July 25, 2021

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Trip #9 this season. #6 aboard Lightkeeper. It’s been one our busiest weeks ever with a work trip last Sunday, the Nahma delivery Wednesday and another work team Thursday….and now the team turnover from Rollins to Makis.

The intended celebratory trip, Joerg & Lightkeeper’s 50th journey to the island, turned traumatic with a suspected broken connecting rod in the starboard engine partway into the outbound leg. Joerg coaxed Lightkeeper to the island and back on a single engine, successfully completing the team transfer. Thanks Charlie & Gary who intended to help complete priming the boathouse…it wasn’t much of a day for you and a long one at that.

July 23, 2021

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The collaboration that occurs in this project is stunning.

Understand, these are two people who have never met. Kathy is from Texas, has been out on the island 3 weeks today. Charlie is a relatively new volunteer who is coming out for his first visit. We introduced them via email a few days ago. Charlie recently retired as a civil engineering professor for Northern Arizona University if I recall properly.

“Charlie, We’re looking forward to showing you the current status of our water system.

We are really trying to make the lake pump easier to operate so it can be a help to each of the teams, and not a nerdy hobby.

Would you consider grabbing a foot valve for our suction line to bring out on Sunday? The line is a nice, standard 1″ with internal wire reinforcement. The suction screen has a hose barb and a hose clamp.

Thanks. Looking forward to comparing notes on remote water supply practices.

See you Sunday.

Kathy”

It would have taken a lot of coaching for me to buy the right thing. Charlie writes back with a couple images of apparently appropriate gadgets and shot me an email just now that he has what Kathy needs and will bring it out.

This kind of thing occurs over and over in this project. What is it John McKinney and Sandy Bradshaw Rothenberger often say? “The right person comes through at the right time.” Righto!

July 22, 2021

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Today was trip 8, a day trip aboard Gwen and Doug Noren’s Victory. They had a full load of people…so much so that they’d doubled checked with the manufacturer of their boat to make sure they were within limits with seven passengers plus the welding set on the return trip.

After yesterday’s disappointments, was delighted when the Rollins’ daily check in was titled “Best day ever!” This project has its ups and downs, likely magnified by the difficult logistics. Bruce writes “Doug was able to remove all the remaining stops and the 2 remaining right hand rails so all 3 tower windows can have sash installed when ready. Enjoyed all the visitors, Ric and Andrew anxious to help and did some heavy lifting. Kathy enjoyed working with Doug on window covers. All around great day.”

A little further explanation….we have been trying since 2017 to remove the stops from the Skeletal Tower stairway windows. Doug’s first try July 2 was unsuccessful also. So, success is huge. We can move forward. We have most of the sash restored or recreated (#5 of 6 is in Wells basement with resto underway, #6 will be recreated this fall or winter by another volunteer.) Will need to figure out fasteners, but hopefully we should be able to reinstall the windows in 2022.

Maritime historian Ric Mixter has been trying to make it to the station for years. Believe Andrew is from Whitefish Point. Asked them if they could help us get started on restoration of the 1867 lantern room. We lack expertise to do it. We’re hopeful these well-connected guys may be able to point us the right direction.

Yes, Bruce is right, a great day!

July 21, 2021

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Trip 7 today. Today’s day trip was aboard Nahma, the National Park Service boat. Arranged as an intergovernmental courtesy between the Park Service and the DNR, this near annual cooperative endeavor has made a huge difference to our restoration efforts. The load includes needed plywood, dimensional lumber, an exterior door, a restored screen door, recreated shutters, a donated riding lawn mower, a generator, donated furniture, paint and more. The DNR came with the maintenance crew out of Grawn to help with the load and unload with FILA board members Cathy, Kathy and Linda rounding out the team.

The day wasn’t without disappointments, however. The DNR crew had brought out a front end loader hoping to spend a few hours moving stone. Nahma had difficulty getting in close enough at the traditional landing site so tried the “slab”. They could get in close, but at the cost of hitting stone. Joerg’s mapping had suggested stones at a depth of 1 1/2′ there versus Nahma’s 2 foot clearance requirement. Regretfully, Joerg was right and it wasn’t prudent to stay long. They dropped materials and departed soon after without having been able to do any stone removal or offload waste materials the resident keeper’s had staged for transport. It’s a lonely feeling to be left with most of the stow-away of a year’s worth of materials.

July 20, 2021

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Despite it being prime mid-summer, our season is ramping down. Swiss Captain Joerg couldn’t get an extended visa this year. Phil vonVoigtlander who has handled transport logistics for 15+ years tendered his well-deserved retirement last year. We’ve having boaters volunteer to help us out (THANK YOU!) Still, it is a huge job to do logistics for this organization. Coordinating people, projects, transport, weather, it’s a complicated undertaking. For me personally, it’s week 6 of 8 getting teams to and from the island.  The final trip of the season August 8 through 14 is fortunately someone else’s. We used to start in May, often went into September. But, not this year…we just don’t have the bandwidth. So many great people want to go out. So many projects left to do. If someone out there has a passion for logistics, please contact us. You can make a difference!

