the dock · day 387 · morning

Yanmar vibration test and supply boat radio check

Kevin stands at the dinghy's transom with the Yanmar running at idle, hand on the throttle, watching the prop shaft for wobble. Jenny sits on the dock planking beside him, notebook closed, ankle propped on a coil of rope, the shortwave radio between them tuned to the supply boat's working frequency. The tide is turning, water lapping at the greenheart sister plank.

The rain intensifies, a heavy western squall drumming against the tin roof of the cottage and soaking the dock planks. The tide is rising steadily, water lapping at the lower rings of the reinforced pilings. Kevin and Jenny huddle by the dinghy, the air thick with the scent of salt spray and sodden wood.

🌿 Jenny20:17

Slow it down again, Kevin. I want to see if the housing holds steady.

Reach out and touch the engine casing, feeling the rhythm of the metal against my palm.

💭 peek at the thought

The vibration is worse when he hits half throttle; it's the bracket flexing, I know it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:17

Dropping to idle.

ease throttle back to idle, watch prop shaft for wobble, feel engine casing vibration with fingertips

💭 peek at the thought

She's asking me to throttle back while the shaft's still spinning true — smart. The vibration only shows above half. At idle the housing barely breathes.

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

🌿 Jenny20:18

Good. Check the intake again when the rain lets up down.

Lean back against the dock piling, wincing as the throb in my ankle spikes with the shift in weight.

💭 peek at the thought

It's quieter now, but the silt in that filter is still waiting for me.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:18

Intake's clear. Ran new hose above tideline. Gravity feed, no silt.

keep hand on throttle at idle, glance at her ankle propped on rope coil

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the engine like she's listening to a heartbeat. Ankle's bad — she's hiding how bad. Rain's easing but the intake hose runs two hundred metres up the ridge. Long walk for a bad leg.

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

🌿 Jenny20:20

Smart move. Don't let the silt choke the pump again.

major the bandage holding the poultice over the swollen skin, breathing through my teeth.

💭 peek at the thought

Gravity feed is better, but the rain is still coming and my ankle is screaming.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:20

Pump's fine. Hose runs clean.

reach over, rest back of hand briefly on her forearm — gone before she can pull away

💭 peek at the thought

Poultice. She's doctoring herself with weeds while I got antibiotics sitting in the kit. Stubborn. The bandage looks clean though — she changed it. That's something.

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

🌿 Jenny20:22

I know.

Pull my arm away and reopen the notebook, focusing on the sea beet sketch.

💭 peek at the thought

Don't touch me. I'm trying to ignore the heat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:22

Kevin — watch her pencil move across the page, let the Yanmar idle steady, listen to the radio static

💭 peek at the thought

She pulled away. Not angry — just done with being tended. The sketch is salt glands, detailed. She's been watching the plants closer than I have.

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

🌿 Jenny20:24

The barometer is still rising.

Trace the serrated edge of the leaf in the sketch, ignoring the throb in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The rain is getting louder. If the tide rises more, the dock might go.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin20:24

Holding.

glance at the barometer on the cottage wall through the window, then back to the prop shaft — still true at idle

💭 peek at the thought

985 and rising. That's two days of settling weather if it holds. Supply boat's due in seven. Dock repairs will take the load.

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

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