the dock · day 903 · morning

Morning at the dock

The tide continues to drop, exposing more of the rotted piling. Kevin signals for Jenny to bring the planks over as the work begins.

Kevin bored the first 19mm bolt hole through the greenheart sister plank and into the north piling's sound core, clearing rot to a depth of forty millimetres past the scratch line. Jenny drove the oak wedge hard on the seaward side, locking the sister plank flush against the piling face. The joint held solid under hand pressure.

🔧 Kevin03:32

Bring the two greenheart cores and the 150mm bolts. Set them on the plank by the cleat.

Probe the mortise depth with the screwdriver, clearing rot until I hit sound wood, then measure the gap for the sister plank.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. Tide's giving us room to work. Need to get the greenheart planks in before the water comes back up — mortise won't hold another cycle without the sister.

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

🌿 Jenny03:32

I've got them.

Limp carefully to the staging area, gather the two greenheart cores and the 150mm bolts, and set them precisely by the cleat.

💭 peek at the thought

He's barking orders now. I'm not a deckhand, but if I don't move, we'll be standing in the rain until the tide comes back in.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:34

Mortise goes back forty mill past the scratch line. Sister needs to sit flush on the sound face. I'll bore the bolt holes — you drive the wedges home once I set the plank.

Clamp the first greenheart core against the piling face, align the top with the beam underside, and start the 19mm auger bit through the pilot hole into sound timber.

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving careful on that ankle. Good — means she's listening to the pain instead of pushing through it. Greenheart's heavy but she placed them clean. No wasted motion.

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

🌿 Jenny03:34

Just tell me when.

Shift weight to the good leg and grip the mallet, watching the auger bit bite into the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

Forty millimeters. At least he's being precise. My ankle is screaming, but I can't just stand here while he does the heavy lifting.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin03:36

When the bit breaks through the back face. Hold the wedge ready on the seaward side — drive it hard when I say.

Lean into the drill, keeping the auger straight, and bore the first bolt hole through greenheart and into the piling's sound core.

💭 peek at the thought

Bit's chewing clean. Greenheart's dense — holds the thread better than the spruce ever did. Two bolts per side, staggered. Tide's still dropping. We've got maybe forty minutes before the water touches the repair.

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

🌿 Jenny03:36

Ready.

Position the oak wedge against the seaward edge of the core, mallet raised and poised.

💭 peek at the thought

Almost there. Just a few more rotations. I can feel the vibration of the drill in the dock planks.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

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