Placing our first Christmas wreath on Graves Light’s massive new oak doors. @BostonGlobe #Boston pic.twitter.com/oxiyaDBuHa
— Keeper (@Graveslight) December 25, 2018
Master Ship’s Carpenter Don Conry with two of the perfect replica doors he built for Graves Light.
There’s no better way to test a new pair of heavy oak doors than to install them during a gale.
Using the original 1905 US Light House Service blueprints, Master Ship’s Carpenter Don Conry built us a perfectly accurate pair of double doors for our entry, 40 feet above the sea.
The old lighthouse plans have been essential to our restoration efforts. For the four entry doors, we turned to Don. He fashioned them out of white oak, exactly according to the 1905 specifications.
Until now, Graves Light’s front doors were Coast Guard replacements of the long-gone originals. They were functional but drab, nothing like the original design.
We unearthed a lovely group of twelve antique heavy brass barrel hinges for a solid and weatherproof fit.
Then we added a beautiful porcelain enamel warning sign – an original from the US Light House Service. It’s all about the details.
Just like the long-lost doors installed 113 years ago, these white oak brutes are built to take a beating. They have reinforced security glass and up-rated hardware against intruders.
An identical set of exterior doors, painted regulation red, completes the entryway.
Don labored over the fall and installed them in early November, during a gale. That’s what Master Ship’s Carpenters do. Thanks so much, Sir!
Remember the oak cabinet that Cousin Kenny built for us?
Well we finally brought it out to Graves this week, in two pieces, and set it up on the first floor.
It’s an exact copy of the 1905 “Service Cabinet” used at Graves to organize the oil lamps and their gear. We have put the cabinet to its original use. As seen in the picture, it now stores genuine, antique, US Light House Service oil pitchers, wick maintenance kit, glass lamp chimneys, and other equipment.
The US Coast Guard provided us with the original plans from more than a century ago. Kennedy made this exact replica, to precise specifications, from the Coast Guard plans.
Well done, Kenny!
Lynn finishes the careful work to set the true-to-the-original hexagonal tiles on the first deck.
Barry pours the new slab to replace the old.
This summer we begin to seriously tackle the old Oil House. That’s the 10 x 10-foot-square granite house on the ledge next to Graves Light. We started building the new timber frame roof in the spring at a workshop in Maine.
We’re converting the Oil House into a guest cottage. The old postcard to the right shows how the Oil House used to look, connected by a steel landing across a small channel to Graves.
Inside, Gary, Logan and Mike drill six feet down into the ledge, pinning the original granite blocks in place to fortify them for the next hundred years.
Outside, Nelson Metal Fab completes the landing and handrails in the same style as the original landing that was washed away in the “No Name” storm of 1991.
The rotten remains of the old roof are gone. They are seen bundled up to the right of the Oil House. You’ll see something new soon.
We do not plan to rent out the guest house. There’s lots of interest, but it just isn’t feasible.
Busy weekend on station as we install our new bank of solar panels on the shed roof.
The Coast Guard’s solar panels to operate the navigation light and fog horn occupy the south and east faces of the watch deck, 100 feet above sea level. So the only place left to install panels is on the next-highest point – the new shed roof, about 25 feet above sea level.
This is a challenge because the shed replaces the one washed away in the big gale a few months ago.
Karl and Will, our Nantucket cabinet makers, teamed up with Randy and Dave to design what we hope is a hurricane-proof system to lock down the panels on the sturdy shelf roof. High winds and working over an angry ocean slowed us up a bit, but we’re almost ready to wire it and say good-bye to the gas cans.
Our talented cousin Kenny Burns built this fabulous quarter sawn oak Service Cabinet.
It’s an exact copy patterned from the original 1903 Graves Light blueprints.
The back is curved to fit the radius of the tower.
The original is long gone.
The Keepers used the service cabinet to store oil lamps, tools, wicks and glass chimneys. We’ll use our new one for the same purpose.
Kenny’s shown in his shop before bringing his exact replica to Boston. Soon it will be in the lighthouse.
Don’t you love the smell of a new wooden shed?
The master timber framers at The Barnyard Store in Enfield, Connecticut, built us a replacement, lovingly named “Shed No. 2.”
The sea reached up and grabbed the previous shed during the Riley Gale two months ago.
Patriot Marine hoisted onto the dock yesterday with its mighty 100-foot barge.
Of course, our own Randy was there to guide it into place.
How long will the shed last? Only King Neptune himself knows. . . . Thanks.
We bought and refurbished Graves Light as a private project, so it was a special thrill when the American Lighthouse Foundation recognized our work.
The Foundation has awarded Graves Light and Fog Station its prestigious “Keeper of the Light” award.
Keepers Lynn and Dave accepted the award – a crystal trophy reminiscent of a lighthouse lens prism – at the Foundation’s 2018 gala in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Dignitaries and lighthouse preservationists from around the country attended the event.
The American Lighthouse Foundation’s mission is “to save and preserve our nation’s historic light stations and their rich heritage.”
“This is a very special award,” said Graves keeper Dave Waller. “We promise to continue the good work of restoring and interpreting our little jewel on the sea.”
Pictured left to right: ALF Exec. Director Bob Trapani, Jr; ALF 2nd VP Brad Coupe; ALF President Jeremy D’Entremont; Graves Keepers Lynn and Dave Waller; and ALF Treasurer Alan Ells.
Fully framed timber reconstruction of the 1905 oil house.
Our friend Raivo has been busy up in Maine transforming some old pine timbers into a dramatic new roof for our Oil House.
The original 1905 roof was solidly built and still mostly intact, but it’s time for a fresh one and this season we’ll be concentrating on transforming the little stone structure into a fabulous guest cottage.
Raivo will assemble the new roof in his shop, dismantle it and reassemble out at Graves late in the summer.
