August 2015

August 1 - The 650 foot FEDERAL YUKON entering the Round Island Passage as seen during tonight's Shepler's Eastbound Sunset Lighthouse Cruise.

August 1 - Sunset off the east side of Bois Blanc Island as seen during tonight's Shepler's Eastbound Sunset Lighthouse Cruise.

August 1 - The light was on at Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse  during tonight's Shepler's Eastbound Sunset Lighthouse Cruise.

August 1 - The Cheboygan Crib Light as we passed by during tonight's Shepler's Eastbound Sunset Lighthouse Cruise.

August 2 - It has been a stormy day in the Straits of Mackinac. We had 65 mile per hour winds which knocked over a couple of trailers on the Mackinac Bridge. Fortunately, everything is in great shape at St. Helena Island, where our volunteers and participants in the Fiddlers Workshop have been boathouse for an all day jam session. Our volunteers at the Cheboygan River Front Range Light report that the power has been out there since 10:00 AM, and they saw a couple of large trees flowing past the lighthouse a short time after the worst of the storm went through. Hopefully the weather will moderate, as National Restoration will be arriving tomorrow morning to begin our long awaited foundation restoration at the lighthouse.

The crew with National Restoration arrived in Cheboygan last night, and at 8:30 this morning were already busy excavating the southwest side of foundation at our Cheboygan River Front Range Light. Two thirds of the cost of this much needed work is being undertaken through a grant from the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program, which is wholly funded through the sale of Michigan lighthouse license plates.

August 3 - Excavating to expose the foundation wall on the southwest side of the lighthouse this morning.

August 3 - The brick foundation of the addition to the rear of the dwelling was found to be in excellent shape, and after wire brushing was immediately covered with waterproofing material without any restoration necessary.

August 3 - However, this was not the case with the older random stone foundation which is requiring some stone replacement to fill holes and a lot of tuck pointing as seen in this photo taken at 3:30 PM .... and it gets worse on the other sides of the structure! Once the entire foundation has been cleaned, restored, tuck-pointed and sealed, a perimeter drain will be bedded in pea gravel around the entire foundation to carry water away from the foundation.

August 4 - Today, a group of us headed out to St. Helena Island to pull the roll-out dock, drop off our final group of volunteers for the summer and bring the participants of the Fiddler's Workshop back to the mainland. Here some of our our outbound crew can be seen on the aft deck of UGLY ANNE off McGulpin Point. Our constant companion, the Mackinac Bridge can be seen in the distance.

August 4 - After dropping of the crew and their gear and loading the gear from the Fiddlers, UGLY ANNE backed away from the roll-out dock to tie up to one of our moorings.

August 4 - The weather cleared around 11:30 and it was beautiful as we winched the dock sections up onto shore.

August 4 - With the dock safely secured on shore, we jumped into our two Zodiacs AMARANTH and MARIGOLD and headed out to UGLY ANNE for the run back to Mackinaw City.

August 4 -Boarding UGLY ANNE at our mooring. She has a slide in door in her side which makes climbing aboard from the Zodiacs a breeze.

August 4 - St. Helena Island in the rear view mirror.

August 4 - Passing beneath the Bridge on the way back to Mackinaw City is always a pleasure.

August 4 - National Restoration continued foundation restoration at our Cheboygan River Front Range Light today. They have excavated the entire southeast side of the building, and have already installed the perimeter drain and pea gravel and back-filled in the first area they completed yesterday.

August 4 - Cleaning the face of the rubble stone foundation in preparation for tuck-pointing and sealing.

August 4 - Excavation has begun on the front of the building, and restoration and tuck-pointing is underway on the first side.