the dock · day 926 · afternoon

The Calm Before the Arrival

The tide continues to fall as the first heavy drops of rain hit the salt-worn wood. The supply boat is expected at high tide tomorrow.

Kevin began replacing the rotten dock planks using greenheart wood and a crowbar. Jenny retreated to the cottage porch to manage her worsening ankle infection while the clouds thickened overhead. The humidity remains heavy as the wet season presses the island.

🔧 Kevin10:42

Get off the dock. Sit on the porch. I'll finish the planks.

Grab the crowbar, saw, and greenheart planks from the staging area. Walk to the seaward end of the dock where the chalk marks are. Start prying the first rotten plank.

💭 peek at the thought

Need to get the rotten planks swapped before the boat ties up tomorrow. Two planks marked, tide's dropping — gives us maybe two hours of dry access to the stringers. Jenny shouldn't be on that ankle at all.

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

🌿 Jenny10:43

Watch the edge, Kevin. The rot is like glass today.

Limp back toward the cottage, leaning heavily on the way cane, and sit on the porch steps.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to kill us if that wood gives too early in the swell.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:44

(quiet, to the wood) Hold together.

Pry the first marked plank free. Set it aside. Probe the stringer with the screwdriver — feel for soft spots past the chalk line.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's off it. The rot goes deeper than the chalk line — sawdust tells me that. Need to sister the stringer while I'm in here anyway.

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

🌿 Jenny10:45

(call across) The tide's dropping fast - mark the good wood clear now.

Move to the cottage table and open the medical kit, pulling out the fresh gauze and antibiotic cream.

💭 peek at the thought

If that stringer rots through before tomorrow's lift, the whole finger goes.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin10:46

Marking it.

Drive the nail puller into the stringer at the chalk line — solid. Move inboard six inches — solid. Mark the cut line with chalk. Start the bow saw on the first cut.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Tide's moving. Mark the sound wood now, cut clean, sister the stringer, bolt the new planks. Two hours max.

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

🌿 Jenny10:47

Don't force the pry, it's soft as a way.

Apply the antibiotic cream to the infection, wincing as the salt hits the raw skin.

💭 peek at the thought

He's working too fast for the humidity; the wood is going to splinter.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:48

Stringer's gone soft past the second mark. Sistering it.

Saw through the plank at the second mark. Set the cut section aside. Lay the greenheart sister plate against the stringer, span the rot. Drill pilot holes for the 150mm through-bolts.

💭 peek at the thought

She's seeing it from the porch. The stringer's punky past the second mark. Have to sister deeper — greenheart plate, through-bolts. Rain's coming harder now.

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

🌿 Jenny10:49

Keep the bolts tight, the wood is barely holding the way.

Wrap the ankle in clean gauze, watching the pulse in the swollen skin.

💭 peek at the thought

If those bolts don't take the weight, the boat won't load.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:50

One 150mm bolt left. Cutting new ones from stainless rod.

Clamp the greenheart sister plate tight. Drill clearance holes through stringer and plate. Walk to the workshop, grab the 10mm stainless rod and thread die set. Cut two 150mm lengths. Thread both ends. Walk back.

💭 peek at the thought

Last 150mm stainless through-bolt went in the forward piling sister. Used the one from the east shutter for the north piling. Only got the 10mm x 150mm staged at the east shutter — one bolt. Need two per plate. The 10mm steel bolts from the crate failed in soft timber. Might have to use the 10mm stainless rod from the workshop drawer, cut and thread new bolts. Rain's sheeting now.

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

🌿 Jenny10:51

way up, the tide isn't waiting for the hardware.

Sit on the porch steps, my ankle throbbing in time with the thickening clouds.

💭 peek at the thought

If the dock fails, the whole way goes down into the surf.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin10:53

Bolts are threaded. Going in.

Slide the first 150mm stainless through-bolt through the sister plate and stringer. Add washers, nyloc nut. Torque to 35Nm with the 19mm socket. Do the same for the second bolt. Move to the next plank section.

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's turning. Bolt holes drilled, bolts threaded. Need to drive them home before the surf takes the dock. Rain's coming sideways now.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny10:54

(loose with the VHF) Tomorrow's window, 0600 to 0800 high tide.

Tighten my grip on the cane against my shin, then slowly push myself toward the cottage door and sit on the porch floor with my leg elevated on a crate.

💭 peek at the thought

The water's rising faster than we're working, and I can't feel my toes.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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