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Please, do not power wash the basement brick walls!! You can use a brush on a pole to gently remove any surface debris or dirt.. the last thing you want to do is start blasting the mortar out of the joints!! Consult a brickwork expert before doing any important work! Good luck!👍
The water from the roof was directed overboard for the first hour or two of rain, to clean the roof, before the rain was allowed to enter the cistern. I'd recommend making one of your first projects building some sort of davit and block-and-tackle for raising and lower supplies to and from a boat. Also, lifejackets while climbing up and down that ladder!
@@thelighthousecenters I'd also recommend you to put some 1-2 inch rubber-something on the head-denter ;) A sliced pool noodle maybe for starters. You'll probably have a better idea already...
I was thinking about a winch like those on the front of trucks. You would need 12 VDC but that generator should be able to power the winch. Some of those winches have pretty decent ratings and they are designed to be out in the weather. I'll wave when we sail past next week.
Corner some very experienced coastal fishermen, maybe crab or lobster men. Very experienced sailors are also good, however rough, heavy, dirty time on the open water.
Actually the pipe running up through the light hose would have been for weights to turn the lantern, similar to a grandfather clock. The bell would most likely have been an automatic clockwork spring strike. This was a normal system back then. My grandfather and great grandfather were lighthouse keepers at several light stations on the Pacific Coast. I am also a docent at Point Bonita Lighthouse. If you have any questions about lights, I know quite a bit.
@@thelighthousecenters Could the weight and pully system in the central pipe be used to store energy (clockwork, gravity driven potential energy.) It could be fed by wind, sun, tide, generator or even muscle power from an exercise bike. Every little bit helps.
The center shaft you described having ropes, would have held a set of cables with a weight on the end. The light keeper would crank the weights up every few hours. This weighted cable powered the clockworks that drove the original light. If you can, checkout Split Rock Lighthouse, they still have the clockworks. Have fun with your lighthouse. I would love to have one that I could walk to.
You need to do your Amateur Radio License and get a HAM radio installed. 1. For emergency communication 2. Communications it’s good fun. 3. You are in the middle of the sea, ham radio works beautifully in the sea, you will talk all over the world.
The sea, Gods groundplane. It's amazing the difference it makes. I sit out on an old ferry terminal here and I can make contacts I have no chance with sitting 500 yards futher back above the high tide mark.
It's an exciting project. Some advice on videos....we don't need to see you guys talking. Its more fun to see footage of the lighthouse, with a little narration along the way.
I boated on the Chesapeake Bay for almost 30 years I know the entire Bay like the back of my hand . We had thousands of hours cruising the bay . My hobby is photography and I photographed almost every lighthouse on the bay and its tributaries. I've been in all three screwpile lighthouses that are now on land and I have been by and admired Thomas point screw pile Lighthouse hundreds of times . I have also been by both of the lighthouses that you guys own many many times. I miss the Chesapeake Bay and the Eastern Shore more than words could tell . Good luck with both projects and I will be following them closely . Take care and be safe. T
I was in the coast guard from 02 to 12 and I was at the ATON unit that took care of that light house for 4 years. We did a lot of work on that lighthouse.
A suggestion for when you repaint the metal. Use POR 15. It is a coating that chemically bonds to the rust and you can't chip it with a hammer. I have used it on several car restorations and it holds up remarkably well. I am sure it would be a great addition to weatherproofing your metal surfaces. Great video. Can't wait to see more.
Thanks for the suggestion. We are industrial and automotive rustproofers by trade so I know about POR15 and we have some industrial coatings that are even better. Please subscribe and follow because we will be showing the whole process!
Yeah, POR would be a bit expensive, my personal choice would be an epoxy such as one of Jotun products, probably Marathon 550. If its good enough for oil rigs it will do for a lighthouse. @@thelighthousecenters
Hooper Island is great. It is terrific what you are doing with lighthouse and amazing how well they built these building to survive the weather on the bay.
In the 70’s i lived on smith island. As kids and adventurers, we made a trip to this lighthouse once. A family of owls scared the crap out of me as i startled them from behind the battery walking up the stairs. Very cool what you are doing.
