Days

Dawn rain drummed the roof tarp as Kevin carried Jenny up the ladder to the loft bed, settling her with a tin mug of warm limpet broth and the next antibiotic dose. "Drink it slow.…

At dawn Kevin and Jenny stood on the reinforced dock planks as the trade wind picked up. Jenny checked the dinghy's mooring lines while Kevin inspected the Yanmar for leaks. "Bow l…

Dawn lifted the tide beneath the pilings, glassy sea and heavy humidity. Jenny checked the repaired stern line while Kevin inspected the Yanmar for fuel leaks. Her ankle throbbed d…

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny at the fallen spruce where it pinned the shade cloth anchors, tide rising under the dock, air thick with humidity and crushed mint. Kevin retrieved the c…

Grey light pressed against the cottage windows as Kevin and Jenny woke to surf without wind. A heavy spruce trunk lay across the garden path halfway to the terrace, its crown tangl…

Dawn mist clung to Sorrel Island, muffling the surf. Kevin sat on the step sorting the new Yanmar fuel line and brass sleeves while Jenny leaned against the doorframe, watching the…

Dawn found Kevin on the porch step with the Yanmar's new fuel line coiled beside him, tubing cutter and wrenches laid out on a rag. The barometer read 1008 and climbing. Jenny hobb…

Dawn found Kevin battling the rising chop in the dinghy, the Yanmar sputtering. He confirmed the copper fuel line was cracked near the transom — a full replacement needed. Back at …

Dawn found them on the porch, tin mugs warming their hands, the barometer steady at 1008 hPa and high tide slapping the dock pilings below. Kevin had the shortwave propped beside h…

Dawn found them on the porch with tin mugs, the barometer steady at 1006 hPa, high tide lapping the dock pilings. A dense school of silver fish flashed in the shallows, driven insh…

Kevin walked the dock at low tide with a torque wrench set to 35 Nm. The three new plank bolts held. The south piling sister joints showed no movement under load. The doubler plate…

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…