the dock · day 564 · afternoon

Rising Tide and Gathering Wind

The tide has reached the dock planks, and the first heavy drops of rain hit the salt-crusted wood of the cottage-roof.

The tide surged rapidly around the dock, threatening to sweep the waterlogged crate and the dinghy out to sea. Kevin used the crowbar to pry the heavy crate from the submerged deck, using dock planks as rollers to slide it toward the cottage while Jenny focused on securing the dinghy's mooring lines as the water reached high against the pilings.

🌿 Jenny04:28

Kevin, the tide is already on the jetty! Grab the dinghy before the surge hits!

limp to the edge of the dock, clutching the way post for balance while watching the water swirl around the rotten planks.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer is dropping too fast; if that crate goes under, the seeds are lost, and my ankle has to hold.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:28

On it. Stay off the end planks.

sprint to the dinghy, cast off the bow line, pull her clear of the jetty and secure the painter to the mooring ring with a round turn and two half-hitches

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's faster than I figured. She's right — need the dinghy clear before the swell piles up under the jetty and snaps the painter.

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

🌿 Jenny04:30

Watch the line! The current is pulling toward the pilings!

crouch against the dock beam, shielding my notebook from the sudden spray as I watch the dinghy bob in the rising water.

💭 peek at the thought

He's moving faster than I ever legs; if that dinghy drifts out in this current, the whole mission is done for the day.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:30

Got it. Paying out.

feed out two more metres of painter, run it round the base of the north piling where the timber's sound, and cleat it off on the dinghy's forward samson post with a figure-eight so the load's on wood not metal

💭 peek at the thought

Current's setting hard to the pilings. If the painter chafes through on the ring or the bow catches a piling, we lose the boat. Need more scope and a chafe point that isn't rusted iron.

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

🌿 Jenny04:32

Good. Now come back here and help me get that crate up. It's sitting right on the edge.

Shake off the weight, the throbbing in my saline-wrapped ankle, and Reach for the corner of the wooden box.

💭 peek at the thought

He's smart to use the piling, but the water is coming in faster than I can move.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:32

Don't lift. Stand clear. I'll pry it up the planks with the crowbar.

plant the crowbar under the crate's landward edge, heave it inch by inch up the dock toward the cottage, using the planks as rollers, until it's on the high and dry section by the shed

💭 peek at the thought

Crate's waterlogged — three times its dry weight. She shouldn't be lifting anything on that ankle. Tide's still rising. We need leverage, not muscle.

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

🌿 Jenny04:34

Check the lid. If water got in, the heirloom seeds will rot.

kneel beside the crate, ignoring the sharp pain in my ankle, and inspect the corners for dampness.

💭 peek at the thought

It's safe for now, but the wood is soaked. I need to see if the seal held.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:34

Lid's tight. Hasp held. Prying now.

wedge the crowbar under the lid lip at one corner, lever it up slow to break the vacuum seal, then lift the lid clear and set it aside

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Salt water kills heirloom stock fast. Lid's swollen but the hasp held. Need to crack it slow — if the seal blew, the inside's a soup.

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

🌿 Jenny04:37

Look - the corned beef is still in the tins, but the flour sack is soaked through. We'll have to eat the limpets first. Kevin, grab the dinghy — we need to get that crate out of the water before the surge hits!

slide the crate toward the cottage door, carefully stepping over the crowbar left behind on the dock. </think><tool_call>remember: If the dock stringers give way at high tide, the whole finger pier goes — sister the new planks to sound wood

💭 peek at the thought

The seal held through the storm, but I need to check on those provisions and get the seeds into the cottage before the rain gets worse.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin04:37

Dinghy's fast, Jen. Crate's clear of the tide line. Sit down before you fall down.

take the crate's seaward corner from her, slide it the last metre to the cottage porch, and guide her by the elbow to the bench

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving the crate herself on a septic ankle. Flour's a write-off — salt ruins the gluten. Corned beef tins are sound. Dinghy's already secured to the north piling with extra scope. She's not seeing straight from pain and worry.

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

🌿 Jenny04:38

I'm fine, Kevin. Let me see the tin. Did the salt get in?

sink onto the bench, rubbing my throbbing ankle, and watch his hands on the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always hovering like I'm made of glass. I just need to see if the seeds aredry.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin04:38

Different crate, Jen. This one's hooks and a jar. Corned beef was the last haul. Tins are clean.

pop the hasp, lift the lid, and tilt the crate so she can see the tins of hooks and the sealed jar sitting dry on straw packing

💭 peek at the thought

Tins are Swedish fish hooks and a sealed jar — linseed oil or poison, she called it varnish. No corned beef in this crate. That was the first one. She's conflating them. Memory's fraying from fever and pain.

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

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