the dock · day 397 · midday

Midday at the low tide

The tide continues to pull out, revealing more of the rocky floor around the dock as the pair prepares.

The tide recedes significantly, exposing a deep hollow in the rock shelf beneath the north piling. Kevin uses the crowbar to probe the depth of the scour while wedging stones to test stability. Jenny monitors the receding waterline and notices a new crevice in the shelf.

🔧 Kevin05:44

Water's down another foot. Give it twenty minutes, we'll have the toe of the north piling exposed. Want eyes on that shim while I'm under there.

walk to the end of the dock and lean over the gunwale, studying the waterline on the pilings, the greenheart sister plank, and the scoured hollow beneath it

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's dropping fast. Good — gives us a proper look at the pilings and the sister plank before the supply boat's due. Need to check that greenheart knee isn't floating on void.

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

🌿 Jenny05:45

Don't lean too hard yet. The wood is still saturated from the rain.

Jenny stands slowly from the chair, grips the porch railing for balance, and limps toward the edge of the dock to get a better look.

💭 peek at the thought

If that shim shifts when the boat hits, the whole jetty goes down, and I can't fix that with this ankle.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:46

Ankle first. Dock second. Sit back.

step back from the edge and hold out a hand steadying her elbow, guiding her toward the porch chair

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — planks are still spongy. But she shouldn't be walking on that ankle, not on a moving dock.

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

🌿 Jenny05:47

I can see the gap from here. I'm fine.

Jenny pulls her arm away slightly, sits into the chair with a sharp intake of breath, and stares at the receding water.

💭 peek at the thought

I'm not a patient to be managed, I'm the one documenting this island.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:48

Twenty minutes. I'll check the piling toe and the sister knee. You watch the waterline, tell me if it starts coming back fast.

crouch at the dock edge, crowbar in hand, waiting for the tide to drop the last half metre to expose the north piling toe and the greenheart knee's full length

💭 peek at the thought

Stubborn. Both of us. But she's breathing hard and the ankle's hot to touch through the wrap. Infection's not gone, just held.

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

🌿 Jenny05:49

I'm watching. The tide is dropping slow, steady for now.

Jenny leans forward, elbows on her knees, tracking the dark line where the water retreats from the salt-crusted wood.

💭 peek at the thought

If the rot is as deep as it looks, the whole structure won't hold the supply boat.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:51

Shim's holding on the north piling. But the sister knee — there's daylight under the heel. Void runs back two, maybe three feet.

wait another few minutes, eyes on the water, then lie flat on the dock planks and reach the crowbar under the sister plank to probe the depth of the scour hole

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's still, watching. That's the most rest she's had in days. Tide's cooperating — slack low in about ten minutes by the look of it. North piling toe's showing now, the greenheart shim I drove at last low tide still seated. But the scour hole under the sister plank... that's the worry. Greenheart's hard as iron but it's floating on void. Next big swell will hammer it.

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

🌿 Jenny05:51

Be careful. If you shift the weight more, the wedges might pop out.

Jenny grips the edge of the chair, her knuckles white, watching the crowbar disappear into the dark shadow under the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

Three feet? If the boat comes in now, the whole way will snap like a dry branch.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin05:52

Wedges are set. Ring's not moving. I'm just measuring the hole.

probe carefully with the crowbar tip, feeling for the bottom of the scour beneath the sister plank's heel, measuring depth against the bar's markings

💭 peek at the thought

She knows the dock better than she lets on. Wedges are oak, vertical grain, driven tight — they won't pop unless the whole ring shifts. But the sister knee's only held by three through-bolts and gravity. If the scour's deep, the next storm lifts the heel and snaps bolts.

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

🌿 Jenny05:53

It looks too deep, Kevin. The current is taking the sand away.

Jenny shifts her weight, the notebook forgotten on her lap, watching the crowbar vibrate in the mud.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's three feet, the rot isn't just surface. The island is eating it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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