the keeper's cottage · day 695 · midday

Midday crossing plan and ankle care

Kevin and Jenny sit at the porch table with tin mugs of limpet broth. The Yanmar sits mounted in the dinghy at the dock, ready for a final load test. Jenny's ankle is elevated on a cushion, the poultice steaming. Kevin spreads the chart fragments and a notebook page with the mainland crossing bearings. The supply boat's three-day window opens at high tide.

The Yanmar engine hums steadily under the half-throttle load, the vibration minimal after the new impeller and sleeve. The fuel line remains clear of bubbles, but the heavy, still air suggests a shift in pressure as the barometer continues to drop.

🌿 Jenny01:10

The tide is turning. We need to check the fuel line one last time before the sun dips.

Takes a slow sip of the broth and makes a quick sketch of the sea beet morphology in the margin of the chart.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't show, I'll run out of antibiotics before the infection clears and won't be able to walk to the south slope.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:12

Fuel line, filter housing, and the raw water impeller. Then a proper load test — half throttle for ten minutes, watch the temp and vibration.

walk down to the dinghy at the dock, crouch beside the Yanmar, and crack the primary filter housing bolt to check for seepage

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the fuel line — last check showed a weep at the primary filter housing. And the tide turning means the current'll slack in twenty minutes, best window to run the Yanmar at load without fighting the dock lines.

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

🌿 Jenny01:12

Watch the seal. If there's air in the line, the pump will be shot by morning.

Leans forward over the porch railing, wincing as the movement pulls at the ankle, and watches the barometer drop another point.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the bolts, he doesn't see the rot eating the wood beneath them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:14

Seal's holding. No bubbles in the clear line. Filter's clean — changed it three days ago. Impeller's the new one from the crate, two hours run time.

tighten the filter housing bolt, trace the fuel line back to the tank checking each connection, then pull the kill cord and hit the starter

💭 peek at the thought

She's seen the barometer too. One point in ten minutes. The swell's going to build fast overnight. If the supply boat doesn't land at high tide tomorrow, we're running the dinghy at 0400 regardless.

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

🌿 Jenny01:15

Keep it at idle. Don't let it hunt before it warms.

Wipes sweat from her forehead with the back of a hand and watches the exhaust clear against the grey sky.

💭 peek at the thought

The engine sounds right, but the air is too heavy for any luck.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin01:16

Holding steady at eight hundred RPM. Temp rising normal. Give it five minutes.

watch the temperature gauge climb, hand on the throttle ready to ease it up, listening for any change in the vibration note

💭 peek at the thought

Idle's smooth. No hunt. Exhaust clearing clean — raw water pump's moving volume. Good. Let it warm proper before I put load on it.

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.