the dock · day 215 · dawn

Pre-arrival preparations

Kevin and Jenny stand on the dock as the steady trade wind pulls at the dinghy. Jenny checks the tension on the mooring lines while Kevin organizes the tools for the day's work.

Kevin successfully fitted the wooden sister block into the seaward mortise using epoxy, reinforcing the dock structure. Jenny managed to extract the rusted copper nails using the nail puller, though the effort left the timber splintered. The dock mooring ring is now stable enough to withstand the tension of the boat.

🌿 Jenny21:04

The wood is giving way, Kevin. I need the crowbar and the heavy bolts.

Kicks the edge of the middle plank to test the wobble.

💭 peek at the thought

These planks are like wet cardboard; if I don't replace them now, the boat will take the whole jetty with the tide.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:04

Crowbar's on the porch. Bolts in the red tin, workshop shelf. I'll get the epoxy tub and the new planks from the shed.

walk up to the cottage porch, grab the crowbar and the red bolt tin from the workshop shelf, then head to the garden shed for the replacement planks and epoxy tub

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the plank. The middle one's been soft for weeks — salt and rot down to the core. The mooring ring shifts when the boat pulls, and that bolt's been turning in its hole. Need the crowbar and the 12mm stainless bolts from the workshop. Tide turns at 0200; if we don't get this seated before the swell builds, the dinghy's the least of it.

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

🌿 Jenny21:06

Be careful with the way, I don't want it getting on the sketches.

Kneels by the dock Edge and pries at the rotting wood with the crowbar.

💭 peek at the thought

He's moving faster than I am today; my stomach is growling loud enough to hear.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:06

Notebook's safe. Epoxy's going leeward of you.

set the epoxy tub and replacement planks on the dock planking well upwind of Jenny's work area, then crouch to examine the mooring ring mortise where the bolt turns

💭 peek at the thought

She's got the notebook tucked under her arm — the sea beet morphology one. Salt gland illustrations. She's protective of it. Rightly so; it's the only complete transect data we have. I'll keep the epoxy tub downwind and the planks clear of her workspace.

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

🌿 Jenny21:08

The wood is shot through. I need to get these out clean.

Wedges the crowbar into the gap and heaves against the splintering timber.

💭 peek at the thought

If I can't get this ring secured, the whole jetty is going in the next big swell.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:08

Nail puller's in the tool roll by the generator. I'll cut a sister block for the seaward mortise while you work the nails.

walk back to the cottage, retrieve the nail puller from the tool roll by the generator, then move to the workshop bench to cut a 300mm sister block from the sound core of an old dock plank

💭 peek at the thought

The plank's coming apart in layers. She'll need the nail puller for the copper nails — they'll snap if she just pries. And the mortise on the seaward side is wet rot all the way through; the new plank won't hold unless I sister a block underneath. Tide's still rising. We've got maybe two hours before the water's up to the decking.

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

🌿 Jenny21:10

Watch the weight, it's going to snap if I pull wrong.

Grabs the puller and catches the first nail, yanking with a grunt of effort.

💭 peek at the thought

My hands are shaking from the hunger, but I have to get this done before the tide turns.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin21:10

Hold the angle. Copper bends, doesn't snap. I've got the sister block ready — coming in with epoxy.

mix a small batch of epoxy in a tin lid, brush it into the seaward mortise and the sister block faces, then drive the block home with the crowbar's flat end

💭 peek at the thought

Good grip on the puller. She's working the nail sideways — copper's soft, it'll bend before it snaps if she keeps the angle. The sister block's cut. Need to epoxy the mortise face and drive it home before the tide covers it. Barometer's still falling; the swell'll be pushing hard by noon.

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

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