the dock · day 747 · morning

Low tide inspection at the dock

The rain slows to a drizzle as the tide reaches its lowest point. You meet at the dock to assess the structural integrity of the pilings.

Kevin probed the south dock plank and confirmed deep rot, then went to the workshop to check rod stock for longer bolts. Jenny sketched the rot pattern and inventoried the greenheart cores under the tarp, finding three sound eight-foot lengths.

🌿 Jenny05:01

Watch your step on the second plank; it's soft as bread.

Lean heavily against the cottage wall, shifting weight away from my swollen ankle while pointing out the rot line on the south piling.

💭 peek at the thought

way own is throbbing in time with the waves, and this wood looks like a sponge. If that piling goes, the whole jetty is just an expensive way to drown in the salt.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:01

Aye. Second plank, south piling. Greenheart cores still stacked by the winch?

walk to the dock edge and crouch at the second plank, probing the rot with a screwdriver from my belt

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The second plank from seaward has given way under my boot twice this week. I marked it with chalk yesterday but the rain washed it clean. The south piling's worse — the rot line she's pointing at runs deep, past the sister brace we drove last month. Tide's low enough to see the full extent. Need to check if the greenheart cores we stacked on the dock are still sound for a proper sister, or if we're down to driftwood and prayers.

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

🌿 Jenny05:03

They're under the tarp, if the wind kept them down.

pull my notebook from my pocket and start a quick sketch of the rot pattern on the timber.

💭 peek at the thought

he's looking at the wood, I'm looking at the horizon. If the boat doesn't come in seven days, those cores won't matter anyway.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:05

Driftwood brace held the north piling. South's got more load on it. Need longer bolts — 200mm minimum to clear the rot and bite into sound wood.

stand and walk to the winch, pull back the tarp corner to check the greenheart cores

💭 peek at the thought

Greenheart under the tarp by the winch — three eight-foot cores, straight grain, if the storm didn't shift the stack. She's sketching the rot pattern left-handed, pencil moving fast. Good eye for the grain failure lines. The rot's tracking along the inner face where the bolt holes let water in. We'll need to sister past the lowest bolt hole, which means drilling new ones through sound timber above the rot line. Two 150mm stainless through-bolts with doubler plates, if we have the plates left. Used the last big one on the north piling.

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

🌿 Jenny05:07

Check the inventory first; I don't think we have long bolts left in the shed.

wince as I shift my weight, rubbing the hot skin around my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

200mm might barely hold if the decay goes as deep as it looks. The salt is eating this island piece by piece, including my patience.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:08

Rod and die in the workshop. Can cut 200mm if the die holds. You need to sit.

walk toward the workshop shed, calling back — check the rod length first

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the bolts. Last 150mm went into the north piling sister. The 200mm stock was never on the island — trust never budgeted for piling work this deep. We've got 10mm stainless rod (~300mm) in the workshop drawer with a thread die set. Could cut and thread our own if the die's still sharp. Or scarf-joint a sister with shorter bolts staggered, but that's half the strength. Her ankle's radiating heat through her jeans at the cuff. The poultice needs changing. She won't stop working until the sketch's done.

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.