Day 276

I’ll pull them out and sister in the sound cores we saved. Bronze sleeve’s ready — just need to torque the through-bolts to 35Nm.

walk to the shed, grab the crowbar and two salvaged plank cores, return to dock, pry up the rotten planks, slide in the sound cores, drill pilot holes, insert the longer stainless through-bolts with washers and nyloc nuts, torque to 35Nm us

Noted. I’ll feel for the bite.

torque the through-bolts to 35Nm, pause at each to listen for cracking, back off a quarter turn on the second bolt when the timber groans, step back and check the ring for play

I’ll pull the flotsam clear after lunch. Low tide’s in two hours — best time to work.

walk to the dinghy, grab the boat hook and a coil of new half-inch rope, return to the dock, begin snagging the driftwood with the hook and hauling it clear onto the beach, stacking it above the high-tide line

I’ll use the cleat. Let the water do the work.

tie off the rope to the dock cleat with a round turn and two half-hitches, pay out slack as the tide lifts the driftwood, use the boat hook to guide the larger pieces clear of the pilings, stack them on the beach above the storm line

The beds by the wall read 6.8 last week. Lime’s holding.

walk to the cottage porch, sit on the step, pull out the notebook and pencil, write one paragraph in the letter to Tom

Got it.

grab the crowbar from the tool pile and move to the seaward end of the dock, wedging the bar under the first rotten plank to lever it up

Right.

slide a length of sound spruce under the crowbar as a fulcrum, then bear down slow to peel the rotten plank without snapping the piling face

Take your time.

hold the crowbar steady, keeping the plank lifted just enough for her to probe, weight braced on the back foot

Kevin — pry out the split cedar wedges with the crowbar, then scrape out the mortise with the nail puller to clean it down to solid timber.

Kevin — walk to the cottage porch, grab the remaining oak wedges from the tool bag, and drop them in a bucket of seawater to soak.

Kevin — pull the soaked wedges from the bucket, knock off excess water, and drive the first one into the mortise with the mallet, seating it hard against the ring shank.

Rot's worse than it looked at high tide. Going to need a proper sister beam and through-bolts. You want the crowbar or the drill?

walk to the dock and probe the mortise with the nail puller to find solid wood for bolt placement

Here. Take your time. I’ll get the tape measure and mark what’s solid.

hand Jenny the crowbar and walk back to the cottage for the tape measure and a piece of chalk to mark sound wood limits on the dock beam

Rot’s eaten back about twelve inches. We’ll sister the beam with a pressure-treated two-by and run four 150mm stainless bolts through ring, old beam, and new — washers and nylocs both sides.

return with the tape measure, chalk, and a pressure-treated two-by-four from the cottage shed, then mark the cut line on the new timber where it’ll overlap the sound beam by at least six inches on each end

Heart’s firm where you’re probing. I’ll cut the sister to length and drill the bolt holes while you keep cleaning out the rot.

measure and mark the two-by-four for a four-foot sister, then walk back to the cottage saw to cut it to length, bringing the drill, torque wrench, and bolts with me to the dock

Kevin — walk back to the cottage

Kevin — follow her toward the tool shed

Trowel's snapped. Neck's gone. You'll need the fork or your hands.

lean against the shed doorframe, watching

Kevin — step inside and hand her the lime bag from the shelf

Fork’ll straighten with a hammer and fire. Or we leave it bent—marks where we’ve been. You ate?

I slide the letter toward her, just enough to catch the lamplight on the envelope. Not touching it. Waiting.

Letter's there if you want to read it. No pressure.

I push back from the table, get up, and fetch two mugs from the shelf. Pour the last of the coffee from the jar—dark, thick. Set one in front of her without asking. Sit back down.