A DNR team of Chris, Connor and Mike made a huge difference today.

They loaded and unloaded 2800 pounds of lumber, hauled it down the beach and stacked it for use for boathouse repairs.

They also did is a great service in hauling obsolete materials & equipment off island. We’ve had a number of inoperable lawnmower stranded on the island, an elderly wheelbarrow we no longer used and scrap sheet metal that dates back to when the station was still in use. While volunteers share in taking personal & project trash, these larger items were beyond what volunteers could accommodate. We’re greatly relieved to be free of this stuff.

Many thanks to the DNR and Cathy Allchin who coordinated the trip!

Team 6 cleared Leland harbor at 8 this morning, taking advantage of flat conditions for today’s team turnover.

Kathy Sanders, Mark Lee, and newbie Brett Neulsen make another great team.

Knowing they had an early boat, Team 5 (Barb, Marty & Tom) packed up gear, cleaned quarters for the incoming team, stowed remaining equipment AND removed the protective paper from the newly installed panels in the 1867 lantern room.

Marty does the “reveal”.

Barb Falkenhagen photo

And another….

Barb Falkenhagen photo

Barb posted a video of the lantern room on her personal facebook page, with Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t she lovely” playing. Perfect!

Captain Geoff requested a quick turnaround as algae in the landing area can cause the engines to overheat, so there wasn’t much time to take photos. Here’s one as they headed off. If you look closely, you can see that the lantern room has clear panels all around.

Despite rain off and on during the day, the team still got two of the five panels installed using a combination of the original stops and the temporary wood ones Tom built to secure things until replacements are fabricated.

Barb Falkenhagen photo

Even in the rain, the lantern room looks lovely.

Here’s Marty test fitting the first of the panels.

Barb Falkenhagen photo

Two down, three to install tomorrow.

Barb Falkenhagen Photo

With the various rain delays, the team worked until 6:30, mindful their remaining time is limited. As is often the case, they’ve helped with a number of other projects beyond this but want to be sure they get all the panels installed and have planning and measurements for next year’s projects.

A group of five kayaker arrived this evening with plans to stay through the weekend. The team directed them to the west beach to camp.

Now that everything is disassembled, it’s time to clean surfaces and paint. Here’s Tom grinding rust off the interior, preparatory to cleaning & priming. This is work of the worst kind: dirty and noisy.

Barb brought the astragals down to a picnic table where there was room to work. They need a lot of attention also.

Looking much better after Barb’s attention and Marty’s priming.

They still need a black top coat….that’s for tomorrow. Only then will they finally be able insert the plexi panels and reassemble things.

It’s incredibly hard work to remove screws that have been in place for 150+ years. They’ve tested a number of tools and approaches to see what works best….trying to back things out without stripping threads or breaking a screw off. Here’s Tom & Barb working away.

Meanwhile Marty is attacking one of the recalcitrant ones, applying heat to coax it loose.