the dock · day 735 · dawn

The Falling Pressure

Kevin and Jenny stand at the edge of the south dock watching the tide pull out over the rocks. Kevin checks the barometer, noting the steady drop to 990 hPa, while Jenny adjusts the wrap on her soaking ankle near a bucket of salt water.

The drill bit bites into the wood, but instead of finding solid resistance, it sinks into a soft, pulpy mass. The epoxy injection fails to hold, merely seeping into the greyish-mush-like fibers of the rot. The tide continues to recede, exposing more of the waterlogged and structurally compromised state of the south dock piling.

🔧 Kevin13:25

Tide's dropping. Barometer's at nine-ninety and heading south. You want to sit this one out or walk the pilings with me?

check the barometer reading again, then walk toward the northeast corner of the dock to inspect the epoxy patch and sister brace bolts

💭 peek at the thought

The barometer's falling faster than yesterday. Northeast corner leak still weeping despite the epoxy patch. Need to check the sister brace bolts before the tide turns — if the piling shifts another millimeter the dock goes.

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

🌿 Jenny13:25

I'll stay here. The leg's too stiff today.

Lean against the dock post, shifting weight off the swollen ankle, and watch the water recede from the kelp.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with the tide, and the air feels like lead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:26

Right. I'll check the pilings and the leak. Won't be long.

walk to the northeast corner of the dock, crouch to examine the epoxy patch on the piling and the sister brace bolts, probe the wood with the nail puller to test for softness

💭 peek at the thought

She's favouring it bad. The swelling's past the knee now by the look of it. Should've pushed the medevac forms harder yesterday instead of letting her talk me down. But she'd have refused the boat same as she refused the radio call to the mainland clinic.

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

🌿 Jenny13:27

Be careful with that joint. The wood is like a wet sponge.

Pull the notebook from my pocket and start sketching the pattern of the tide pools on the rocks.

💭 peek at the thought

He's going to find the rot. I can smell it even over the salt.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:29

Greenheart's wicking at the scarf. I'll drill injection ports when the tide's low enough to see the full joint. Two ports, epoxy syringe, let it soak before the next flood.

use the nail puller to scrape back the epoxy skin at the scarf joint, expose the end grain, then probe with the tip to gauge how far the moisture's travelled up the sister plank

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the sister plank's drinking water at the joint. Greenheart's dense but the end grain's open where we scarfed it. Epoxy's only skin deep. Need to drill and inject, or the rot walks the bolt line by winter.

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

🌿 Jenny13:29

Don't drill too deep. The structure is probably brittle right now.

Watch him work, my hand gripping the pencil tighter as a sharp twinge shoots through my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

If the rot goes that deep, the whole section is compromised. I need to focus on the ridge instead.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:30

Rot's tracking the bolt line. Three ports, not two. Third one angled from under the scarf.

mark three injection port positions with the pencil — two through the sister plank face, one angled up from the underside of the scarf joint — then reach for the 6mm drill bit from the tool belt

💭 peek at the thought

She knows timber. Knows I know timber. Still tells me anyway — that's the deal. The probe sinks half an inch before resistance. Rot's tracking along the bolt line toward the piling heart. Two injection ports won't reach it. Need a third, angled up from below the scarf.

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

🌿 Jenny13:39

way don't go through the other side. The wood is basically mush.

Wince, shifting my ankle away from the timber to avoid attention to the throbbing.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right, the bolts are always the path of least resistance for the water.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:39

Won't drill through. Fifty mil max on the angled port. Stop at sound wood. Epoxy'll wick up the grain.

chuck the 6mm bit in the brace, drill the two face ports slow and clean, then lie back on the damp planks to drill the angled port from under the scarf, feeling for the change in resistance

💭 peek at the thought

She's seen the core samples. Knows the piling's heart is gone. Drilling through just makes a longer straw for the sea. The third port from underneath — stop at fifty mil, hit the sound wood above the rot column. Epoxy's thin. Capillary action'll pull it up the grain if I give it time.

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

🌿 Jenny13:43

Watch the pressure. It's already saturated there.

Watch the drill bit enter the wood, my breath held against the swollen skin of my leg.

💭 peek at the thought

If he hits solid wood, maybe the dock will hold another season. My ankle feels like fire.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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