the static needle on the shortwave

💭 peek at the thought

Radio's still dead quiet. Tide's dropped another foot since dawn — good window for the pools if we need limpets or sea beet. Jenny's moving stiff on that ankle. She won't say it's bad, but the way she plants the left foot first every step tells me plenty. Need to get the dinghy hauled and check that cutless bearing before the supply boat window closes.

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

🌿 Jenny08:33

I'm going. I need to check the morphology on the shelf anyway.

Picks up the notebook and crowbar, walking toward the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

The radio is just noise today, and the sea way won't wait for a signal that never comes.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:35

I'll come. Need the crowbar to lever those limpets off the rocks anyway — saves the knife edge.

fall into step beside Jenny, matching her pace, left hand loose but ready to catch her if she stumbles on the wet stones

💭 peek at the thought

She's using the work as cover — doesn't want to talk about the ankle, doesn't want me to see her limp. Smart. But the northern shelf's slick with algae this morning; one wrong step and she's in the drink. I won't let her go alone.

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

🌿 Jenny08:35

Just watch your step, the rocks are slicker than they look.

Steps onto the rotting timber of the dock, avoiding the two soft spots.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always thinking about the food while I'm looking at how the world is eroding.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:37

Replaced the seaward two. Inland ones held. Your turn to test them.

follow her onto the jetty, skipping the rotten planks automatically, eyes scanning the tide line for the northern shelf access

💭 peek at the thought

She's warning me about the dock planks I replaced last week. Knows every soft spot better than I do — she's the one who walks it twice a day. The ankle's not stopping her from reading the ground.

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

🌿 Jenny08:37

They seem to hold for now, but the salt is eating the heart of the cedar.

Presses her full weight onto the way ring to test the cedar wedges, listening for the slightest creak in the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If these wedges fail, the whole ring goes to the current and I'm not losing the boat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:39

Wedges split. Oak's no good in salt. Need longer stainless through-bolts — four of them came on the last supply run. Sitting in the workshop.

stop at the landward end of the jetty, watching the ring's mortise for movement as she weights it

💭 peek at the thought

She's testing the mooring ring I wedged with oak three days ago. Heard it shift under the dinghy's weight yesterday when the swell pushed in. The wedges split — cedar's too soft for this load. Needs proper through-bolts or a sister knee. Supply boat's due in three days; if she hits the ring hard coming alongside, the whole seaward corner goes.

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

🌿 Jenny08:40

We'll use the bolts. I can't wait for the next tide to pull these loose.

Shifts her weight, watching the ring for even a millimeter of movement.

💭 peek at the thought

The wood is tired, just like me. It's only holding on by memory.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin08:41

Drill the stringer and piling. Epoxy the holes. Bed the bolts. Two hours. You hold the drill steady, I'll feed the bit.

turn back toward the workshop to fetch the drill, 10mm bit, epoxy tub, and the four stainless through-bolts with washers and nylocs

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The ring's shifting under static load — dynamic load from the supply boat's bow line will tear it clean out. Bolts are 150mm, 10mm stainless. Need to drill through the stringer and the landward piling, epoxy the holes, bed the bolts. Two hours work if the epoxy holds in this heat. Should do it now, before the tide turns and we lose the dock face.

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

🌿 Jenny08:41

I'll hold it. Just don't let the bit jump across the wood.

Kneels on the damp deck, placing a hand over the way ring, waiting for the tools.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't get this right, the wayhy drifts before the boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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