the dock · day 563 · morning

Salvaging the crate

The tide is at its lowest point. The air is growing humid as the clouds thicken over the island.

Kevin uses the crowbar to pry the heavy, waterlogged crate onto the dock planks, noting the wood groaning under the weight. Jenny provides the tarp to catch the dripping brine, then moves to the edge to inspect the exposed sandbar at the low tide.

🔧 Kevin03:05

Hand me that tarp, will you? We’ll keep the tins dry while we sort.

Pull the waterlogged crate fully onto the dock using the crowbar as a lever, then begin extracting the tinned provisions and coiled rope, laying them on the tarp to inspect.

💭 peek at the thought

The crate’s giving up its secrets slow — tins, rope, maybe something useful. Jenny’s quiet, watching. I should get what’s salvageable before the tide turns and the dock gets slick again.

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

🌿 Jenny03:09

Be careful with the weight, Kevin. The planks are soft right through.

Jenny hands the heavy tarp to Kevin, then limps toward the edge of the jetty to look down at the exposed sandbar.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to snap the dock if he keeps prying like that; the wood is like wet cardboard now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:09

Aye. Taking the tins to the cottage porch. You stay off the soft boards.

Lift two tins at a time from the crate, carry them up the dock to the cottage porch, and stack them under the eaves out of weather; repeat until all tins are clear, then coil the new rope and carry it up the same way.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the new planks are holding but the old ones either side are punk. Tide's turning in twenty minutes if the barometer's honest. Get the heavy stuff off first, then the rope.

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

🌿 Jenny03:10

I'm fine. I need to see what the tide left behind.

Jenny grips the rough timber of the dock for support, shifting her weight to her good leg as she stares at the tide pools forming on the sandbar.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he's helping by staying out of my way, but it just makes me feel like a patient.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:11

Don't go past the third pool. Radio's on channel sixteen if you need me.

Carry the last of the tins and the coiled rope to the porch, stack them neatly, then walk back down the dock to the crate and pry the lid fully off with the crowbar to check for anything missed in the bottom.

💭 peek at the thought

She's stubborn but she's not stupid. Ankle's holding but the tendons are tight — saw her favour it stepping down. Tide pools mean limpets, maybe sea beet. She wants to be useful. Let her, but keep the radio close.

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

🌿 Jenny03:14

I'll be right here. I won't go far.

Jenny watches the receding water, her ankle throbbing in time with the pulse in her head, and scans for the first signs of sea beet in the mud.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come tomorrow, I'm going to run out of antibiotics before this infection clears.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin03:15

Crate's done. Coming back.

Drag the empty waterlogged crate to the landward end of the dock and lash it to the cleat with the degraded rope, then walk up to the dinghy and pull the Yanmar's decompression lever and give the starter cord a slow pull to check compressio

💭 peek at the thought

Crate's empty bar some slime and a false bottom. Nothing else salvageable. Tide's turning — water's already kissing the sandbar edges. Jenny's scanning the mud like she's reading a chart. She'll find sea beet if it's there. I'll secure the crate so it doesn't float off, then get the Yanmar warmed up for Monday.

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

🌿 Jenny03:16

Did you check the spark? It was acting up yesterday.

Jenny turns her back from the sandbar, wincing as the movement flares her ankle, and opens her notebook to start a quick, jagged sketch of the receding tide.

💭 peek at the thought

He's fussing with the engine again while I'm struggling to stand for five minutes.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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