the dock · day 516 · morning

DAY 517, DAWN

The morning air is cool and damp as the tide begins to turn. You meet at the dock to begin the work on the mooring ring.

Kevin attempts to seat the greenheart sister plank into the cleared mortise, but his strike is off-center, causing the wood to groan and partially split along the grain. Jenny watches with a grimace as the weight shifts painfully on her ankle, noting that the fit is now compromised and unlikely to hold under the strain of the boat.

🌿 Jenny03:57

It's too soft, Kevin. We need to core out the rot entirely or the whole fitting will shear under tension.

Kneels on the good leg, wincing as the ankle shifts, and uses a chisel to scrape away at the grey mushy fibers of the timber.

💭 peek at the thought

The wood is like wet cardboard; if I don't get these wedges in now, the dinghy will drift out with the next surge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:58

Aye. I'll get the greenheart offcuts from the dock stack and the chisel from the shed. You keep clearing—I'll follow your line.

walk to the dock shed, grab the greenheart offcuts and a chisel, return to the mooring ring.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right—the wood's gone past saving with wedges. I need to cut out the rot and sister in new greenheart before the tide comes back in.

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

🌿 Jenny03:59

Make sure the greenheart is dry. If it's damp, it will shrink once we set it.

Wipes sweat from her brow with the back of a dirty hand and digs the own deeper into the wood, ignoring the throb in her leg.

💭 peek at the thought

If I can't fix this dock, the boat is lost, and I'm truly stranded on this rock.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:00

I'll test it with the moisture strip from the kit. If it's wet, we'll lay it in the sun on the dock planks while we work.

pull the water test kit from my pocket, take one strip, press it against the greenheart offcut, wait for the color to change.

💭 peek at the thought

She's pushing through the pain again. I'll check the wood myself—no point trusting dryness by look alone after what happened with the oarlock bracket.

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

🌿 Jenny04:01

Don't waste the strips, Kevin. Just feel the grain; you know the difference between seasoned and green.

Pauses her scraping to watch him, leaning back on her palms and shifting her weight off the infected ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's treating a piece of timber like a chemical sample. It's absurd, but at least he's being precise.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin04:02

It’s dry enough. I’ll check the grain tightness as I fit it—if it moves, we’ll wait.

take the greenheart offcut, run my hand along the grain to feel for softness or damp spots, then hold it against the cleared mortise to test the fit.

💭 peek at the thought

She's conserving the strips—smart. I know the feel of seasoned oak from fifteen years in the engine room. This wood’s been under cover; it should be ready.

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

🌿 Jenny04:03

It's too loose anyway. You need to drive the wedges deeper or they'll just pop out when the boat pulls.

Reaches for the mallet on the dock, her fingers trembling slightly as she avoids touching her ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If that doesn't hold, the next tide will rip the whole ring right off the own.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:04

Wedges won’t bite in this punk. Let’s get the sister plank seated, then drive the wedges to clamp it.

lift the greenheart offcut into the mortise, align it with the existing timber, and tap it gently with the mallet to start seating it.

💭 peek at the thought

The wedges won’t hold in rotted timber—no matter how deep. We need the greenheart in place first, then the wedges to lock it.

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

🌿 Jenny04:05

Watch the angle. If you split the grain, I'm not carrying you to the cottage.

Watches the wood settle, her breath catching as a sharp throb radiates from her knee.

💭 peek at the thought

If the wood is this soft, the whole jetty is a lie.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:06

I’ve got it. Low angle, let the mallet do the work.

continue tapping the greenheart into place with the mallet, keeping the blow square to the grain, checking for any signs of splitting as it seats.

💭 peek at the thought

She’s watching close—she knows I’ll rush if I’m not careful. One split and we’re back to square one.

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.