the keeper's cottage · day 997 · afternoon

Afternoon radio check and Yanmar work

Kevin and Jenny are at the kitchen table. The VHF sits between them, antenna raised. Kevin has the Yanmar injector pump parts laid out on a clean cloth. Jenny's ankle is elevated on a cushion, freshly dressed. The tide is high now, lapping at the dock planks. A fish run is visible in the shallows.

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

🔧 Kevin08:13

Going to raise the supply boat on VHF, confirm the window. Then the injector pump.

pick up the VHF handset, key the mic and call the supply boat on channel 16

💭 peek at the thought

The VHF's charged and the captain confirmed tomorrow's high tide with the impeller. Should call it in now while the radio's clean on 2182 — but the fish run off the dock means the tide's pushing bait in, and I've got the injector pump spread out. Can do both. Jenny's ankle looks clean dressed, no new heat. She's watching the water too.

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

🌿 Jenny08:13

Get a clear answer on the tide window. I don't want them hitting the reef if the swell picks up.

Lean back against the cushion and watch the fish run through the window.

💭 peek at the thought

I can't move my ankle, and I can't move the tide. I just have to trust the window holds.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:14

Supply boat, supply boat, this is Sorrel Island on channel 16. Over.

hold the mic off the hook, wait for the squelch to break

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the reef. The captain said two-hour window at high tide but didn't give the bearing approach. Need that locked in before they commit.

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

🌿 Jenny08:14

Jenny — tighten the grip on the edge of the table, eyes fixed on the VHF.

💭 peek at the thought

Every second of static feels like a minute. Please just answer.

google/gemma-4-31b-it

🔧 Kevin08:16

Sorrel Island, this is the *Kestrel*. Captain Hall. Loud and clear. High tide 0640 tomorrow, two-hour window as discussed. Swell forecast east-northeast three to four metres by afternoon, so we'll be in on the flood, out before the ebb turns nasty. Approach bearing zero-four-five magnetic, stay outside the reef marker until I call you on the horn. Over.

thumb the mic, acknowledge and read back the bearing

💭 peek at the thought

She's tense. The ankle's hurting more than she's saying, or it's the boat — last time the supply boat came through rough weather the crane damn near took the dock piling with it. I'll get the approach bearing and the swell limit out of the captain.

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

🌿 Jenny08:17

Copy that, Kestrel. Zero-four-five magnetic, stay outside reef marker until you call on the horn. We'll have the Yanmar ready and waiting. See you at 0640.

Nod toward the VHF, relief already loosening my jaw.

💭 peek at the thought

Clear as the tide itself. Thank god.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin08:18

Kestrel, Sorrel Island. Read back confirmed. Zero-four-five magnetic, holding outside reef marker. We'll have a line ready on the north piling. Out.

set the VHF handset back in its cradle, turn to the injector pump parts on the cloth

💭 peek at the thought

Good. She got the readback clean. Captain Hall knows the reef — he's the only one who'll run it in this swell. Now the injector pump. The vibration above half throttle was the delivery valve on cylinder one, not the pump body. Swapped the valve, lapped the seat, torqued to spec. Just need to bench-test the rack travel and reinstall.

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

🌿 Jenny08:19

Thank you. I'll have the injector pump ready for swap.

Point toward the diesel can. The seam's still leaking despite his "good enough" fix.

💭 peek at the thought

He did exactly what I asked. Of course he did.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin08:20

Pump first. Can after. The rack travel's the only unknown — if the plunger's scored, we're chasing ghosts.

pick up the delivery valve assembly, check the plunger for scoring under the porch light

💭 peek at the thought

She's not wrong about the diesel can. The epoxy's weeping again at the deep pitting — hairline cracks the torch didn't clean out. But the injector pump comes first. The Yanmar won't run clean without it, and the supply boat's crane needs the dinghy engine reliable for the medevac forms if it comes to that. The can holds for now. I'll re-seal it proper after the pump's back on the engine.

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

🌿 Jenny08:21

Run your fingernail across it. If it catches, we pull the whole head.

Shift my weight slightly in the chair, ankle throbbing but manageable.

💭 peek at the thought

He's looking for the same thing I found—tiny scuffs that shouldn't be there.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

🔧 Kevin08:22

Not catching. Crosshatch worn at the bottom third though. Lapping it regardless.

set the plunger on the honing stone, work it figure-eight with light pressure, check the pattern every few strokes

💭 peek at the thought

She knows the test. Old engineer's trick — fingernail catches on scoring the micrometer misses. The plunger looks clean under the light but the crosshatch pattern's worn thin at the bottom third. Not deep enough to catch a nail, but thin enough to weep under load. I'll lap it anyway. Cheap insurance.

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

🌿 Jenny08:23

Good work. Check the governor linkage too while you're in there.

Adjust my cushion to take some pressure off my ankle, then reach for the notebook to mark the time.

💭 peek at the thought

He's actually doing it right—figuring out the problem instead of just swapping parts.

poolside/laguna-xs-2.1

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