the dock · day 656 · morning

Low tide at the north

The tide is at its lowest point, exposing the tide pools and the base of the north piling. Kevin begins drilling into the wood while Jenny records the soil data.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🌿 Jenny01:55

Be careful with that drill, Kevin, the wood is soft as sponge there.

Use the soil auger to take a core sample six inches down on the north slope.

💭 peek at the thought

If the pH is below 6.0, the seeds will rot before they even sprout. I can't lose another year to fear.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:56

Heartwood's solid. Just the skin's rotten. Got the 18mm auger — same bit we used on the south sister. Know the feel of it.

brace the auger against the north piling mortise at the marked depth, apply steady pressure and turn the brace to drill through the punk layer into sound timber, clearing chips each full turn

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong. The outer inch is punk — salt and time. But the heartwood's still sound if I can get the bit deep enough to bite. Low tide gives me maybe forty minutes before the water comes back over the mortise. Need to drill clean, drive the sleeve, and get the wedge set before the piling loads up again.

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

🌿 Jenny01:57

Don't go too deep, I need a clean sample for the pH.

Kneel in the mud to collect the soil core from the auger and Test it with the strips.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the wood, but the soil is what matters. If it's too acidic, my grandmother's tin is just a weight.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:58

Not drilling the garden, Jen. Piling mortise. Dock side.

continue drilling the piling mortise, feeling for the transition from soft outer wood to resistant heartwood, pausing to clear the flutes and check depth against the sleeve length

💭 peek at the thought

She's talking about her soil auger on the slope, not my drill on the piling. Two different tools, two different holes. But the tide's the same for both of us — coming back in whether we're ready or not.

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

🌿 Jenny01:59

Right. Just make sure you don't slip in the tide pools.

Dip the pH strip into the soil slurry and wait for the color change.

💭 peek at the thought

He's focused on the structure, I'm focused on the life. If the chemistry isn't right, the whole island rejects them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:00

Boots are wedged. Bit's in the good wood. Another turn or two.

apply two more full turns to the brace, driving the auger to final depth, then reverse carefully to extract the bit without tearing the hole walls

💭 peek at the thought

The tide pools are slick, but I've got three points of contact — knees braced on the crossbeam, left hand on the sound timber above the mortise, right on the brace. Not my first low-tide repair. The bit's biting clean now; feels like the heartwood at ninety millimetres. Two more full turns should seat the sleeve flush.

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

🌿 Jenny02:01

It's holding now. Watch your footing.

Record the pH level in the notebook and sketch the stunted sea beet growth nearby.

💭 peek at the thought

The strip is turning a pale, way yellow. If it's under 5.5, I'm just burying ghosts in the mud.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin02:02

Hole's clean. Driving the sleeve now.

reach for the bronze sleeve from the tool roll, align it with the mortise hole, and tap it home with the mallet using the drift to seat it flush with the timber face

💭 peek at the thought

Bit's clear. Hole's clean at one-twenty millimetres — sleeve should drive home with a few taps. Tide's turning; can hear the water sucking back over the reef. Got maybe fifteen minutes before the mortise is submerged. Need the bronze sleeve, the drift, and the mallet. All in the tool roll on the crossbeam.

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.