The Lightkeeper's Blog

I would guess I am not breaking any news to share that the new lantern room is in place atop the tower.

The general contractor had it lifted into place on November 15th at near 10:00 in the morning.

It was moved in two steps. The first saw it lifted from the handicap parking spot in which it had been placed to be addressed by the coppersmith. The second step saw it lifted and placed on the tower. During the second step the crane was moved into the harbor side yard and the operator lifted at the instructions of his team on the opposite side of the runway.

Since it has landed, a ventilator has been added to the top and brickwork has been stacked to restore the tower to its former look minus the paint.

Copper work has also continued as the bottom of the lantern room has been wrapped and the catwalk is a work in progress.

Additionally there has been work ongoing inside the tower. A grout is being inserted inside the granite walls to fill in gaps found during the repointing. Looking carefully you can see the holes into which the grout will be sprayed. I was told the crew will be using a very low pressure to insure that there are no blowouts. Note the Xs where other holes will be drilled to allow the crew to spray the material into the gaps.

I walked the jetty this weekend to see in person what the project looked like from that side of things and to check out a worsening issue with the break that had been developing.

These two stones shown in the center of the bottom image were the last of the outside edge of the north jetty in this spot that had not been shifted by wave action. They are shifted now and the gap could be seen from the kitchen window. Up close it appears that the break has been filled somewhat. The ongoing issue is that these stones are like dominoes and the movement of one sets the stage for the movement of many others.

Watching guests walk the jetty all weekend you could see people make it over the break easily only to struggle to get back. There will surely be more movement to follow as the winter unfolds.

More work remains to be done. The windows need to be reinstalled. The door was removed and remains offsite. There are twelve panes of glass and there is electrical work. A new lantern is on order with an led bulb to replace the halogen that had served since 1994. Two large brackets were built to hold the tower in place as the concrete was poured and they will need to be dismantled. A space heater has been placed at the bottom of the tower as part of the grouting process and a line run from the circuit box that will have to be pulled in time. That heater has welcomed many, many flies out from a seasonal nap. The shop vac will be full of them before we can say the project is finished. The stair and runway floor are grimy with the mortar from the drilling of the holes. Everything will get a scrubbing before the switch is thrown that ends this adventure.

These final two images were generated with a cell phone. A student of mine has clued me in on a setting in my phone (he has the same one) that allows for astrophotography. We are going to see some star fields and a bright light before too much longer I hope. The November high tide is coming in the next few days. Lets hope the fencing and scaffolding has been pulled by the time the December high tide comes around.