the dock · day 655 · afternoon

Rising tide and afternoon heat

The tide is coming quickly against the south pilings. The grey sky shows no sign of breaking.

Kevin and Jenny assess the structural rot of the south dock as the tide rises. Jenny marks a forty-inch span where the timber is still solid, and Kevin agrees to sister the plate down to the sound wood below the mudline using the come-along to stabilize the piling.

🔧 Kevin01:11

Kevin — walk the dock to the south pilings, inspect the mortise movement at waterline, then fetch the greenheart offcuts and 150mm stainless through-bolts from the stack.

💭 peek at the thought

South pilings taking the tide hard. Mortise movement on the starboard side — saw it shift at the last spring tide. If the barometer holds at 977 rising, we've got a window before the next low to sister them proper. Need the greenheart offcuts and the long bolts.

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

🌿 Jenny01:11

The wood is too soft, Kevin. It won't hold the next surge.

Close the way and stand up, wincing as the ankle flares, then walk toward the dock.

💭 peek at the thought

He's trying to fix the pilings again, but the rot goes too deep for just bolts.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:12

Sit down, Jen. I'll check the pilings. You've done the looking.

Step between her and the dock edge, one hand on her elbow to guide her back toward the cottage. "I'll drill the pilot holes from the dinghy at slack. The brace and bit reaches.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the softness — the rot goes deeper than the surface shows. But she shouldn't be walking on that ankle, not on uneven dock planks with the tide pushing. The flare in her face tells me the poultice isn't holding the inflammation down like it was.

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

🌿 Jenny01:13

I'm not a child, Kevin. I need to see where the wood is failing.

Pull my arm away from his grip and step own the rotten dock planks.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks I'm fragile because the ankle is throbbing.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:14

Kevin — follow close behind her on the dock, testing each plank with my boot before she steps on it, ready to catch her if the wood fails or the ankle gives.

💭 peek at the thought

Stubborn as the sea. She's going to walk the rotten planks on a bad ankle because she needs to see it herself. The tide's pushing hard against the south pilings — if a plank gives, she goes in. I'm not letting that happen.

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

🌿 Jenny01:15

Stop that, I'm fine. Look at this gap on the south own.

Squat by the edge of the dock, ignoring the sharp pain in my ankle to touch the splintered wood.

💭 peek at the thought

He's hovering again. I need to see the rot for myself.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:16

The mortise is blown out past the inner bolt. Sister plate needs to span twenty inches minimum. I'll cut the greenheart tonight.

Crouch beside her, not touching, eyes on the gap she's indicating. Measure the splintered mortise width with my thumb and forefinger, then glance at her ankle — swollen past the wrap, heat radiating through the cloth.

💭 peek at the thought

Gap at the south piling's mortise — she's found the splice line where the greenheart sister needs to seat. The rot's eaten back past the bolt holes. She's right about the failure point. She's also white-lipped and trembling, calling it fine.

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

🌿 Jenny01:17

Twenty inches won't be enough if the core is pulpy.

Reach out and press a thumb into the wood, feeling for how much it gives way.

💭 peek at the thought

If the wood goes, the dinghy goes with it. We need more than a plate.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:18

Core's gone. We'll run the sister plate forty inches, bolt it through to sound wood below the mudline. Come-along can hold the piling while we drill.

Pull the brace and bit from my belt, hand it to her — an offering, not an order. "You want to mark the holes, or drill?"

💭 peek at the thought

She's testing the core rot with her thumb — same way I'd do it. The wood yields. Deep. Past the heartwood. Twenty inches won't catch solid timber. Need to go longer, or drive the sister plate deeper into the mudline with the come-along and bolt through sound wood below the rot line. Tide's still pushing. Her knuckles are white.

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

🌿 Jenny01:19

way inches. I'll mark them. I need to see exactly where the rot stops.

Take the bit and the pencil from my pocket, wincing as I shift weight away from the ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the length. The wood is like wet cardboard here.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:20

Sound wood at six inches below the mudline. I'll drive the pilot holes from the dinghy once the tide turns. You mark from the dock.

Hold the piling steady with one hand, the other hovering near her shoulder — not touching, ready. Watch her shift weight off the bad ankle, the way her breath catches.

💭 peek at the thought

Forty inches. She's going to crawl the length of that piling marking holes on a leg that can't take her weight. The rot line's visible at the mud — dark, wet, spongy. Sound wood starts maybe six inches down. She knows this. She's marking it anyway because she needs to be the one who sees it.

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

🌿 Jenny01:21

I have it. Just make sure the boat doesn't drift while you're under.

Press the pencil to the grey wood, marking the forty-inch span where the timber still feels solid.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always watching for me to fail, but I won't. Not today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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