the dock · day 397 · afternoon

The tide begins to turn

The rain continues steady as the first ripples begin to creep back over the exposed shelf and the hollow.

The tide is rising rapidly, submerging the lower planks of the dock. Kevin has packed the scour hole with stones and wedged the greenheart shim under the north piling to stabilize the mooring ring. Jenny is documenting the new rock crevice in her notebook before the water swallows the detail.

🔧 Kevin05:54

Kevin — drive the greenheart offcuts and stone into the scour hole with the crowbar, packing it tight while the water's still low enough to work. Then wedge the tapered greenheart shim under the piling toe to hold it level when the tide rises.

💭 peek at the thought

Water's coming back faster than I expected. The hollow under the north piling is deeper than it looked — scour's eaten back near a metre under the footing. If the piling settles into that void under load, the whole dock frame twists. Need to fill it before the tide seats the piling hard.

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

🌿 Jenny05:55

Careful with that shim, the tide is coming back faster than the forecast.

Sketch the new crevice in the rock in the notebook before the water covers it.

💭 peek at the thought

If that shim doesn't hold, the whole jetty will shear into the sea before the boat arrives.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:56

Shim's set. Void's packed. We'll know in ten minutes if it holds.

Step back onto the dock planks, watching the water rise around the north piling, crowbar ready in case the structure shifts.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — forecast said another hour to slack. Tide doesn't read forecasts. Shim's driven deep, kerfed face gripping the rock. Greenheart offcuts packed the void solid. Now the water takes the weight and either the piling sits or it doesn't.

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

🌿 Jenny05:57

Keep an eye on the mooring ring. If it groans, we're losing the dinghy.

Trace the outline of the crevice with a pencil before the water swallows the detail.

💭 peek at the thought

He's too confident. The wood is brittle, and the salt has eaten the heart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:58

Ring's wedged vertical-grain oak. Held three tides. But if that piling drops...

Grip the crowbar, eyes on the mooring ring mortise where water churns around the timber, waiting for the first telltale groan or shift.

💭 peek at the thought

Mooring ring's the weak link now. Oak wedges held last cycle but greenheart's denser, doesn't compress. If the piling settles even a few millimetres the mortise gap changes and the ring works loose. Dinghy's the only way off this rock.

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

🌿 Jenny05:59

Just don't let it slip. I can't rebuild the whole thing right now.

Watch the water line at the edge of the shim, waiting for the tide to test the pressure.

💭 peek at the thought

If the dock goes, I'm stranded with no way to reach the boat or the mainland.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:01

It'll hold. Wedges are driven home. Ring's not moving.

Keep watching the mortise as water rises, one hand on the crowbar, the other ready to drive a fresh wedge if the ring so much as shudders.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not asking. She's stating what we both know — her ankle, my back, the materials we don't have. The ring holds or we lose the dinghy. Simple as that.

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

🌿 Jenny06:01

I hope so. The tide is coming in fast today.

Mark the edge of the crevice in the notebook before it's submerged.

💭 peek at the thought

He's always so sure until the wood actually rots from the inside.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin06:02

Ring's quiet. Piling's seated. We're good for now.

Exhale slow, ease the crowbar down against the dock planking, and glance at the barometer on the cottage porch — 979 and falling.

💭 peek at the thought

Water's licking the top of the shim now. Piling's seated. No groan from the ring. No shift in the mortise. The repair's holding — for this tide at least.

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

🌿 Jenny06:03

The barometer isn't lying. We need to get the seed tin inside before the wind picks up.

Trace the line of the crevice in the notebook one last time before the water takes it.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping. The storm is coming before the boat does.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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