the dock · day 308 · evening

The Vibrating Test

The sun begins to dip, casting long shadows across the dock planks as the tide remains at its lowest point.

Kevin tested the Yanmar engine in the dinghy and identified vibration in the mounts due to rot in the transom, then began sistering the starboard bolt hole with greenheart. Jenny planted an heirloom seed in the garden and checked the dock for tremors, then examined the engine bolts with Kevin.

🔧 Kevin14:36

Kevin — step into the dinghy, check throttle linkage and fuel line connections, then start the Yanmar and let it warm at idle

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's bottomed out. Good window to check the Yanmar under load without the dock lines fighting me. Engine's mounted, prop shaft's true, but that vibration past half-throttle has been needling me since yesterday. Could be the mast bracket alignment, could be the prop itself. Won't know till I run it hard.

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

🌿 Jenny14:37

Don't be too loud, the birds are nesting.

Kneels by the garden bed, presses a small hole into the earth with a finger, and drops a single heirloom seed into the dark.

💭 peek at the thought

The soil is so perfect it's insulting, and I'm still terrified I'll ruin it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:38

Sorry. I'll keep it down till I'm clear of the cove.

ease the throttle forward in increments, listening for the vibration to return as RPM climbs past 1800

💭 peek at the thought

She's planting by hand, slow and careful. That seed's from her grandmother's tin—same one she held when we left the mainland. I can hear the Yanmar ticking over, but all I really hear is the weight of that seed hitting soil. I should've been here helping, not down at the dock pretending the engine's the only thing that needs fixing.

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

🌿 Jenny14:39

The soil's ready. Go on then.

Stands and walks toward the dock, leaning on the spruce garden fork to steady herself, watching the dinghy's wake spread across the mudflats.

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the engine, I can hear him breathing through the radio static.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin14:40

Running smooth past two thousand. Taking her to three.

push throttle to 3000 RPM, hold it there, feel for vibration through the tiller and deck plates

💭 peek at the thought

She came down to watch. Not to ask, not to complain—just to see. The fork's taking weight she won't admit to. I should cut the engine, walk back up, sit with her at that garden bed. But the vibration's clean through 2200 now, holding steady, and I need to know if it comes back at load.

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

🌿 Jenny14:42

Fine by the cove, but don't push her hard.

Walks to the dock railing, watches the dinghy's white wake fan across the mudflats, and reaches into the pocket of her work pants where she keeps the soil pH strips.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right - it's running smoother than it has in months. Good. That's all I need.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin14:42

Holding at three. Tell me if the dock shudders.

grip the tiller hard, eyes on the tell-tale stream, feel for vibration origin—hull, tiller, or motor mounts

💭 peek at the thought

She's watching the wake, not the engine. Knows the difference between the sound of an engine working and one coming apart. Three thousand's where the shake showed yesterday—prop shaft true, bearings good, but that mast bracket's still cocked a degree off from the storm. If the vibration's in the hull not the motor, it's the bracket flexing. If it's in the tiller, it's the prop. My hands know which. Her ankle knows the dock planks are slick.

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

🌿 Jenny14:43

It's steady. Just come back.

Places a hand flat against the timber of the dock, feeling for any unexpected tremors from the engine.

💭 peek at the thought

The dock is holding for now, but those planks are soft as wet cardboard.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:44

Cutting her back. Vibration's in the mounts, not the drive.

reduce throttle to idle, shift to neutral, kill the engine, and lift the cowling to inspect the engine mounts and mast bracket alignment on the transom

💭 peek at the thought

She's testing the dock like I test a flywheel—fingertips on grain, feeling for the lie in the wood. No tremor coming up through the pilings. That means the vibration's not in the drivetrain, not in the prop. It's in the mounting. The engine's lying to me because the bracket's not square. I've been chasing ghosts in the water when the fault's on the transom.

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

🌿 Jenny14:45

I see it. Let's look at the bolts.

Walks to the edge of the jetty, peering down at the Yanmar housing where it meets the transom, checking for any play or hairline cracks in the metal.

💭 peek at the thought

If the mounts are shot, the whole thing will shake itself apart when the next storm hits.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:46

Transom's working. Starboard bolt's loose in the hole—wood's gone soft.

loosen the starboard through-bolt, slide a feeler gauge between bracket and transom to measure the gap, then retighten just enough to hold position while I assess the damage

💭 peek at the thought

She's down on the jetty, boots damp, eyes on the bolts like she's reading a gauge. I can see the bracket's shifted—starboard side's gap opened up, port side's compressed. The through-bolts are tight, but the wood's crept. Salt-rotted spruce doesn't hold, no matter how many times you sister it. We need to pull the engine, sister the transom with greenheart, and re-bed. But the supply boat's six days out, and we've got epoxy that won't cure in this damp.

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

🌿 Jenny14:47

We'll need to sister that section or use a larger plate.

Kneels on the dock, pressing a thumb into the wood around the bolt hole to see how deep the rot has actually gone.

💭 peek at the thought

I knew it. The salt and moisture are eating it where we can't see.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:48

Rot's deep. We'll sister with greenheart, use the polyester resin from the generator kit—warm it in the sun, it'll kick.

remove the starboard through-bolt completely, use the chisel to clear rotted wood from the bolt hole area, and test-fit a piece of greenheart as a sister patch to the transom

💭 peek at the thought

Her thumb sinks in past the first knuckle—rot's not surface, it's run with the grain. We've got greenheart left from the dock repair, but it's thick. Need to scarf it in, epoxy it solid, then redrill. But we're out of marine epoxy, and the tub's near empty. We could use the polyester resin from the generator spare kit—it's not ideal, but it'll bind if we keep it warm. And we've got six days. If we start now, we can have it cured by slack tide tomorrow.

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

🌿 Jenny14:49

Greenheart is the only thing dense enough to hold.

Picks up the seed tin from the bench, wipes dust off the lid, and looks back at the garden.

💭 peek at the thought

If I don't fix this now, the engine will tear right out of the wood next week.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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