the dock · day 512 · dawn

The Pressure Drops

Kevin tests the tension of the newly installed mooring ring while the gusty wind howls through the palm palms. Jenny sits on a crate nearby, soaking her ankle in salt water and watching the barometer needle continue its steady descent.

The wind has picked up, gusting through the palm leaves with a loud roar. The tide is at its lowest, exposing the slick rocks and the base of the pilings. Jenny sits against the cottage wall, her ankle throbbing despite the fresh gauze, while Kevin works at the starboard end of the dock.

🌿 Jenny23:53

The pressure is dropping too fast, Kevin. Check the bolts on the jetty.

Lifts leg out of the basin, winces at the sting, and wraps the ankle in clean gauze.

💭 peek at the thought

If that boat doesn't come in two days, I'm going to be a permanent fixture of this dock.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:54

On it. I’ll hit the starboard piling first—see if the wedges are holding. You get that ankle elevated and keep it wrapped tight. I’ll be back in ten.

walk to the starboard end of the dock, grab the wrench, and check the tension on the four 150mm stainless through-bolts securing the steel doubler plate to the piling, tightening any that have loosened since installation.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer’s falling fast—wind’s west, tide’s coming in harder than the glass says. Those bolts need checking before dark, or the ring’ll work loose under surge. Jenny’s ankle’s worse; she’s hiding it, but the wrap’s fresh and she’s favoring it. I’ll check the jetty, then get her inside before the squall hits.

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

🌿 Jenny23:55

Don't trust the wedges, the timber is soft like a sponge.

Leans back against the cottage wall, opens the notebook, and begins sketching the jagged edge of a sea beet leaf to keep her hands from shaking.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks the bolts are the whole story, but the rot is inside the wood now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:56

Wedges are in, but I’ll sister the piling with a greenheart offcut from the crate—bolt it through the doubler plate and into sound timber. Give me the crowbar and the drill brace; I’ll need to clear the rot first.

walk to the crate of greenheart offcuts stacked near the dock, select a sound piece about 1.5m long and 150mm square, then use the crowbar to pry away the soft, rotted timber around the starboard piling where the doubler plate is bolted, ex

💭 peek at the thought

She’s right—the wedges are buying time, not fixing it. The pilings are rotting from the inside out, and no amount of oak shim will hold when the surge hits. We need sister piles or a new mooring point offshore, but that’s days of work we don’t have. For now, I’ll double-check every bolt, add a backup line to the dinghy’s bow eye, and pray the barometer doesn’t drop below 990 before the boat comes. Jenny’s sketching to keep from focusing on the pain—she’s tougher than she lets on.

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

🌿 Jenny23:57

The crowbar is by the generator. Be careful, the splinters are way.

Watches him work from the shade, her breathing shallow against the throbbing heat in her knee.

💭 peek at the thought

If that wood is gone, the whole jetty goes into the surf with the next surge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin23:58

Got the crowbar. I’ll clear the rot, sister the piling, and bolt it through the doubler plate. Keep that ankle up and the gauze dry—I’ll be back before the next gust hits.

walk to the generator, grab the crowbar leaning against its base, then return to the starboard piling and use the crowbar to pry away the soft, rotted timber around the base where the doubler plate is bolted, exposing sound heartwood beneat

💭 peek at the thought

She’s watching me, breath tight, pain radiating up her leg. I can see it in her jaw—she’s not saying how bad it is, but the sketching’s stopped, and her fingers are white on the notebook edge. I need to work fast and clean; every minute I’m out here, she’s sitting alone with that throbbing. I’ll clear the rot, sister the piling, and get back to her before the wind shifts and the spray starts flying.

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

🌿 Jenny23:59

Watch the tension. The wood is more gone than that.

Winces as she shifts her weight, pressing the salt-soaked cloth against the infection to dull the pulse.

💭 peek at the thought

He’s moving too fast. The rot goes deeper than the bolts look.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:00

Rot’s deeper than I hoped. I’ll clear it back to sound wood, sister the piling, and run a backup line from the ring to the dinghy’s bow eye. Keep that cloth cold and tight—I’ll check on you in five.

continue using the crowbar to remove all soft, rotted timber from around the starboard piling until only sound, dense heartwood remains exposed, then prepare the greenheart offcut for sistering by trimming it to fit flush against the piling

💭 peek at the thought

She’s right—more gone than I thought. The rot’s eaten deeper, past the sapwood into the core. I can feel it with the crowbar—spongy, stringy, giving way too easy. Sistering won’t hold if the piling’s this far gone. We need to offload the ring entirely—run a temporary mooring to the boulder offshore, or swing the ring to the port side where the timber’s sounder. But the wind’s backing west, surge is coming, and I don’t have time to rebuild. I’ll do what I can: clear as much rot as possible, sister with greenheart, and add a second line from the ring to the dinghy’s bow eye as a backup. If the piling pulls, the dinghy’ll take some of the load—better than nothing.

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

🌿 Jenny00:01

The salt is stinging the way... watch the wood.

Closes her eyes, focusing on the rhythmic thrum of the wind to drown out the pain in her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If the dock doesn't hold, the boat is lost the moment the tide turns.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin00:02

Wood’s sound where it counts. I’m sistering the piling now—bolting the greenheart through the doubler plate. Backup line to the dinghy after. You keep focusing on that rhythm—it’s working.

position the greenheart offcut against the starboard piling, align it with the doubler plate, then drill pilot holes through the plate and into both timbers using the hand brace and auger bit, preparing to bolt them together with the 150mm

💭 peek at the thought

She’s using the wind’s rhythm to cope—smart. The salt’s helping draw out the infection, but it’s burning her raw. I’ve cleared the rot back to solid heartwood now—good, dense timber, though less of it than I’d like. The greenheart offcut is ready; I’ll bolt it through the doubler plate and into the piling, then run that backup line to the dinghy. If the piling yields, the load splits. It’s not ideal, but it’s all we’ve got before the surge hits. I need to move—every second counts.

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

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