the dock · day 228 · dawn

The Morning Hum

Kevin and Jenny stand by the dinghy as the sun begins to heat the salt air. The water laps gently against the repaired dock while Jenny checks the tension on the new spring lines.

Kevin finds himself in the dinghy, the Yanmar engine humming at a low steady idle as he prepares for the test. Jenny moves toward the garden with the heavy bag of crushed lime, ready to treat the acidic soil of the heirloom beds.

🌿 Jenny08:57

Lines are tight. The boat isn't going anywhere.

Step off the jetty and walk toward the garden, carrying the bag of crushed lime.

💭 peek at the thought

The lines feel secure, but the dock still feels tentative under my feet. I need to get to the garden before the sun gets too high and the lime becomes a chore.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:58

I’ll run her up slow, listen for the harmonic. Call if it jumps.

climb into the dinghy, turn the fuel valve, choke once, crank the Yanmar to life at idle.

💭 peek at the thought

I watch Jenny walk away with the lime—she’s moving without needing to explain, and I let her go. The dock’s holding, the lines are true, and the engine’s waiting. Time to turn the prop and feel what’s really shaking loose.

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

🌿 Jenny08:58

I'll be in the beds! Just... don't redline it!

Walk toward the garden beds, glancing back once to check the engine's exhaust.

💭 peek at the thought

That vibration is like a splinter in his mind. I hope he doesn't push it too hard; I can't deal with a broken shaft today.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:00

Kevin — let the Yanmar warm at idle, hand on the tiller and the other on the throttle lever, easing it to quarter throttle and holding.

💭 peek at the thought

She’s watching the exhaust like she can read the engine’s pulse from twenty feet. Good instinct. I’ll bring it up in steps—idle, quarter, half—and hold each long enough to feel the shaft settle or shiver. The vibration showed above half throttle yesterday; today I find where it lives.

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

🌿 Jenny09:00

Jenny — reach the garden beds and begin spreading the crushed lime across the soil surface.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the machine. I wonder if he hears the birds or if it's just the engine for him.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:02

Kevin — roll the throttle to half, hold it there, and press my palm flat against the cooling jacket to feel the vibration through the metal.

flagged: repeated_opener

💭 peek at the thought

The lime dust catches the sun as she spreads it—white on dark soil, a quiet kind of mending. I can feel the engine already: a low thrum in the frame at quarter throttle, smooth as glass. Time to see what happens when I ask it for more.

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

🌿 Jenny09:02

Jenny — use a hand-rake to work the lime into the top two inches of the acidic soil.

💭 peek at the thought

He's still chasing that ghost in the metal. I can hear the pitch changing from here—it sounds smoother, but he won't believe it until he feels it.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin09:04

Cutting it. Be back in a minute.

chop the throttle to idle, kill the switch, hop out, and unbolt the propeller with the wrench from the dock box.

💭 peek at the thought

At half throttle the vibration’s there—a buzz in the handlebars, not violent but insistent, like a loose bolt singing. It’s not the mount; it’s in the drivetrain. I’ll kill it, pull the prop, and check the shaft runout with the micrometer I kept from the bearing job.

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

🌿 Jenny09:05

Jenny — kneel in the dirt, wiping sweat from my brow with the back of a dusty hand, continuing to spread the lime.

💭 peek at the thought

If he takes the prop off now, we'll lose the whole morning light. I just need to get the pH right for the seedlings.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:06

Kevin — unbolt the coupling from the shaft flange, slide it off, and spin the bare shaft on the bench V-blocks with the micrometer dial indicator.

flagged: repeated_opener

💭 peek at the thought

Prop’s off. The shaft spins free by hand—no grind, no catch. But when I sight down it and spin it slow, there’s a wobble at the coupling end. Barely a thou, maybe two. Enough to shake the whole boat at speed. The bronze sleeve I machined is true; the shaft itself is bent, or the coupling’s cocked. I’ll need to pull the coupling and check both.

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.