the dock · day 107 · morning

Midday Heat Soak

Kevin and Jenny meet at the dock as the sun reaches its peak. The tide has slowed its inward flow.

Kevin begins prying up the rotted dock planks using the crowbar, finding the wood soft and waterlogged. Jenny works the garden to check the seed trays and manage the humidity under the overcast sky.

🌿 Jenny18:19

The planks are getting soft, Kevin. We need to replace them before the boat comes in.

kicks the edge of the rotten timber with her boot to test the stability.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking at the rot in the wood again. He always sees the decay, never the structure.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:20

Aye. Two planks, starboard side. Got the replacement timber cured in the shed. Need the crowbar and a low tide to lever the old ones clean.

walk to the woodshed and retrieve the cured replacement planks and crowbar

💭 peek at the thought

She's right, and she knows it. The supply boat's nine days out — maybe less if the weather holds. Two planks gone punky, and if the skipper sees rot he might not risk the tie-up. We lose the dock, we lose the heavy lifts: fuel, feed, the crate of seed potatoes still sitting on the mainland. I've got the crowbar, the replacement timber in the woodshed, and the tide's still high enough to work the pilings from the dinghy if I need to.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny18:21

I'll get the crowbar from the dock. The tide's still too high for that job anyway.

nods and heads toward the dock to retrieve the crowbar from where she used it earlier.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks I'm just here to help with the practical work.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin18:22

Planks are in the shed. I'll bring them down and stack them clear of the waterline.

carry the two replacement planks from the woodshed to the dock and lay them on the timber above the high-tide mark

💭 peek at the thought

She's moving fast — doesn't want to waste daylight. Smart to wait for the ebb; trying to lever swollen, salt-soaked timber now would just split the new planks or wreck the crowbar. I'll get the planks to the dock and lay them out where we can see the grain, let the sun and wind start drying the edges while we wait for the tide to drop.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny18:25

Good. I'll check the stern line attachment points while you're at it. Good. I'll check the stern line attachment points while you're at it.

pulls out her notebook and flips to the page where she sketched the current line connections last week. </think>THOUGHT: He's being methodical again. Safe.

💭 peek at the thought

He's being methodical again. Safe. Predictable.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin18:26

(nothing — just give her a nod as I turn to the first rotten plank)

insert the crowbar between the rotting plank and the piling, levering upward to break the seal of swollen wood and salt crust

💭 peek at the thought

She's double-checking the stern line — good. The splice held yesterday, but constant tension on the cleat and the constant wet-dry cycle can fatigue the served twine. If the line fails under load, the dinghy swings into the pilings or drifts onto the rocks. I'll trust her eyes on it; she's got the notebook and the patience for detail. My job is to get the rotten planks out and the new ones in before the tide turns.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

🌿 Jenny18:28

Jenny — stands back a step, watching the salt crust crack and flake away, her eyes tracing the grain of the wood.

💭 peek at the thought

The sound of that wood splintering... it's like the island is finally letting go of something.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin18:28

(steady, low) Nearly free at the butt end. Going to work it back now.

continue levering the plank upward, working the crowbar along its length to loosen the fasteners and separate it from the piling

💭 peek at the thought

The crowbar's biting — good. The plank's giving where the salt rot's worst, but the piling's still sound. I can feel the difference: soft, spongy give where it's rotted, then sudden resistance where the heartwood's dry. If I keep the lever shallow and work with the grain, I'll pull it clean without splitting the piling or wasting the new timber. Jenny's watching close — she'll call it if I'm about to tear out more than we need.

nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.