Robbins Reef Trip Report, Thursday, May 31, 2018

Crew: Megan Beck, David Dallon, Eileen Montanez, Erin Urban

Weather: Rain, mist, and heavy fog, 60s, windy

Access: Left Miller’s at 9:30 AM on the Nicolas Miller captained by Rob Stumley; back at 3:30 PM on the Nicolas with Rob at the helm.

Purpose of the trip: We had to finish scraping and priming the stairwell ceiling. We had to address the Lantern Gallery and begin scraping it down and applying sealant because it is raining down rust and chips throughout the lighthouse. We had to assess the removal of the solar batteries.

Task accomplished: Megan and Eileen scraped and then primed the stairwell ceilings from the sitting room all the way up to the fourth level; one is metal, the upper one is wood. They also completely covered the cast-iron wall with primer.

Eileen applying sealant to the window surrounds.

Erin and David scraped the Lantern Gallery; this was our first attempt, other than doing emergency window caulking, to deal with it. They scraped the window surrounds, the beadboard walls, and the roof, and then cleaned up and shop vacced the Gallery. After a break, we mixed up some sealant, and Eileen and David applied it to the window surrounds. The sealant reacts to the rust and stops it. It is thin, and once you mix the two parts, you have to use it.

We tried to move the solar batteries but they have to be separated and brought back one by one. Terry DeMeo offered to have them picked by separately.

Erin and Megan swept and cleaned up rust and chips and put away the generator, which is running extremely well, thanks to Miller’s.

Next steps: We have to address the two hatch covers; the one in the Lantern Gallery has to be repaired and painted and put back, and the one in the Watch Gallery has to be removed and repaired, then stripped and varnished. We have to do more scraping in the Lantern Gallery and then apply sealant. Eventually we have to prime and paint up there.

We will prime the stairwell brick walls and when complete, begin to paint the stairwell walls white.

We have to scrape and seal the interior ladders and then paint them black.

We have to repair the three round windows that open so we can replace glass, and we have to get some parts so they are operable.