Robbins Reef Trip Report, Thursday, October 4, 2018

Crew: Megan Beck, Tony Cocurullo, David Dallon, Kevin Mahoney, Annie Rech, Erin Urban

Weather: Overcast, 70°s

Access: Nate Strain took us out on the Erin Miller at 9:50 AM and Rob Stumley brought us back at 3:00 PM on the Nicholas Miller.

Purpose of the trip: We wanted to finish caulking and painting the window casements and the sides of the Lantern Gallery exterior and finish stripping the Watch Gallery hatch cover so we can put it back in place. We had to continue sanding and varnishing interior door surfaces, put UV filters on more of the windows, and work on the dog door threshold. We needed an HVAC expert to advise us about proper ventilation.

Noble Crew member Annie Rech with the Watch Gallery hatch cover.

Tasks accomplished: Kevin, David, and Megan scraped, painted and caulked the remaining five 26 ½ x 35 ½-inch windows in the Lantern Gallery and painted more of the walls. The windows are now complete and no longer leak.. Erin scraped and epoxied the metal area below the dog door and Annie epoxied the pieces of wood for it, which we brought out and will assemble. Annie worked on the Watch Gallery hatch cover; we should be able to finish stripping the paint off it and varnish it on the next trip out. Erin put the second coat of varnish on the remaining interior door, and Megan put UV filters on the second floor stairwell window.

Tony explored the entire facility to determine the correct approach to ventilation. He noted that we can use the solar panels from the web camera, which will save us money. For the next season we will put a louvered vent in the inner wooden kitchen door; the exterior steel door already has a vent. We will put an exhaust fan in the wall of the Watch Gallery where there already is an aperture that is now sealed to the outside through which a pipe vented the lighthouse when it was heated. The fan will pull cool air through the entire structure and keep the moisture and heat down.

One of the doors to the shed that Miller’s bought for us blew away, never to be seen again, and the top had blown off, so Meg and Kevin took the pieces inside and stored them in the kitchen.

Next steps: We will finish painting the exterior walls and the roof of the Lantern Gallery and finish restoring and varnishing the Watch Gallery hatch cover and install the Lantern Gallery hatch cover and ventilation disks. We will build and install a threshold for the dog door. We will work with Chris Steffens and Tony on ventilation. We will prime the Watch Gallery exterior and paint it.