Days

Dawn brought a pale jellyfish bloom drifting slow into the bay. Kevin checked the dinghy's mooring lines while Jenny sat on the dock edge watching the tide pulse against the piling…

Dawn found Kevin by the stove while the kettle whistled, watching grey fog swallow the garden walls. Jenny sat on the step, ankle propped on a driftwood log, watching the barometer…

Fog clung low off the water at dawn, swallowing the lighthouse and muting the surf to a dull hiss. The barometer read 1030 and falling. Kevin stood at the stove, kettle steaming. "…

Dawn broke overcast over Sorrel Island. Jenny rested her bandaged ankle on a piling while Kevin examined the newly sistered joint. The tide receded quickly, exposing slick rocks an…

Dawn found them on the south dock as the tide fell. Kevin probed the port stringer's third bolt hole — three millimetres of sound wood over hollow rot. Solid wood began twenty cent…

Dawn found Kevin and Jenny at the dock as the tide dropped fast. Jenny checked the starboard stringer while Kevin watched the water. He had torqued the sister joint bolts — all fou…

The tide receded from the south beach, exposing a heavy waterlogged wooden crate wedged against the rocks. Kevin and Jenny watched as waves foamed around the splintered wood under …

Dawn found them at the north piling, tide well out, the broken 16mm tap shank flush in the cured epoxy mortise. A heavy spruce trunk lay across the garden path farther up, branches…

At dawn Kevin stood calf-deep at the north piling, tide well out, mixing the last quick-set epoxy into the stripped mortise. Jenny checked the bronze bolts. "These bronze ones shou…

At dawn Kevin fitted the first greenheart sister plate against the north piling's salt-crystallized mortise. The final 150mm stainless through-bolt seized in the pre-drilled hole; …

Dawn found Kevin stirring limpet broth on the stove while Jenny sat on the porch, ankle propped on a driftwood splint, fresh sea beet poultice steaming under gauze. The barometer h…

Dawn broke under thick mist that muffled the waves against the pilings. Jenny checked the mooring line tension while Kevin watched the barometer drop. "The pressure is dropping fas…

Dawn broke cool and still. Kevin and Jenny stood by the south dock as the tide revealed barnacled pilings. Jenny checked mooring line tension while Kevin monitored the barometer. "…

Dawn broke clear and still. The tide fell back to show barnacled pilings and a heavy wooden crate thumping against rocks in the surf. Kevin and Jenny stood on the dock edge. "Recov…

The trade wind picked up at dawn as Kevin and Jenny stood by the newly raised garden wall. Kevin inspected the spillway while the tide began to rise. "Wall's good. South anchor on …

Dawn brought salt air and high tide lapping the reinforced pilings. Kevin and Jenny stood at the new intercept trench. Kevin checked the cut bank; Jenny tested soil moisture near t…

The sun beat down on dry earth as the temperature climbed to 29°C. Jenny knelt in the dirt inspecting sea beet seedlings while Kevin checked the stability of the new intercept tren…

Dawn broke warm at twenty-six degrees, a light onshore breeze carrying salt across the north slope. Jenny knelt in the garden pocket, working crushed lime into acidic soil with a h…

Kevin hauled two damp lime sacks from the shed to the windward porch side and spread them on the tarp, turning them hourly as planned. Jenny checked the water tank level and found …

The morning air sat heavy at 26 degrees as the dry season lingered. Kevin stood by the edge of the stalled intercept trench, testing the sun-baked earth with his hand. 'The ground'…