July 12, 2021

Team 5. Great conditions for a trip on Saturday, July 10. Joerg and Lightkeeper headed out with a crew of Kathy, Linda, Pete, Brian & Karen. Wow, from miles out, the Lighthouse grabs your attention. The new tower whitewash is gorgeous, of course, but more importantly, it’s historical. This is how this light was meant to be.

After we arrived “on island”, we dived into the weekend’s projects. Kathy & Linda took charge of prepping and priming the most exposed two sides of the boathouse which have been buffeted from the last two year’s high water. The project was complicated, of course, by working on piles of loose stone. Meanwhile, Brian joined resident keeper Bruce in removing enough stone to open one of the boathouse doors.  I think about the expression “moving a mountain”, Brian moved a mountain of stone! With a crowbar and gentle nudging, we got the door over the sill. It’s clearly limping, and, as yet, hard to figure out the combination of problems and potential solutions.

Meanwhile Pete continued on a priority project to restore a six-light window in the Fog Signal Building. There’s a nice storage room there that we haven’t used fully as it’s been in the dark. We’d like to decrease use of the lighthouse as a warehouse for restoration supplies. This is a difficult project. Pete, you are awesome!

Tim Statler arrived Saturday afternoon via his own boat. He’s affectionately nicknamed our “mystery lawnmower” for the years when he singlehanded to the island and mowed the lawn when we weren’t there. He did hours of mowing and weed whacking in the hot sun before joining us for cocktails as the afternoon wound down.

Linda & Kathy provided dinner, one of the best I’ve had “on island” and surpassing many restaurant meals. Cooked-over-the-fire lemon chicken, red skin potatoes and Caesar salad. Good food made even more special by the beautiful environment and nice company.

One of Saturday night’s treats was seeing the chart Bruce had installed in the skeletal tower lantern room to help visitors understand what they are seeing. Others mellowed out by a fire with s’mores in hand. A nice sunset was experienced by all. Neighbor Vlad came down for an evening visit.

Sunday, we dug out sidewalk, did more painting, began clearing the area on the north side of the boathouse for future painting, freed a recalcitrant window in the Assistant Keeper’s, glazed it, assessed potentially usable materials in various basements (aided by some improved solar work lights), and packed up gear. We somewhat reluctantly left the island 3ish, with arrival in Northport and unload by 6.