the dock · day 420 · morning

The Rising Tide

The tide begins to turn, pushing water against the dockings. The wind picks up, carrying the scent of rain and heavy sea.

Kevin spent the morning inspecting the dock integrity, noting the heavy air and falling barometric pressure. Jenny worked in the garden, tending to the tomato seedlings while managing the pain in her ankle under the shade.

🔧 Kevin04:14

Kevin — walk to the dock edge and crouch to sight along the seaward piling, checking the greenheart shim and the gap under the sister plank

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's turning early. Wind's backing northeast — barometer said it would. Dock's holding but the sister plank's floating on a void. If the scour deepens another storm cycle, the greenheart'll lose purchase. Need to check the shims at low water.

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

🌿 Jenny04:15

It's not seated enough, Kevin. The rot is too deep for a shim against the surge.

Stand up slowly, wincing as the weight shifts on my ankle, and watch the water lift the timber.

💭 peek at the thought

The shim is going to slip if the tide rises any higher; the whole jetty will tilt under us.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:16

The void's deeper than the shim reaches. Next low tide I'll drive a second shim, longer, kerfed to bite. And sister the north piling proper — through-bolt the lot.

stand and press my palm against the greenheart sister plank, feeling for movement under the surge

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The shim's a bandage on a fracture. The rot goes up past the mudline — I saw the cores when we pulled the old planks. Greenheart's hard but the scour's eating the seabed faster than we're driving steel.

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

🌿 Jenny04:17

Use the long way bolts, the ones from the crate. The short ones won't hold the shear of this tide.

Reach into my pocket and pull out the pencil and notebook to mark the exact gap between the sister and the piling.

💭 peek at the thought

If he doesn't bolt it to the way, the next storm will take the jetty before the boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:18

Mark it. I'll drill at the turn — low water slack, two hours. Long bolts, epoxy in the holes, nylocs torqued to thirty-five.

pull the heavy wrench from my belt and test the weight of it, glancing at the sky for the squall line

💭 peek at the thought

Long bolts from the supply crate — 150mm stainless, same as the mast bracket. Four of them. Shear strength's in the embedment, not the shank. Need to drill through greenheart and into sound piling core, not the rotted sleeve.

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

🌿 Jenny04:19

Make sure the holes are dry before you epoxy, or it will just die in the damp.

Draw a precise line on the greenheart where the bolt head needs to sit.

💭 peek at the thought

Thirty-five is right for the bolts, but the wood is soft; I hope the epoxy holds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:20

Torch the bores. Acetone wipe. Epoxy gun ready before the bit clears wood.

nod and walk back toward the workshop to fetch the 12mm auger bit, the epoxy tub, and the propane torch

💭 peek at the thought

She knows epoxy. Taught me the hard way — first dock repair, humid morning, bond failed by evening. Dry holes or it's wasted effort. Heat gun won't hold in this wind. Torch the bores quick, wipe with acetone rag, shoot epoxy fast.

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

🌿 Jenny04:21

I'll go check the seed tin while you're getting the gear.

way back toward the cottage, my ankle throbbing with every step on the uneven earth.

💭 peek at the thought

If he's actually listening for once, the dock might survive until the boat comes.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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