the dock · day 645 · dawn

The Rising Tide

Kevin crouches by the edge of the dock, checking the tension on the dinghy lines while Jenny sits on a weathered crate, her ankle wrapped tight as she watches the tide lap against the rotting pilings. The warm rain begins to drum steadily against the tin roof.

The warm rain continues to fall in steady intervals, making the dock planks slick and treacherous. The tide has risen faster than expected, sending small swells that lap over the edges of the dock. The rot-weakened north piling is visibly shifting by half an inch at the base as the current pulls against the wood.

🌿 Jenny09:21

Watch that knot on the stern, Kevin. It's slipping.

Reach into my pocket to pull out my pencil and begin sketching the way the water is swirling around the jetty.

💭 peek at the thought

The wood is going soft faster than I thought. If that second plank goes, the dinghy goes with it.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:23

Got it.

walk to the stern cleat and re-tie the line with a proper round turn and two half hitches, seating it hard against the cleat horn

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. The stern line's working loose under the swell. Should've doubled it last tide.

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

🌿 Jenny09:25

Good. The tide is coming in.

Lean my weight against the crate and rub the throbbing in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's better at knots than he admits, but the wood is still the enemy.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:25

North piling's moving. Half inch at the base.

crouch at the waterline and press my palm against the north piling where it meets the seabed, feeling for give

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's pushing hard against the pilings. North one's the weakest — rot goes deep. Need to sister it before the next spring tide or we lose the whole dock.

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

🌿 Jenny09:34

We need to brace it before the next surge hits.

Stand up slowly, wincing as my ankle shifts, and walk to the edge of the dock to look at the waterline.

💭 peek at the thought

I knew it. The rot has gone deeper than the surface check showed last week.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:34

Greenheart offcuts on the dock. Two lengths, tapered. Can sister it port and starboard. Need the come-along and the 150mm through-bolts.

walk back to the crate where the greenheart offcuts are stacked and pick up the longer taper, testing its weight

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring the bad ankle hard. The red line's past the dressing — I saw it when she stood. Infection's tracking up. She won't say it. I'll have to debride again tonight, deeper this time.

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

🌿 Jenny09:37

Get the bolts from the shed. We need the long ones to bite through the rot.

Trace the line of the piling in my notebook, marking exactly where the sister needs to sit.

💭 peek at the thought

Greenheart is dense enough to hold the weight if we can get it to grip the old timber.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:37

One long bolt left. Used the other on the shutter.

head for the workshop at a steady pace, favouring the damp boards that hold

💭 peek at the thought

Bolts are in the workshop, top shelf by the torque wrench. One 150mm left with washers and nyloc. The other's already in the east shutter. She's mapping the rot like she maps sea beet — precise, clinical, like the ankle isn't hers.

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.