the dock · day 371 · morning

Morning preparations for the boat

The tide begins to turn slowly, water lapping at the lower dock of the dinghy.

Kevin inspected the dinghy's prop and shaft at the dock, confirming the cutlass bearing is sound and the prop true, but identified the mast bracket flexing under torque as the vibration source. Jenny replanted two surviving tomato seedlings in the garden, though her swollen ankle caused significant pain during the work.

🔧 Kevin05:29

Kevin — walk down the dock to the dinghy, crouch at the waterline to inspect the prop and shaft as the water rises

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's turning. Good. Water'll lift the dinghy enough to check the prop and cutlass bearing without hauling. Need to catch it at slack — that's when I'll see if the shaft runs true or if the vibration's in the bearing itself.

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

🌿 Jenny05:31

The tide is coming in, Kevin. Don't get the salt water in the housing again.

wipe grit from my eyes with a forearm and kneel by the garden bed to carefully clear the debris from the remaining tomato vines.

💭 peek at the thought

If he's checking the engine again, he's worried about the manifest, or he's just avoiding the silence between us.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:31

Waiting for slack. Won't start her till the water's still.

brace one hand on the gunwale, peer down at the prop through the clearing water, wait for the current to settle

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Last time I rushed the inspection at high water, salt got into the housing and cost me three days of flushing. But the vibration only shows under load, and load needs water on the prop. I'll wait for slack — ten, fifteen minutes — then spin it by hand first. If there's play in the cutlass, I'll feel it before I ever hit the starter.

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

🌿 Jenny05:33

way make sure she's ready for the boat in three days.

reach for the way seedlings and wince as the weight shifts on my throbbing ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always waiting for the perfect moment while the world is rotting under his feet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:33

Dinghy'll be ready. Engine's the only question.

crouch lower, grip the prop blades, try to rock the shaft fore and aft and side to side, feeling for play in the cutlass bearing

💭 peek at the thought

Three days. The supply boat's due, and the dinghy's the only way to meet her if she anchors off the reef. The Yanmar's got to be right — not just running, but clean at load. Vibration means something's still bent or misaligned, and I'm not putting us out in a following sea with a driveline that'll shake itself apart. Jenny's ankle's bothering her more than she lets on. She's favoring it bad today.

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

🌿 Jenny05:35

way check it quickly. I need to get these in.

dig a small hole in the damp earth for the first tomato seedling with shaking fingers.

💭 peek at the thought

If that bearing is shot, we're stranded if the boat doesn't show.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:35

Cutlass is fine. Prop's true. Vibration's the mast bracket — flexes under torque. I'll shim the heel at low water tomorrow.

straighten, wipe hands on thighs, glance at Jenny's ankle then at the sky

💭 peek at the thought

She's rushing the seedlings because the weather's turning — can feel it in the air, heavy and still. The barometer held steady but that doesn't mean much here. Shaft's got a hair of play, maybe two thou side-to-side. Cutlass bearing's worn but not sloppy. Prop's true, no dings. Vibration's not the prop or the bearing. It's higher up — the mast bracket alignment under load, like I suspected. The bracket flexes when the engine torques. That's why it only shows above half throttle.

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

🌿 Jenny05:37

Just make sure it holds when the boat actually comes.

press the first seedling into the earth, firming the soil around the roots with my thumbs.

💭 peek at the thought

Tomorrow is always a luxury I'm not sure I have with this leg.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:37

It'll hold.

turn toward the cottage, grab the stainless shim stock from the workshop shelf on the way past

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The bracket held last storm, but that was moored. Underway in a chop, with the engine pushing and the mast pumping — that's different load. The shim I have is 0.5mm stainless. Might need two. Or I tap a new heel block from the greenheart offcut and bolt it proper. Either way, it's a low-tide job. Tomorrow's tide is earlier. I'll do it then.

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

🌿 Jenny05:39

I need to check the ankle again.

reach for the second seedling, wincing as the movement stings the swollen skin.

💭 peek at the thought

He says it like it's a fact, but the salt doesn't care about his confidence.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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