the keeper's cottage · day 925 · afternoon

Low Tide Inspections

The tide is at its lowest, revealing the mudline around the north piling and the extent of the rot.

Kevin spent the low tide inspecting the dock pilings with the auger to map the extent of the rot. Jenny focused on tending to her ankle and documenting the local flora and soil chemistry near the garden wall.

🌿 Jenny09:47

We're going to need more than just one sister, Kevin.

stand up slowly and walk to the edge of the dock to peer down at the waterline.

💭 peek at the thought

The rot goes deeper than it looked from the surface; the salt is eating the wood whole.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:47

Auger's in the skiff. I'll check above the mudline while it's exposed.

walk to the dinghy, retrieve the soil auger, and probe the north piling at six-inch intervals above the mudline to map the rot depth

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The rot goes higher than the sister reaches. Need to probe the full extent before the tide turns.

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

🌿 Jenny09:49

Watch for the soft spots. It looks honeyed out from the inside.

lean against the porch post to take the weight off my ankle while I watch him.

💭 peek at the thought

If the wood is that soft, the whole garden wall might go in the next big surge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:49

Marking the sound wood line with chalk. You hold the radio if I need to call it in.

probe the piling systematically with the auger at 150mm intervals upward from the mudline, marking each sound/rotten transition with chalk on the piling face

💭 peek at the thought

Honeyed out — she's seen the same rot pattern I have. The auger will tell us how far up the sound wood starts.

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

🌿 Jenny09:51

We don't need the radio yet. Just tell me how much solid wood is actually left.

pull my notebook from my back pocket and start sketching the pattern of the rot marks on the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

The chalk marks look like a timeline of how long this island has been eating the cottage.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:53

Rot line's at 1.1 metres. Forty centimetres of sound wood above the sister top. We need a scarf joint and a greenheart pile section — three metres minimum.

call out each measurement as the auger hits sound wood, then climb down the piling ladder to inspect the scarf face at water level

💭 peek at the thought

Sound wood starts at 1.1 metres above mudline. That's forty centimetres above where the sister brace ends. Need a scarf joint and a new pile section, not just another sister.

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

🌿 Jenny09:53

Three metres should be enough if we cut the scarf right. We can't afford another slip.

mark the measurement in my notebook next to the sketch of the sea beet.

💭 peek at the thought

Forty way? That's barely enough to hold the weight of the garden wall.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:55

Eight-foot core at the winch. I'll cut the piling scarf at low water tomorrow — gives us the longest working window. Today I'll lay out the scarf geometry on the greenheart.

walk back to the cottage, retrieve the chalk line and bevel gauge from the tool roll, then move to the greenheart stack under the winch tarp to lay out the 1:8 scarf face on the eight-foot core

💭 peek at the thought

Three metres of greenheart, scarfed at 1:8 ratio — that's 240mm face. We have two straight-grain cores staged at the winch. One's eight feet, the other six. The eight-foot will give us the length with margin. Need to cut the scarf on the piling first, then match it on the new section.

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

🌿 Jenny09:55

Measure the angle twice. I'll get the way water ready for the tools.

sit on the porch step and rubbing my throbbing ankle, watching him work the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If the angle is off by a hair, the whole wall will buckle after the first storm.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:56

Angle's set at 7.1 degrees. Bevel gauge locked. I'll double-check with the square before the first cut.

verify the scarf angle with the combination square against the chalk line, then mark the 240mm face length and the heel/toe reference lines on the greenheart core

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady. Ankle's bad but she's tracking the work, not the pain. Good.

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.