the dock · day 673 · midday

Low Tide Salvage

Kevin and Jenny meet at the shoreline as the tide reaches its lowest point. The heavy wooden crate is now visible among the rocks.

The tide is rising faster than predicted, with the swell beginning to lap the surface of the dock. Kevin has secured a chain sling under the heavy crate, waiting to test its weight with the boat hook, while Jenny watches from the edge of the timber, her ankle throbbing as the water creeps closer to the northern shelf.

🌿 Jenny18:39

The tide is out far enough to see the crate.

Limps toward the shoreline, clutching my notebook as my ankle throobs.

💭 peek at the thought

There it is, finally, but I hope the salt hasn't breached the wood yet.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:39

Stay on the dry rock. I'll get a line on it.

walk down the jetty to the water's edge, test footing on the weed-slick rocks, then crouch and grab the crate's rusted iron handle to judge weight and whether it's wedged or free

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's dropped clean. Crate's sitting in the kelp bed off the starboard bow — same one from the storm surge. Wood's grey with salt, iron bands rusted but holding. Jenny's favouring the left leg hard; ankle's swollen past the wrap. Should've had her stay at the porch.

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

🌿 Jenny18:41

Be careful on those rocks, they're slick with silt.

Stands at the edge of the dry timber, watching the way the crate sits in the debris.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's wedged, he won't be able to lift it with one hand.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:41

Not going on them. Got the boat hook.

turn back to the shed, pull the aluminium boat hook from the rack, return to the jetty end and hook the crate's nearest handle, heave steady to test if it shifts or stays jammed

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — silt over kelp's worse than ice. One wrong step and I'm in the water with a bad back and no one to pull me out. Crate's not moving though. Wedged between two boulders, tide's already out past it. Can work from the jetty if I use the boat hook.

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

🌿 Jenny18:43

Watch the tension on the hook.

Leans forward over the edge of the jetty, squinting to see if the crate moves even an inch.

💭 peek at the thought

If it's stuck in the silt, the next surge will tear the wood apart.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin18:43

Handle's rotten. Gonna need a sling under it.

ease off the hook, coil the line, walk back to the shed and fetch the greenheart offcuts and the 6mm galvanized chain, then loop a chain sling under the crate's belly from the jetty, crossing the links and cinching tight with a grab hook

💭 peek at the thought

Hook's solid aluminium, rated for more than this crate. But the handle's rusted through — if it shears, the hook snaps back. She's seen it happen. Crate shifts maybe two inches, grinds on shingle. Not wedged deep. Just heavy and stuck on suction.

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.