the dock · day 471 · afternoon

The Approaching Front

The tide has now fully submerged the lower sections of the dock, and the swell is picking up. The salt-scented wind is cooling.

The tide is surging rapidly, the water lapping the lower pilings of the dock. Kevin battles with the come-along, trying to wedge the greenheart sister plank against the south piling before the current pulls the structure apart. Inside the cottage, Jenny ignores the sharp throb in her ankle, dragging the heavy pot of limpets toward the stove as the atmospheric pressure continues to plummet.

🔧 Kevin06:25

South piling's moving. Going to sister it proper this tide.

walk up the dock stairs to the cottage porch, grab the come-along and the greenheart offcuts from beside the door, then head back down to the south piling at water's edge

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's coming in faster than the barometer said it would. South piling's got six inches of scour showing at the base — greenheart shim's holding but the sister plank's floating on void. Need to get the come-along on it before the next swell cycle peaks. Jenny's on the porch watching. She knows what the water sounds like when it starts eating structure.

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

🌿 Jenny06:25

The barometer is dropping fast, Kevin. Don't let the surge take it from under you.

Watch him struggle with the gear, then turn back to check the limpets for the poultice.

💭 peek at the thought

If he tries to sister that now with the swell, he's going to lose the tools or his fingers.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:27

Back before the turn. Watch the radio.

descend the dock stairs to the south piling, wedge the come-along's fixed hook into the mortise behind the mooring ring, run the running line around the greenheart sister plank, and start cranking tension into the structure

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Barometer's dropped four millibars since I checked an hour ago. Swell's already licking the sister braces. If the surge hits before the come-along's tensioned, the whole seaward side goes.

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

🌿 Jenny06:27

The tide is coming in too fast for that! If it slips, the whole jetty goes!

Grip the porch railing, knuckles white, watching the dinghy bob in the rising waves.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to snap the cable if that swell catches the board before it's bolted.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:29

Then I'll be off it before the big ones come. Radio off unless it's the supply boat.

crank the come-along three more hard pulls until the sister plank seats against the piling face, then drop the handle and scramble up the dock stairs toward the cottage, boots slipping on wet planking

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. Water's rising a foot every five minutes. The come-along's biting but the sister plank's still floating on scoured void — no purchase until the tide drops and the shims seat. If a big swell hits while I'm under load, the timber takes me with it.

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

🌿 Jenny06:29

The barometer is at 980, Kevin! The storm is coming before the boat!

Watch him disappear into the cottage, then turn to the kitchen to find the limpets.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to get himself killed for a piece of rotten wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:31

Batten the shutters. Radio's off.

burst into the cottage, grab the storm shutter bars from beside the door, and slam them into place on the windward windows while shouting back: Jenny — get below deck! Water's coming in fast!

💭 peek at the thought

980 and falling. Wind's backing west now — that's the surge trigger. Mooring ring's already holding with the wedges, but if the piling sisters fail under lateral load, the ring tears out. Got maybe twenty minutes before the first real hit. Need to secure the ring and get below.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny06:31

I'm not going way! The limpets need to boil!

Grab the pot of limpets from the table, ignoring the throb in my ankle, and move toward the stove.

💭 peek at the thought

way's way running to the radio while the world is literally falling apart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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