Apart — Kevin at the dock, Jenny at the north cliffs

Midday work and radio watch

Kevin is at the dock checking the Yanmar coupling at low tide; Jenny is at the north cliffs finishing field notes and watching for the supply boat.

Kevin realigned the Yanmar engine on the dinghy by adding a shim to the mast bracket, then tested the prop for bind. Jenny descended from the north cliffs, stopped at the garden gate to inspect the tarp, and found no leaks. A seabird chick fell from the cliff ledges nearby.

🔧 Kevin — alone at the dock

The tide has dropped enough to expose the dinghy's stern. You crouch at the transom, wrench in hand, and crack the coupling bolts to check shaft alignment. The bronze sleeve spins true on the trued shaft, but the mast bracket's slight skew still pulls the engine off-center.

🔧 Kevin03:51

Kevin — crouch at the transom, wrench in hand, and crack the coupling bolts to check shaft alignment. The bronze sleeve spins true on the trued shaft, but the mast bracket's slight skew still pulls the engine off-center.

💭 peek at the thought

The bracket's skew is the root cause — the bronze sleeve and trued shaft are solid, but the offset loads the coupling every revolution. That vibration at half throttle isn't going away until the bracket is square. I have the stainless shim stock and the longer through-bolts; a 0.5mm shim under the heel and re-torquing the 150mm bolts should pull it true. Tide's still dropping — another hour of access before the water comes back.

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

🔧 Kevin03:54

Kevin — pull the two 150mm stainless through-bolts from the mast bracket heel, slip the 0.5mm stainless shim stock under the heel, re-insert bolts with washers and nyloc nuts, torque to 35Nm with the torque wrench, then spin the prop by hand to fee

💭 peek at the thought

The tide's given me a clean window — another forty minutes before the water touches the transom. The bracket's only off by a hair, but that hair shakes the whole drivetrain. I'll pull the two 150mm through-bolts, slip the 0.5mm stainless shim under the heel, and re-torque to 35Nm. The doubler plate I installed on the transom scarf joint is solid; it'll take the clamping force. If the vibration's gone at load, the dinghy's finally done.

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

🔧 Kevin03:58

Kevin — spin the prop by hand one last time to confirm no bind, replace the engine cover, secure the latches, wipe salt film off the fresh bolt heads, gather tools and the torque wrench, stand and stretch the lower back, walk back up the dock towar

💭 peek at the thought

The shim's seated, bolts torqued to 35Nm, and the prop spins free with no binding. The bracket heel sits square now — visually true against the transom face. Tide's starting to lap the lower bracket bolt; water'll be over the coupling in ten minutes. Need to button this up and get the engine cover back on before the salt hits the fresh torque marks. Vibration won't know till I run it under load, but the geometry's right now.

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

🌿 Jenny — alone at the north cliffs

You fold the completed sea beet sketches into the notebook and cap the sample vial. The north ridge cairns stand clear in the midday light. You raise the binoculars to the horizon — nothing but grey water and the occasional gannet. The supply boat is five days out. You key the shortwave to Tom's frequency anyway, just to hear the static.

🌿 Jenny03:53

Almost there, you stubborn thing.

pack the notebook into the bag and begin the slow descent back to the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

The ankle is throbbing again; the heat is spreading up the shin. If this hits the bone, I'll never plant the tin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny03:57

Jenny — walk toward the cottage, shifting the weight off the left ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

The clouds are bruising over; that pressure is going to break. I need to check the tarp before the rain hits.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🌿 Jenny04:02

Jenny — stop at the garden gate to inspect the tarp for leaks.

💭 peek at the thought

Kevin is probably still at the dock, watching the horizon. I can feel the salt in the air thickening.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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