Days

The barometer held at 1009 hPa as evening deepened. Kevin heated water for coffee and readied the ditch bag — medicines, letter to Tom, seed tin E, notebook, spare impeller, radio …

Dawn found the tide dropping fast, exposing the south piling. Kevin worked beneath it while the Yanmar idled, checking vibration mount bolts. Jenny sat on a crate wrapping her ankl…

Dawn broke clear and 26°C. The tide was receding, exposing slick rocks beneath the south pilings. Jenny sat on a weathered plank, ankle propped on a crate, shivering despite the he…

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny on the dock as the tide crept toward the pilings. Jenny's ankle was wrapped in gauze, her face pale and slick with sweat. Kevin ran the Yanmar at high lo…

Dawn found Jenny on the porch with her ankle wrapped in a blanket while wind gusted through the palms. Kevin checked the water tank and laid out the final antibiotic doses. "Three …

Dawn found Jenny on the porch with her ankle propped, the air already heavy at 26°C. Kevin checked the water tank, then walked the dock at low tide to advance the greenheart scarf …

At dawn Kevin knelt on the damp planks and found the starboard stringer rotten forty centimetres above the waterline. Jenny, ankle propped on a driftwood log, marked the scarf cut …

Dawn found the air thick and still, the barometer dropping as the tide crept up the south dock pilings. Kevin checked mooring lines while Jenny sat on a crate, ankle propped. "Kevi…

Dawn broke overcast and heavy with salt. Kevin checked the dinghy's rigging while Jenny propped her infected ankle on a crate, watching the tide rise against the south dock. "The w…

Dawn found Kevin on the dock, port bolt backing out of a sistered piling — wood soft, threads intact. Jenny retreated to the cottage, ankle hot and inflamed, tide licking the dingh…

Dawn found Kevin on the sistered beam probing the south piling with a spike. The rot had advanced past his tape mark by a knuckle, punk wood crumbling into the rising water. Jenny …

At dawn Kevin crouched by the south piling as high tide reached the sister brace. The rot line had advanced another handspan since the last storm. "Sister brace is solid. Rot line'…

Dawn mist clung to the water, muffling the lap against the pilings. Kevin sat on a bench checking the new mooring lines while Jenny sat in the dinghy, ankle elevated, watching the …

Dawn found Kevin on the porch steps with the barometer, Jenny in a chair with her ankle propped on a crate, watching the tide line. He had checked the south piling brace at low tid…

Kevin stood on the dock at dawn, checking mooring lines as the tide crept against the south pilings. "Tide's pushing hard against the south pilings. Reef's showing less each minute…

Dawn broke clear over Sorrel. The trade wind held steady from the south as Kevin checked the generator fuel drum and Jenny sat with her ankle wrapped in a fresh poultice, watching …

Dawn found Kevin on the porch with the generator dipstick, the barometer needle drifting below 1016. Jenny sat at the table, ankle propped on a cushion, sea beet poultice steaming …

Dawn found Jenny on the seaward garden wall, ankle swollen, watching heavy clouds. Kevin inspected the drainage trench near the dock. "The trench will hold for another day, Kevin. …

Dawn broke under a heavy overcast. Jenny sat on the stone wall wrapping her swollen ankle, watching the sky. Kevin stood nearby, checking the drainage trench for debris. He reached…

Dawn broke over an overcast garden, the air heavy with 24°C wet-season humidity. Low tide exposed the rocky flats and the base of the dock. The water tank sat perilously full at 39…