Apart — Kevin at the dock, Jenny at the keeper's cottage

Afternoon work at dock and cottage

Kevin is at the dock troubleshooting the Yanmar starter; Jenny is at the cottage sorting heirloom seeds from the tin.

Kevin works at the dock in the afternoon heat, focusing on machining the bronze sleeves for the Yanmar's lower unit. Jenny is at the cottage, managing the drying seeds and drafting the letter to Tom. The tide is low, exposing the shoreline.

🔧 Kevin — alone at the dock

You sit on the dinghy's gunwale with the starter assembly in your lap, file in hand, the bendix splines worn shiny. Rain drips from the mast onto your notes. The supply boat is nine days out.

🔧 Kevin21:26

Kevin — file the bendix splines to sharpen engagement edges, then set up lathe to machine replacement bendix from prop hub bronze stock.

💭 peek at the thought

Nine days. Nine days until the supply boat, and this bendix won't last nine starts. The splines are worn to a shine — no bite left. I can file the edges to sharpen what's there, maybe get a few more engagements, but it's borrowing time. Should machine a new one from the prop hub stock while the lathe's set up for the bronze sleeves. Two birds, one setup.

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

🔧 Kevin21:30

Kevin — chuck prop hub stock in lathe, turn OD to 28mm, bore 12mm ID, set up dividing head to cut spline profile for new bendix.

💭 peek at the thought

Filed the splines clean — they'll catch for a handful of starts, maybe a dozen if I'm gentle. Not good enough. The lathe's still warm from the bronze sleeve work. Prop hub stock is 316 stainless, tough on tooling but it'll hold the torque. Need to chuck it, turn the OD to 28mm, bore the 12mm ID for the shaft, cut the spline profile on the dividing head. Two hours if the cutter doesn't chatter. Rain's steady now, drumming on the dinghy canopy. Good weather for shop work.

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

🔧 Kevin21:34

Kevin — case-harden spline tips with propane torch, quench in seawater bucket, check for warpage, then test-fit on Yanmar starter shaft.

💭 peek at the thought

Cutter chattered on the first pass — stainless work-hardens fast. Backed off the feed, flooded it with cutting oil from the Yanmar sump. Second pass cleaner. Splines indexing true on the dividing head, twelve teeth at 30 degrees each. The bore's concentric to two thou. Good enough for a starter that only sees load for three seconds at a time. Still need to harden the tips. Propane torch will case-harden them if I don't warp the body. Quench in the seawater bucket.

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

🌿 Jenny — alone at the keeper's cottage

You spread the heirloom seed packets on the table under the lamp, the tin wiped dry beside them. Pepper and lettuce packets show mold at the edges. The garden tarp flaps loose at one corner beyond the window.

🌿 Jenny21:28

Jenny — pick up the packet of tomato seeds and trace the damp edge with a thumb.

💭 peek at the thought

The mold is eating the paper. If I don't plant them now, they'll just be grey dust in a tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny21:32

Jenny — stand up slowly and walk toward the wood stove.

💭 peek at the thought

My knees are aching from the damp floor. I need to eat something more than just cold limpets.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny21:36

Jenny — open the pantry door and look for the sack of flour.

💭 peek at the thought

The stove is still warm. I should check if there's any flour left in the pantry.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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