9:31 that white brick you’re looking at is more than likely tile. It that time frame it was built it was common to finish interior walls with a glazed tile. Beautiful craftsmanship. They don’t build stuff like that anymore. When construction is done right, with proper maintenance, last forever. Thank you for the videos.
It could easily be brick too. White "bakery brick" was typical for some interiors to maximize natural light. The Hydraulic Brick Company in St. Louis invented glazed brick and white brick like this was one of their most popular products for several years starting in the 1890s.
Worked on the principal of a cuckoo clock, had to go to the light room and pull the weight up to the top every so many hours to keep the light rotating.
Slice a dollar tree pool noodle horizontally, it will slide over that metal bar that you hit your head on. Then epoxy it in place. Can't wait to see this restoration. Happy Labor day from Massachusetts. 0:10
Rich and all, I have some pictures of an abandon lighthouse in the Bahamas I visited back in 1983/84 as part of my job, I'll have to stop by and show you them, they are not digitized, just printed. I also worked on two lighthouses that the USCG were converting to automatic. No pictures, one was Execution Lighthouse in LI Sound and the other was off Cape May, NJ, both in the early 80's, maybe 1984. Execution Rock we flew the equipment that was to be installed. Cape May we poured a new concrete base around the existing one. They put a steel form, about 4ft larger than the damaged base, pumped out the sea water and we poured concrete between the old base and the form, seabed to the first walkway above sea level. Using our one-yard (4000 lb.) concrete buckets until it was done, a long day.
At the Mile Rock Light off San Francisco in the Golden Gate channel, it was a very similar lighthouse, nicknamed the Steel Wedding Cake by locals, and before it was automated and eventually [unfortunately] dismantled by the USCG down to the steel platform, the keepers would stay out there, 2 at a time, for 2 week shifts. Some of the keepers said it was the loneliest place to be stationed, because they could see the lights of the city relatively very nearby, but couldn’t get off the light until shift was done.
Interesting!! Buy yourself an inexpensive pool noodle, slice it down the center and hot glue it to the angle-iron head bopper at the top of the ladder!! 😀
Fascinating project! Good luck with such an awesome project. Please consider wearing worker's flotation vests when working outside and on the ladders. A bumped head could end up with you unconscious in the water.
Whaar, excellent project! I'll come along for the ride! A field of interesting people to have stay for a while would be Ham Radio folk. Would be an excellent spot to set up a temporary shack. A boat ride n a few wee ladders ain't much for SOTA (summit on the air) folk. And I can attest, remote, ocean locations get excellent signals. I'd set up a stout extendable mast from the highest point, and then some lighter fibreglass outriggers to make an inverted V. Fair weather use only, but bet you'd get some great radio conditions. Best of luck, I'm tagging along.
You can do simple things like building a ladder cage and a fall arrester and harness to reduce liability while getting started. Install a dock and lift later :: Great project idea. Air bnb would be awesome.
This was the most interesting adventure! I cannot wait for more. I would love to be a part of something like this. My grandparents owned and sold a lighthouse before I was born back in the 1950's. I am very excited for you guys!
There was a large crack, running vertically slightly to the left, when you first embarked on the lighthouse. Have you had a engineer evaluate that? It looks like it might have run pretty deep into the foundation.
Thank you Jay! We are just getting started and we are working on some new videos that are even better. Please keep following to support saving of these lighthouses! 🙂
My uncle used to take my cousin and I to Hoopers island when I was a kid. I have not been there for a long time. The island always seemed so small to me. I had wondered if the water level had risen over the years.
I take my Hat off to you Sir well done nothing ventured nothing gained 😊 you cant take your £££ with you so enjoy the good times... Tony from Oxfordshire UK
Interesting , been by there hundreds of times as a Tugboater, and Skipjack Errster drudger, also a former alumni of CBMM Boat shop , resident of Bay Hundred on the Eastern Shore for half of a long life , So I know the "Cottage style" Light house at CBMM very well , best wishes ...You are aware that Chesapeake Weather can be very dirty and unpredictable, I have lived it professionally, both on the water and preparing boats till I retired 2 years ago ...50 years Boyos ...have fun...
