the dock · day 826 · morning

The low tide approaches

The tide is at its lowest, allowing full access to the mortise in the piling.

Kevin and Jenny meet at the dock during the low tide to plan the morning's tasks. Kevin begins preparing the dock plates for the structural repair while Jenny gathers her gear for the trek to the north ridge.

🔧 Kevin12:35

Right then. Mortise is clear. You want to hold the light or hand me the left-hand bit?

walk to the north piling mortise, set down tool bag, crack penetrating oil and soak the broken tap, wait two minutes, fit left-hand drill bit to cordless drill, engage reverse at low speed, apply steady pressure to back the tap out

💭 peek at the thought

Good. The tide's given us the window. That broken 16mm tap in the mortise won't come out easy — drill bit's still snapped off inside it. Need the left-hand bit, penetrating oil, and patience. If the threads in the mortise are buggered, we'll oversize to 18mm and epoxy-set a stainless stud. Either way, the sister plate goes on today.

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

🌿 Jenny12:37

Hold the light steady, Kevin. I need to see if the bit catches the threads.

kneel on the wet dock, hold the LED headlamp close to the mortise, watching the drill bite into the metal.

💭 peek at the thought

If that tap snaps off again, the whole joint is compromised and we don't have the wood to replace it right now.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:37

Catching. Coming slow. You see the flutes clearing?

maintain steady pressure on drill in reverse, watch the broken 16mm tap back out of the mortise thread by thread, ease off as it breaks free, catch the tap with gloved fingers before it drops into the water

💭 peek at the thought

She's steady. Good. The bit's catching — can hear the change in the motor note. Penetrating oil did its work overnight. Just need to keep it slow, don't snap another bit. The mortise threads might still be salvageable if this comes clean.

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

🌿 Jenny12:39

Jenny — reach into my pocket for the metal probe and insert it into the mortise to test the integrity of the remaining timber.

💭 peek at the thought

It's out. Now I can see exactly how much of that wood is actually gone to the rot. continuedSAY: "I see it. Check the depth of the hole with the pick, please."

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin12:39

Tap's out. Threads on it look clean — no galling. Mortise yours.

wipe the recovered tap on a rag, set it aside on the dock planking, pick up the 16mm bottoming tap and tap wrench, wait for her read on the wood

💭 peek at the thought

She's checking the wood while I deal with the tap. Smart — split the work. If the mortise walls are sound, we can chase the threads with a 16mm bottoming tap and use the original bolts. If not, oversize to 18mm. Her call.

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

🌿 Jenny12:41

It's holding for now, but the rot is deep. Get the bottoming tap in.

press the probe deep into the mortise, feeling for the resistance of the fibers.

💭 peek at the thought

The wood is soft around the edges, but the core is still solid. We can save this for one season.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

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