Days

The mist clung to the dock at dawn as Kevin checked the south piling tension and Jenny watched the barometer’s slow drop. By morning, the tide had receded, exposing barnacled rocks…

Dawn brought 29°C heat and a falling barometer. Kevin augered the south piling hole while Jenny started soil sampling at the south pit. "The auger's bitting," she said. "Start the …

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny on the dock. Heat shimmered off the water as Kevin inspected the greenheart for the sister joint. "The sister joint's a no-go. Rot's through," he said. "…

At dawn, Kevin and Jenny worked the dock as the tide fell. Jenny laid greenheart planks while Kevin drilled pilot holes, but the auger spun free at two feet — heartwood rotted to l…

At dawn, Kevin and Jenny stood on the dock as the tide lay low. Jenny probed the beam while Kevin readied the greenheart sister plank. The rot ran deeper than expected, eating past…

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny on the dock planks, sun beating dry wood. Jenny traced rot in the main support with a pencil — forty millimeters hollowed. Kevin went for greenheart from…

Dawn found Kevin on the dock measuring a greenheart plank against the south piling. The rot had advanced forty centimeters up from the waterline into the beam junction; fibers were…

Dawn found Kevin kneeling at the waterline, measuring rot in the main piling. Forty millimetres deep. He cut a square fifty-five-millimetre shoulder for a greenheart sister plank w…

Dawn fog hid the lighthouse. Jenny sat on the dock bench, ankle wrapped, while Kevin pulled the Yanmar prop shaft from the dinghy. He spun it against the flat plate — true. "Shaft'…

Dawn found Kevin at the workbench turning the Yanmar prop shaft while Jenny propped her swollen ankle on the porch rail. The trade wind stiffened, rattling the corrugated roof. "Th…

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny under the porch overhang as wind came off the north ridge. Rain drummed the garden tarp. The water tank sat at 393 litres, near capacity. High tide lappe…

Dawn heat shimmered over the garden as Kevin checked deadman anchor tension by the wall and Jenny adjusted shade cloth over the tomato rows. The air lay still, heavy with salt and …

At dawn, Jenny checked the shade cloth over the tomato rows. "Hold the north corner. Higher. Just a few inches," she told Kevin. He held the cloth until the breeze came up the gull…

Dawn brought still air and the scent of salt moving inland. Kevin stood by the Yanmar, checking the new bronze sleeve tension. Jenny sat on the dock edge sorting heirloom seeds. Th…

The morning air hung heavy with salt and damp earth. Jenny checked the soil pH in the lime beds while Kevin inspected the new shade cloth tension. "The pH is holding. Right in the …

Dawn fog swallowed the lighthouse and dock in damp grey. Kevin checked the dinghy's forward spring while Jenny monitored the barometer on the porch. "Fog's thick. You can't even se…

Dawn broke calm over Sorrel Island, tide retreating to expose rocky pools. Kevin sat on the dinghy's edge checking the Yanmar's mounting bolts while Jenny watched the barometer dro…

Dawn found Kevin on the dock watching the tide creep back toward the pilings while Jenny wrapped her swollen ankle on a nearby crate, tracking the red lines of infection. At low ti…

Dawn brought warm rain drumming the tin roof. The tide was out, exposing slick rocks and the north ridge base. Kevin sat on the porch with the barometer. "Barometer's holding. If i…

Jenny spread heirloom seeds on a dry cloth at dawn, inspecting them as Kevin checked the garden tarp tension. Heavy air and shifting wind undermined the double tarping; salt spray …