July 18, 2021

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Trip 6 today. This one day trip included frequent volunteers Pete & Karen and first time island volunteers Nicole, Rick, Cia, Bob and Lakota aboard Lightkeeper, captained by Joerg as usual. We’d set a meeting time of 8 a.m. for an 8:15 departure. When Joerg & I arrived at 7:50 EVERYONE was already there and waiting for us. Seemed like a good sign. It was! What a hard working and enjoyable team to work with.

Most of us got to work clearing brush around the boathouse and scraping the north and west sides preparatory to priming. Three hours of hard work later, we had the west side primed and the north side well along. Whew! The lack of wind was great for travel, but warm for painting. We suggested a walk to the wreck for newbies, followed by a tour of the lights and grounds by resident keeper Bruce.

Meanwhile, Pete continued with his project to replace missing glass in the Fog Signal storeroom. This nice storage area has otherwise been completely dark due to plywood over the windows. We hope to store bulky items like totes of painting supplies, tarps, gloves, chaps, etc. here rather than using the lighthouse itself as a warehouse. What progress just one window can allow!

Kathy (one of the resident keepers here for 3 weeks) had earlier fixed the door going up to the cupola. She reviewed their plans for improved window covers on the Assistant Keeper’s and strategy to reinforce and protect the boathouse doors. They have been incredibly busy between all their projects and the demand for tours. When we arrived today, there were four jet skis, three sailboats and two powerboats there ahead of us. The good weather and good press we’ve been getting lately are having an impact.

After a long but fun day, we day-trippers arrived back in Northport around 7 p.m.

July 17, 2021

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T minus 1. Next trip is tomorrow. Just a day trip, so it should be easy. It will be for the team going out, but not for Joerg and me. Joerg had to spend time this week dealing with boat issues. The auto pilot engaged when it shouldn’t have on our way in last weekend, causing a  harrowing minute or two. I was truly glad to be with such an experienced captain. The culprit was a bit of sand in the unit. We’d also had mis-firing on one engine, traced to corrosion on a wire. We’ll only know for sure when the engine is under load, but a trial run around Gull Island suggested the issue is resolved.

Meanwhile, my prep includes bringing out a better short step ladder for our painting project, purchasing another gallon of primer for the expanded winter cover project Team Maki will be doing in two weeks, returning a recently restored 1905 window sash to the island, bringing our window zipper to try to get a recalcitrant sash open, donating a couple spatulas to replace ones that went missing, bringing another threaded rod assembly to cover a window opening for the winter, and bringing cookies for the team (sorry, just store-bought, ran short of time.) John is just coming in the door from purchasing hose fittings requested for the water system. Nothing is really simple trying to live and do restoration this far from hardware stores.

Final check of the weather. It looks fine. Sent the last pre-trip email to the team confirming same.

 

July 15, 2021

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Putting finishing touches on plans for the weekend with a work team that includes a couple of us who have been out earlier in the season, a long-term member who has never been out (who filled in the website volunteer form and reminded us he’d like to go) and a couple first timers (who also came to our attention via the website.) The new site is paying dividends increasing both volunteer interest and donations. We’re thankful for Cathy Allchin’s persistence in pushing us to take on the project, Shawn Denton’s technical leadership, and help from the rest of the marketing committee who provided content.

I’m also reminded of other unsung heroes who help make our season happen. Cathy Allchin has provided couch or sofa space to numerous teams ahead of trips. Members Anita & Terry Pratt provided housing for one of our out-of-town team leads last weekend. Sandy Rothenberg is hosting a team member this weekend. And yes, Sandy is the captain’s wife, with all the early mornings and late dinners that requires.

While we have a few couples who volunteer together, there are many of us (male & female) who are “island-addicted” while our spouse is not. We leave for weekends or weeks during the busy height of summer coming home sunburnt with piles of laundry….and great stories. Thanks to those of you who support our passion.

July 13, 2021

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More reflections on the July 10-11 trip.

Summer on South Fox Island is a plethora of projects, from painting and restoring to landscaping, cooking, and gathering wood for the campfire… admittedly, one of the more anticipated “projects” is enjoying the evening campfire. Cookie Kathy S. provided the “fixin’s” for s’mores, spoiling our island contingent as usual with great food and special treats. Captain Joerg got us safely to (and fro) the island, despite some funny noises from the starboard engine. Chief bottle washer (me) raced around in squirrel mode, fetching and carrying as well as helping Kathy to paint the boathouse and move some rocks. Did I mention the rocks? Lake Michigan vs. the South Fox Island boathouse—we may be winning the war. Great hopes for some help from heavy equipment later this summer; in the meantime, island dwellers lift a shovel or two of rocks as the spirit moves. Project Manager Karen W. kept a nice balance of “nose to the grindstone” and “visionary breaks,” asking all of us what we see as our roles in the continuing restoration efforts, as well as what intrigues us most about the light station. Pete K, one of our newer volunteers, has made several trips to the island this summer. Pete’s been working on glazing windows, carpentry projects, painting projects, troubleshooting equipment—he is a man of many talents! Pete is fascinated by the different systems used at the station to overcome the challenges the keepers faced throughout all four seasons. Thanks, too, to the Rollins, for their assistance landing, and, especially, to Bruce for trying to get the power washer to work.

July 12, 2021

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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.