the keeper's cottage · day 467 · morning

Afternoon dock check and Yanmar test

Kevin walks down to the dock to test the Yanmar at half throttle and inspect the mooring ring shims under load. Jenny stays on the porch with her notebook, the ankle propped on a rolled blanket, the barometer steady at 999 hPa.

Kevin returns from the dock after confirming the Yanmar engine is stable under load and the mooring ring is secure. Jenny sits on the porch, using a pencil tip to trace the edge of the red tracking on her leg, marking the progress since the morning.

🔧 Kevin02:11

Back in an hour. Radio on 2182 if anything changes.

walk down to the dock, start the Yanmar, let it warm at idle, then bring it to half throttle and hold for five minutes while watching the prop shaft and listening for vibration, then inspect the mooring ring mortise and cedar shims under th

💭 peek at the thought

Engine's been clean at idle. Need to hear it under load before the supply boat shows. If the vibration's still there at half throttle, it's the prop shaft alignment or that skewed mast bracket. If it's clean, we're good to go. Ring shims held yesterday but tide's rising — want eyes on them under real strain.

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

🌿 Jenny02:12

Jenny — open the notebook to a fresh page and sketch the precise morphology of the lymphangitic tracking on my leg.

💭 peek at the thought

The red line is an inch closer to my thigh than yesterday. If the fever doesn't break, I'm not going to be able to reach the marsh.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:13

Engine's clean at half throttle. No vibration. Mooring ring holding solid — shims and doubler doing their job.

shut down the Yanmar, wipe hands on a rag, walk back up to the cottage porch

💭 peek at the thought

Yanmar fired first pull. Idle's smooth — no knock, no smoke. Bringing it up to half throttle now. Shaft spins true, no wobble at the stuffing box. Engine note is clean, steady. No vibration through the transom at 1800 RPM. That bronze sleeve held. Prop shaft alignment holds. Ring mortise: cedar shims tight, no play when I heave on the bow line. Doubler plate bolts solid. Rising tide's lifting the dinghy but the ring isn't moving. Good. Real good.

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

🌿 Jenny02:14

"Check the radio again later." ownDO: Trace the edge of the red tracking with a pencil tip, marking how far it has moved since morning.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the dock is the problem, but my leg is the thing falling apart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:15

Got it. Three hours. I'll run the generator first, charge the batteries proper.

climb the porch steps, set the rag down, pull the generator cord — starts second pull — let it warm up, then check the battery bank voltage on the meter

💭 peek at the thought

She's tracking it like a bearing. Methodical. That's good — means she's still thinking clear. But the line's past her calf now, and the Flagyl's gone. Radio schedule's in three hours. If the coastguard doesn't answer this time, I'm calling mayday on 16. Don't care what she says about dignity or not wanting to leave the island. Dead's dead.

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

🌿 Jenny02:15

Don't forget the water.

Reach for the heirloom seed tin, feeling the cold metal, checking for any new signs of mold on the paper.

💭 peek at the thought

The hum of the generator is the only thing drowning out the throbbing in my bone.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:17

On it.

pull a test strip from the kit, dip it in the tank tap runoff, wait the thirty seconds, compare to the chart — pH 7.2, chlorine negative, hardness moderate — log it in the notebook, then check the battery meter: 12.8V, holding charge

💭 peek at the thought

Water tank's at 388 litres — still near full from the last rain. She means the test strips. Five left in the new kit. Should run one while the generator's charging. Barometer's held at 999 all day but that cloud bank's thickening west. If the front pushes through tonight, we'll want clean water stores.

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

🌿 Jenny02:17

The water's fine.

Open the tin carefully, peering through the paper packets to check for dampness or the scent of rot.

💭 peek at the thought

If the seeds are gone, the whole point of staying here through this infection goes with them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:19

Battery's holding 12.8. Generator's charging clean. Radio in three hours.

let the generator run its cycle, wipe the oil dipstick clean — level good — sit on the porch step with the wrench across my knees, watching the treeline for wind shift

💭 peek at the thought

She's memorizing every packet. Cherokee Purple. Brandywine. Black Krim. The peppers she nursed from cotyledon. Damping-off took half the lettuce and two peppers but the rest are clean. Tin's sealed with self-amalgamating tape now — dry inside. Seeds are viable. She made sure of it. That's the garden secured for next season whether we're here to plant it or not.

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

🌿 Jenny02:19

I'll check the seeds now.

pull out the packet of heirloom tomatoes from the tin, holding it up to the light to look for white fuzz.

💭 peek at the thought

The clouds are thickening like the infection. way leg feels like a piece of lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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