the dock · day 190 · dawn

Morning Tide and Maintenance

Kevin and Jenny stand on the wooden dock as the tide begins to pull from the pilings. Jenny checks the tension on the dinghy's rigging while Kevin inspects the Yanmar engine for salt buildup.

Kevin and Jenny head toward the cottage to retrieve the replacement planks to fix the dock. The tide is receding rapidly, exposing slick algae and salt-crusted rocks beneath the jetty.

🔧 Kevin22:00

Engine's clean. Transom's holding.

wipe a finger across the Yanmar's cylinder head, checking for moisture

💭 peek at the thought

She's thorough with the rigging — good. The Yanmar's clean, no salt crust on the block. Four days running clean. That transom repair held.

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

🌿 Jenny22:00

The tide is getting away fast.

Jenny traces a quick sketch of the sea much's leaf margin in her notebook, her pencil lead snapping slightly.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking at the engine because it's easier than looking at my face. If only he could see the way the salt is eating the wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:02

Slack in two hours. Boat'll come on the flood if it comes.

step to the end of the dock, scanning the horizon toward the mainland

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Ebb's running hard past the point. If the boat comes today it'll be the slack after high — two hours off. Pencil's brittle in this dry air.

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

🌿 Jenny22:02

It's been ten days already.

Jenny picks up the broken pencil and begins to sharpen it with her pocketknife.

💭 peek at the thought

It hasn't come in three weeks. It won't come today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:04

Nine. They missed the last window.

turn back from the horizon, eyes on the dinghy's painter and the chafed section near the ring

💭 peek at the thought

Ten days. Maybe eleven. The trust's boat runs when weather and funding allow. She knows that. Still sharpens the pencil like it matters.

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

🌿 Jenny22:04

Then we'll have to eat more limpets.

Jenny blows the pencil shavings off her notebook and resumes the sketch of the sea beet's salt glands.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat doesn't come, we'll be out of flour by Friday.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:06

Got a bucket of big ones from the north pools yesterday. Fat as thumbs.

crouch at the dinghy's bow, checking the forward spring line's splice for chafe

💭 peek at the thought

Limpets and corned beef. Could be worse. She draws salt glands like they're blueprints. The garden's producing but not enough for two yet.

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

🌿 Jenny22:06

I'm tired of tasting salt in everything.

Jenny closes her notebook and looks at the rotten planks on the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always talking about the food when the silence gets heavy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin22:08

Two new planks waiting in the woods. Need hauling and fitting.

stand, wiping hands on trousers, and walk toward the cottage to fetch the replacement planks

💭 peek at the thought

Salt in the flour, salt in the tea, salt in the wounds. She's earned the complaint. Eleven months of it. The planks I replaced last month are holding but the ones beside them are going soft.

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

🌿 Jenny22:08

I'll get the crowbar.

Jenny stands up, tucking her notebook into her bag and following him.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't fix the dock, the whole thing will just drift.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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