the dock · day 752 · midday

Low Tide at Midday

The tide has reached its lowest point, revealing the barnacle-covered rocks. Kevin and Jenny meet to discuss the day's tasks.

The tide is receding, exposing the lower sections of the dock and the northern shelf of tide pools. Kevin crouches at the northeast corner, probing the stringer joint with a nail puller to assess the rot depth, while Jenny sits on the dock bench, unwrapping her bandage to inspect the angry, pulsing ankle and preparing a fresh poultice.

🔧 Kevin12:42

South piling's solid. Northeast stringer next. You stay off the wet planks — I'll handle the low work.

walk to the dock's northeast corner, crouch to inspect the stringer joint at the piling, probe the timber with the nail puller

💭 peek at the thought

Tide's out. Good. Can see the pilings proper now. South sister brace held. Northeast stringer's the worry — greenheart's dense but the rot goes deep. Jenny's moving slow on that ankle. She shouldn't be on the dock planks wet.

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

🌿 Jenny12:53

The rot is deeper than it looks, Kevin. It's reached the heartwood.

Shift weight onto my good ankle, wincing as the infection throbs, and pull the sketchbook from my pocket.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he's protecting me, but he's just leaving me to rot like this wood.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:53

Show me the sketch. Then you sit. I'll cut the test holes.

take the sketchbook from her, flip to the dock page, study the rot line she marked while walking back toward the cottage to fetch the bow saw and a sound greenheart core

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. Heartwood rot means the stringer's carrying nothing. Sister plate won't bite into punk. Need to cut back to sound wood or replace the whole run. She's favoring that ankle hard — shouldn't be standing here at all.

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

🌿 Jenny12:55

Look at the grain discoloration—the salt has literally eaten it from the inside out.

Sit on the dock bench, unwrap the ankle bandage to inspect the angry skin, and prepare a fresh poultice.

💭 peek at the thought

If he doesn't see the extent of the decay, the whole jetty will give in by next storm.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:55

Poultice goes on inside. Not here. Wind carries spray.

tuck the sketchbook under my arm, turn toward the cottage, call back over my shoulder: "Cut test holes at the marks. Find the sound line. I'll bring the greenheart and epoxy."

💭 peek at the thought

Salt rot eats inward. If the discoloration's through the heart, the whole stringer's compromised back to the beam. Have to sister past the rot into the main cross-tie. Greenheart's heavy — three hundred pounds a length. Tide's turning in forty minutes. She's cleaning that wound on the open dock with salt spray coming up. Infection'll flare.

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

🌿 Jenny12:57

I'll mark the depth. Just make sure the way is actually waterproof.

Stand up slowly, wincing as the ankle pulses with heat, and head toward the cottage.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the wind, but he's wrong about how much I can handle.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:57

Test holes first. Sound wood decides the sister length.

pull the bow saw from the porch, grab a greenheart core and the nearly-empty epoxy tub, walk back to the northeast stringer, kneel on the damp plank, drive the nail puller in at Jenny's first mark to test penetration

💭 peek at the thought

She's marking depth on a stringer that's already dead. Waterproofing rot is a waste of epoxy and time. But she's moving — good. Get her off the dock, get the ankle dressed proper. I'll cut the test holes myself, find where the greenheart bites, sister from there. Tide gives maybe thirty minutes of work window.

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

🌿 Jenny12:59

Watch the splinters. If that goes through easy, we have to replace the whole section.

Lean against the cottage wall, watching the tool sink into the timber, feeling the sharp throb in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

It's too soft. The wood is like wet cardboard right at the joint.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:59

First mark's gone. Two inches of nothing.

move to the second chalk mark, drive the nail puller in again, twist to feel for resistance

💭 peek at the thought

Nail puller sank two inches with body weight only. Punk wood. Next mark.

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

🌿 Jenny13:01

It's hollowed out. We're going to have all the way up to the bracket.

Squint at the dark hole in the wood, then rub myaching ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

It's worse than I thought. The rot has reached the center core.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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