the dock · day 789 · morning

Rising Tide and Persistent Rain

The tide continues to climb, submerging the lower rocks near the dock. The rain hasn't stopped, making the ground soft and work difficult.

Kevin works on the heavy salt-crusted crate secured at the dock while the tide remains high against the pilings. Jenny monitors the thickening cloud cover from the ridge, noting the shift in the dry air.

🌿 Jenny09:41

The water is getting too high for the dinghy lines.

Walk to the edge of the dock and kick the rotten timber to check for stability.

💭 peek at the thought

The tide is going to take the jetty if I don't sister those planks soon. I need to check the water in the tank.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:42

Aye. Let her breathe — pay out the bow line two feet, then snub the stern spring on the north piling. I'll watch the chafe.

walk to the dinghy, ease the bow line off the cleat, pay out two feet of slack, re-cleat it, then take the stern spring to the north piling and tension it with a rolling hitch

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — the dinghy's riding high on the swell now, lines singing. If one parts she'll drift broadside into the pilings. Need to ease her out and double the springs before the tide peaks.

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

🌿 Jenny09:43

way don't pull too hard, the wood is like sponge.

Squat down by the

💭 peek at the thought

He's so focused on the mechanics, ignoring the rot under his feet. If those planks go any further, the whole structure is going to shear under its own weight.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:44

Not pulling hard. Just taking the slack. The load's on the piling, not the plank.

stand by the north piling, one hand on the spring line feeling for shock loads, the other braced against the greenheart sister plate, watching the timber for movement where it meets the seabed

💭 peek at the thought

She's testing the piling itself — smart. The greenheart sister's holding but the old spruce core behind it could be hollowing out. If that gives, the whole seaward corner walks.

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

🌿 Jenny09:45

The ground is already shifting, I can feel it moving under the tide.

Reach out and press a thumb into the softest part of the rotten plank.

💭 peek at the thought

He's right about the load, but the piling is only as good as the wood holding it. If the clay shifts, the whole thing goes into the surf.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:46

The piling's walking. We need to drive the wedges deeper at the base before the next big set. Got the sledge in the shed?

step back onto solid dock planking, glance toward the cottage where the sledge hangs, then back at the piling base where water churns around the greenheart sister

💭 peek at the thought

She feels it through the soles — the whole seaward corner's breathing with the swell. The piling's not driven deep enough in this clay. Every wave lifts it a hair, sucks it back. The sister plate's holding the plank but the piling's working loose underneath.

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.