Robbins Reef Trip Report, Thursday, June 21, 2018

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

Visitors: Ciro Galeno, Jr., and Mark Weber and Glen Umberger from the New York Landmarks Conservancy

Weather: Sunny, breezy, 70s

Access: The Crew left Miller’s at 10 AM on the Nicholas Miller captained by Tony Semple and came back at 4 PM on the Nicholas with Tony again at the helm. The guests came out on the Nicholas with him at 1:30 PM, and Terry sent the Emily captained by Michael Sabatino to bring them back at 4 PM.

Purpose of the trip: We wanted to paint the stairwell from Kate’s bedroom to the top, put another coat of primer on the Lantern Gallery, and start on the ladders. We had to deal with the round window in the stairwell.

Task accomplished: Megan and Stefan dismantled the round window in the stairwell; we have the rim and will ask Caddell Dry Dock to insert glass into it and clean up the rim, the closure and the turnbuckles. Then they put white primer/paint on the brick, cast iron, and beadboard walls in the next flight of the stairwell, from Kate’s bedroom to the fourth level. Cooper put another coat on the roof. Eileen scraped the beadboard walls in the Lantern Gallery. Annie scraped the ladder outside Mae and Jacob’s rooms. Erin cut in a second coat on the brick and cast iron walls from the kitchen door surround up to the sitting room and put another coat on the Watch Gallery hatch. Cooper rehung the door to Jacob’s room.

Eileen shop-vacced the Lantern Gallery, the Watch Gallery, and the stairwell. We cleaned up rollers and brushes and swept the rooms.

Mark and Glen from the New York Landmarks Conservancy toured the lighthouse and discussed the options for possible funding. We offered a professional cleaning of the cellar, which will not be done by volunteers; repair of the Lantern Gallery; and work on the railings, though there are many other options such as repair of the dog door area.

Next steps: We hope to put the round stairwell window back and work on the round window in Jacob’s room. We have to put a second coat on the stairwell. We have to continue to address the Lantern Gallery, as there is no communication from the Coast Guard about assistance. We must deal with the dog door; it needs to have the dogs repaired and a new threshold and molding around the sides. We have clean up the round ventilation disks, caulk the beadboard, and paint it. For now we will caulk the one window up there that is leaking but ultimately we have to remove each window and scrap, epoxy, and paint the surrounds.

We have to dress the door to Jacob’s room and install antique doorknobs, keyhole covers, mullions, and latches for some of the other doors. We have to scrape and seal the interior ladders and then paint them. Be great to paint the stairwell steps, step by step.