Assistant Lighthouse Keepers 7/31- Thacher Island, Work

 Thacher Island, Work
When we applied to be a lighthouse keeper, it was made clear to us that this would not be a 'vacation'.  Anita also emphasized this point.  The lighthouse keepers can be busy every single day of the summer as there is a lot to be done.  The summer is the opportune time to work on tasks because at other times of the year, the island is abused by the sea air.  The plants grow very quickly and can overturn any of the work done during the previous summer.  The Thacher Island boat transports light house keepers on Saturday mornings to or from the island for their duty time.  It also brings over work crews on these days to work on various tasks around the island.  The work crew are local people and most often have a background in the tasks that they perform.  On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the public can pay a fee to ride over and have an allotted time to tour the island.

There was a board that hung in the boat house.
More than anything, it was in the way as people often bumped their heads on it.
With a new winch coming, the board was taken down and moved into the oil house.

John was going to take the small boat into town for some supplies.  Anita
tagged along to also get some groceries.  It's a chore to get the small boat off the
dock and out into the waves.  This day, it drifted over into the rocks and it took a
group effort to get the boat unstuck.

The boat is freed and John and Anita get ready to leave.

Arms crossed above the head mean stop - don't use the winch.

There is a path that travels from the middle of the island down to the south bluff.  It's named after a previous worker that did a lot of the wildlife planting on the island.  The trees grow over and make a canopy over the path.  Because of the canopy, the seagulls can not get down onto this path and it makes for a very pleasant stroll.  This path needs a lot of upkeep to keep the path mowed and the shrubbery/trees from growing into the path.

There's a sailing school in the area of Rockport, Massachusetts for kids.  They spend time on the ship and have an excursion during their time to Thacher Island.  They come over on this wooden boat.  What a wonderful opportunity!

In this photo, you can see the sailing ship out in the water.  Also are the work crew members on the Thacher Island boat, as well as a fishing boat going by.  The water is a busy place!

I thought this was a sweet moment.  The chaperone from the sailing school had gathered

the students together to share some information at the entrance of the South Tower Lighthouse.

Here's the docent giving a short talk to some of the Wednesday visitors.  From here, the docent will go up into the South Tower and monitor visitors there.  She'll also give some brief information at the top of the tower. 

The Wednesday work crew working on the windows of the  lighthouse keeper's home.

This is the new winch.  Darlene is monitoring the boat outside so she knows when to bring up more rope.

These visitors came over in their own boat.

Anita and I needed a post for our sign.

Here's the sign we made.  The question you should be asking is not
"Why did you make this sign?",
but, "Why is there a parking meter on Thacher Island?"

This is the basement cistern.  The water is pumped in from a larger cistern on the island.
This water is used for showers and washing dishes.  So when it gets low, we need to open the pumps and let more water flow in.  It's important to watch it so that the water doesn't overflow.  Drinking water is brought over on Wednesdays and Saturdays by the work crew.

When the basement cistern is filled with water, bleach is added to kill the algae/germs.

Every day we put the flag up, and then took it down in the evenings.

Wayne is cutting a board.  I just can't remember what it was for.  That's the thing about living on the
island as a keeper, when you see something that needs done, repaired or monitored, you just do it.

This is the work room below the lighthouse keeper's home.   It has a huge array of
tools, paint and materials.  When the work crew comes over, they bring a lot of this over.

These pictures below show the saddest job of the week.  This is when we were loading up our luggage and gear to return to the real world.  Good bye Thacher Island.