Robbins Reef Trip Report, Thursday, August 23, 2018

Crew: Megan Beck, Stefan Dreisbach-Williams, Eileen Montanez, Annie Rech, Erin Urban

Weather: Sun, 70’s, windy

Access: We left Miller’s at 9:15 AM on the Emily Miller piloted by Rob Stumley and came back with him on the Emily at 3:30 PM.

Purpose of the trip: We needed to work on the Lantern Gallery window casements and railings. We had to continue peeling poly from the interior doors and begin varnishing the one that is clear, dry, and sanded. We wanted to get an interior ladder painted and get the broken panes of glass out of the Watch Gallery ceiling windows. We wanted to assess our Crew accomplishments and priorities.

Task accomplished: The air was clear and dry. Eileen painted six of the ten Lantern Gallery window casements and sills. It was too windy to paint outside. Stefan got the two ¾” panes of cracked glass out of the Watch Gallery ceiling windows and covered them with wood and plexi. Megan varnished the door from the sitting room; then she, Erin and Annie peeled, scraped, and sanded two other doors, and Meg had time to varnish another surface.

Eileen and Stefan apply the first coat of black paint to the ladder from the Watch Gallery to the Lantern Gallery.

Having spent 9 ½ hours scraping it, we were finally able to paint the Watch Gallery ladder. Stefan, Eileen, and Meg got it done and felt good about it because it was not humid and would dry properly.

We started the day at the top and worked our way down assessing what we’ve done and what needs to be done. We’ll be able to prioritize, and if breezes blow, get buttoned up by fall. Major priorities are installing a solar fan, putting UV filters on the windows, and putting a door on the kitchen entrance to the cellar.

Next steps: We have to remove the deteriorating polyurethane from all the interior doors by scraping and peeling it off and then apply Man o’ War marine spar varnish to them. Weather permitting we will finish painting the interior ladders black.

We will continue to address the Lantern Gallery; finish painting the interior window casements, start on the outside casements and walls, put another coat of paint on the railings up there, and paint the exterior of the roof. Michael McWeeney offered to make a new threshold for the dog door and when he does we will install and paint it.

We will determine the procedure for painting the stairwell steps, choose what color to use, and prep and paint them.

We have to find or fabricate metal rims for two of the three openable port lights and install them.

We have to grind off the rusted hinges on the exterior door to the cellar and weld on replacement hinges. We have to grind the casements on the kitchen windows so that we can paint them and make shutters for them. At some point this season we will paint the exterior walls around the Watch Gallery and the exterior walls and railings around the Lantern Gallery.

Steve Kalil completed the cover for the hole in the kitchen wall caused by super storm Sandy, and Miller’s got it out to the lighthouse. Both services and all materials were donated by Steve Kalil and Glen Miller. We are waiting for Scott Van Campen to put the cover over the hole.