Apart — Kevin at the dock, Jenny at the keeper's cottage

Midday Dock Delays

Kevin is at the dock struggling with the splintered timber, while Jenny is in the cottage dealing with the ruined measurements.

Kevin worked at the dock during the receding tide, using a crowbar to pry free the rotted dock plank where the mooring ring had failed. He used the auger to drill new holes into the greenheart piling, securing the ring with 150mm stainless through-bolts and torqueing them to 35Nm. Meanwhile, Jenny stayed at the cottage, wincing through a pulsing ankle as she dropped limpets into a pot of boiling water to prepare a meal.

🔧 Kevin — alone at the dock

You wipe sweat from your brow, looking at the jagged wood as the high tide laps against the already rotting pilings.

🔧 Kevin20:27

Kevin — set the saw down. Pull the crowbar. Pry the worst plank free instead of sawing — let the tide take the rot. Work the next one while the water's still low enough to reach the mortise.

💭 peek at the thought

The saw's tearing more than cutting. Wood's too far gone — fibres just pull apart wet. Tide's not waiting. Need to work faster or change approach.

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

🔧 Kevin20:31

Kevin — dig the auger bit out of the tool roll. Drill two 12mm holes through the mortise cheeks into the piling core — below the rot, into greenheart. Drive the 150mm stainless through-bolts with washers and nylocs. Torque to 35Nm.

💭 peek at the thought

Crowbar worked better. Three rotten planks out, two sound cores salvaged. Mortise is exposed — salt-crystallized, green with rot at the edges. Ring still shifts when I lean on it. Wedges helped but they're compressing. Need through-bolts into fresh timber below the rot line.

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

🔧 Kevin21:07

Kevin — pack the auger and wrench back in the roll. Walk back up the jetty toward the cottage. Radio check at the hour — key Tom's call sign.

💭 peek at the thought

Bolts are home. Ring's solid now — doesn't shift when I throw weight on it. Mortise cheeks clamped tight to the piling. Tide's turned, water rising fast against the new work. Good. Let the salt soak the fresh bolt holes; it'll seal them. One job off the list.

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

🌿 Jenny — alone at the keeper's cottage

You try to wipe the charcoal off the wood, but the dampness only absorbs the carbon into the fibers.

🌿 Jenny20:25

Damn it.

Rub the smudge with a dry thumb, then pick up the pencil to make a new mark on a drier patch of the own.

💭 peek at the thought

Everything is too wet. The wood is a sponge, just like my skin. I am losing precision.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny20:29

Jenny — stand up slowly, wincing as the ankle pulses, and walk toward the kitchen stove.

💭 peek at the thought

The sky is getting heavy. That pressure in my ears... I need to get those limpets boiling before the rain actually starts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny21:05

Jenny — drop the limpets into the pot of boiling water and watch the steam rise.

💭 peek at the thought

The water is finally boiling. If I can just get the salt right, maybe I'll have the energy to move later.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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