the dock · day 342 · morning

The Midday Heat

The tide begins to turn back in, and the dry season heat intensifies.

Kevin ran the Yanmar engine at a 1800 RPM load to test the repairs on the mast bracket. The engine held steady without vibration or weeping at the new through-bolts and epoxy joints.

🔧 Kevin00:55

Jenny! Throttle. Now. Want to load the Yanmar at 1800 RPM and watch the mast bracket.

Walk to the dinghy, climb in, check the engine mounts and prop shaft alignment one more time before starting.

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's pushing back in. Heat's brutal. Need to finish the Yanmar load test before the water covers the mooring ring mortise — can't verify the oak wedges are holding if I can't see the ring under strain. Jenny should be on throttle. Where is she?

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

🌿 Jenny00:57

Coming! Just... give me a second.

walk quickly to the dinghy and climb in beside him.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't think about the seeds if I'm staring at a vibrating piece of steel. He's so focused on the machine; he doesn't even notice I'm shaking from hunger.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin00:57

Right. Hold it at 1800 steady. I'm watching the starboard bracket — the one we through-bolted. Any vibration, any movement at the mount, you back off instant. Nod if you heard me.

Reach for the starter, prime the fuel, crank the Yanmar, let it warm at idle for thirty seconds while watching the temperature gauge.

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving slow. Ankle. She won't say it. I'll run the test, she holds throttle steady, I watch the bracket. Simple.

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

🌿 Jenny00:59

(Nods)

grip the throttle handle, waiting for the signal.

💭 peek at the thought

1800. Steady. Just a number. I hope the bolts hold, or we're spending the afternoon fishing pieces of the transom out of the surf.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin00:59

Going to 1800. Hold it there.

Advance the throttle smoothly to 1800 RPM, eyes fixed on the starboard mast bracket where the through-bolts meet the transom, watching for any flex, vibration, or weep at the epoxy joints.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's ready. Engine's warm. Time to load it.

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

🌿 Jenny01:01

Holding it.

lock the throttle at 1800 RPM, eyes fixed on the bracket for any sign of movement.

💭 peek at the thought

The engine is humming through my boots. If that bracket groans, the whole thing goes. I need to keep this level.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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