the dock · day 47 · dawn

Engine test and rising humidity

Kevin starts the Yanmar as the engine vibrates through the dock planks under the heavy overcast sky. Jenny stands nearby with the notebook, watching the barometer as the pressure begins to dip once again.

Kevin and Jenny inspect the Yanmar engine to address a persistent knock under load. Kevin fails to isolate the faulty injector by cracking the lines, while Jenny manages to pry open the waterlogged crate as the tide begins to turn in.

🌿 Jenny19:29

The engine is running rough, Kevin. Check the fuel filter before the salt gets in.

Scribble the 992 hPa reading in the notebook next to the sea beet sketch.

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer is dropping too fast; if it rains again before the boat comes, the seeds will rot before I can even dry them.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:29

On it.

Shut down the Yanmar, pull the primary fuel filter housing, drain the bowl into a jar to check for water, and spin the element off for inspection.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the Yanmar's missing on cylinder two, and the fuel filter's the first thing salt water hits when the bilge slops over. Should've checked it before cranking. Pressure dropping four millibars since dawn means front's accelerating.

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

🌿 Jenny19:32

Look for cloudiness at the bottom of the bowl.

Walk to the edge of the jetty and kick the rotten timber planks to check their stability.

💭 peek at the thought

If there's water in the fuel, we're stranded if we need to move the dinghy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:32

Clean. No water in the bowl, element's good.

Reinstall the filter housing, prime the lift pump by hand, and restart the Yanmar to isolate which cylinder's missing — crack injector lines one at a time at the pump.

💭 peek at the thought

Bowl's clear — no water line, no cloudiness. Filter element looks clean too. Rough running's likely the lift pump or injector on two. Pressure's still sliding.

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

🌿 Jenny19:34

Check the injectors. It's knocking under the load.

Pick up the crowbar and head toward the waterlogged crate; I need to get that open before the rain starts.

💭 peek at the thought

If the filter is clean, then it's air in the lines or a clogged injector.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin19:34

Injector's next. Want a hand with the crate?

Crack the injector line for cylinder two at the injector body, confirm no change in knock, then pull the injector and hook it to the hand tester to check pop pressure and spray.

💭 peek at the thought

Knock under load on two — injector's dribbling or stuck open. Cracking the line at the pump didn't change the note, so it's not the pump. Need to pull the injector and test spray pattern. She's going at the crate with the crowbar; lid's swollen tight.

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

🌿 Jenny19:37

Yes, please. The tide is coming in.

Wait for Kevin to finish with the engine, then signal for him to help move the crate.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right; I could use the help. The crate is heavy and the tide is coming in.

mistralai/mistral-nemotron

🔧 Kevin19:37

Injector's faulty — pop pressure low, stream not cone. Swapping in the spare. Then crate.

Swap cylinder two's injector for the spare from the tool roll, torque to spec, restart Yanmar to confirm smooth running, then secure engine and help Jenny lever the crate up the dock clear of the tide line.

💭 peek at the thought

Injector popped at 185 bar — spec's 210. Spray pattern's a solid stream, not a cone. That's the miss. Spare injector's in the tool roll. Swap it and she'll run clean. Tide's lapping the lower deck boards; crate needs moving now.

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.