the dock · day 846 · afternoon

Tide returns

Kevin and Jenny meet back at the dock as the water reaches the lower pilings. The air grows heavy and the wind picks up from the east.

No narrator was available, so nothing about this stretch was recorded.

🌿 Jenny13:53

The tide is coming in faster than the forecast predicted.

Lean heavily against the dock post, wincing as the weight shifts on my ankle, and watch the water swirl around the dinghy.

💭 peek at the thought

The pressure is dropping again, and the wood is rotting just as fast as my skin.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:54

Forecast was wrong. Barometer's 981 and falling. Wind's backing northeast — we'll have chop on the flood.

Walk to the dinghy, check the bow line tension and the storm anchor warp deployment.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right — forecast said slack at 1400, it's barely 1330 and the flood's already kissing the pilings. Barometer's dropped another four millibars since noon. She's favouring that ankle harder than she'll admit.

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

🌿 Jenny13:55

We need to double the lines; the whole jetty is already shaking under the surge.

Squat down to check the cleats, my teeth gritted against the sharp throb in my leg as I pull the rope taut.

💭 peek at the thought

If the boat goes, I'm stranded with nothing but weeds and a tin of dying seeds.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:56

I'll run a second bow spring to the north piling. You sit.

Pull the spare half-inch line from the coil by the winch, lead it from the dinghy's bow cleat back to the north piling base, and take two turns around the greenheart sister plate before cleating it off.

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong — the surge is hitting the seaward piles hard. The new doubler plate's holding but the old timber's groaning. She shouldn't be squatting on that ankle.

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

🌿 Jenny13:57

Just make sure the knot is tight; the wood is soft.

Sit on the edge of the dock, pulling my swollen ankle into my chest, and pull my sketchbook from my pocket.

💭 peek at the thought

He thinks he can tie the island down, but the salt eats through everything.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin13:58

Knot'll hold. Piling's greenheart sistered — sound wood.

Finish the hitches, cinch them down hard with a marlinspike hitch for leverage, then step back and eye the dinghy's angle in the building chop.

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She's off it. The round turn and two half-hitches will hold if the piling doesn't rot through. North piling's the soundest timber we've got left.

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

🌿 Jenny13:59

We'll see. The tide is already over the lower planks.

Open the notebook to a dry page and start sketching the way the water is swirling around the pilings.

💭 peek at the thought

The wood is music sound. It's just waiting for the storm.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:00

Third plank's the one we marked. If she goes, it's the seaward end first.

Walk back along the dock to the landward end, testing each plank with a boot heel as I go, checking for new give.

💭 peek at the thought

Water's up to the third plank already. Spring tide plus surge. The old planks won't take many more hits like this. She's recording it — good. Someone should.

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

🌿 Jenny14:01

The rot is deeper than the surface looks.

Trace the water line with my pencil, ignoring the pulse in my ankle.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking at the wood like he can talk it into staying solid.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:03

Mark it. Draw it. We'll need to cut it out before it lets go.

Head to the tool shed and grab the bow saw, pulling the good greenheart cores we salvaged from the earlier repair.

💭 peek at the thought

She's got the right end of the pencil. The rot starts at the waterline and works up through the grain. That seaward plank's got nowhere left.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🌿 Jenny14:03

I'll mark the stress points, but be careful.

Use the pencil to draw a jagged line across the third plank, noting where the wood has turned to mush and grey.

💭 peek at the thought

If we cut it now, the whole structure might shift under the surge.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin14:05

I'll cut it out now. Get the good core in place before the surge takes it.

Grab the bow saw from the tool shed, run back to the dock, and start cutting the third plank at the waterline, leaving the good sections intact for replacement.

💭 peek at the thought

She's right. That plank's got maybe a tide left before it snaps. The grey waterline's where the bronze fastenings are probably already through-bolted into rot.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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