Hard hat fir ingress or egress by life jacket is a must for safety. First step is to get it sealed and start cleaining trash out. Second step is settipng up a camp are to be able to spend time on station to do work. A gantry pedastal crane is a must have. Eco flow is the best option for power, a simple plug and play power option.
I was randomly suggested this video. Subscribed. Whats cooler than watching the restoration of an old lighthouse sitting on some ledge out in the middle of the ocean? This is gonna be cool as hell to watch unfold. Are you guys gonna re establish it as an offical navigational beacon?
Hooper Island Lighthouse is still an active lighthouse. Our other lighthouse, Wolf Trap, was decommissioned so we will put some kind of light in it when we restore it. It is an incredible feeling when you are standing out there with nothing but water around you for miles! Thanks for subscribing!
What an interesting idea. You don't need my ideas of course. If it were me, I would remove that headache bar first thing. I don't know why it was never done in 120+ years but that is crazy hazardous. A proper deck around the entire ladder opening and replace that ladder with with a modern ladder with a safety cage around it. Paint it rust color if you want that patina. Also I would install a winch type crane on the lea side of the lighthouse. It would be immensely useful for all types of supplies to be delivered and much safer than ropes or carrying stuff up the ladder. Great video. Look forward to more.
Fascinating. Going to a lighthouse is high up on my bucket list, but pretty sure l couldn't climb up the ladder. Have subscribed so l can watch and marvel at your progress whilst blobbing in a comfy chair!
I don't know about a bell but in the UK that rope and weight system in the central column would be for powering a clock mechanism that rotated the lens system giving a flashing light.
Great job guys. I really enjoyed the video. I wish i had video's of my first adventure on station at the Thimble Shoal Lighthouse. Your video brought back memories of my first trip and initial experiences from 20years ago so cool to see the parallels. Enjoy the journey. The Keeper of the Thimble Shoal Lighthouse
Half of my life was making pontoons for floating docks, which will always require an expensive breakwater. Big bumpers on the boats and a good ladder will be the immediate access. Hoisting a light inflatable will secure your return more safely than mooring at a safe distance. A bigger hoist is a serious engineering project. A fixed platform nearer the water will be vulnerable to waves, and likely quite expensive. A hoist-able floating dock will be an expensive hassle and vulnerable too. The ladder, boat bumpers and good seamanship will be the main solution for human access. I can converse more if you like. 😺
Wow what a wonderful project thingy-thing, on the bell, please make sure it has a ring that pleases, a sweet tone, something folks can live with, doesn't matter how old but ya certainly do not want a nerve-rattler, just a thought. Certainly get the safety gear sorted, and a decent crane that can snag stuff in rough weather, etc. etc., but over-all that is a sweet tower, rain catchment, some wind and solar, interesting get-away :)
Contact one of the large paint manufacturers to help spec out the paint preparation in this tough environment. I was a manufacturer’s representative many years ago. Their insight and advice won’t cost you anything but the cost of your purchases. Best to you. Love the project,
Being in the business of industrial coating, we do know all the major manufacturers of industrial/marine paint. We are hoping one will sponsor us when the time comes, because we are going to need hundreds of gallons. Thanks!
Small world…I live in Wimberley Texas and watch now. My father’s blood line in USA about 1780 with name of Wolfe. Then bloodline in 1850 ended a river boat explosion and with 8 children my great grandfather was adopted at 2 years old to family in Houston Texas…Hooper name taken. Your light houses Wolf Trap and the Hooper 😂
On some rain water systems the first part on the water is diverted as waste when the roof is clean then you put it into your cistern. That is how you keep bird crap out.
I would have conventional hardwood trim through out the lighthouse rooms.I would also place in all rooms hardwood floors or some tile . To fix the lader outside of build a enclosure half cage for safety reasons. I would also sandblast every inch of the outside and use a marine base paint to repaint it .
Definitely! We are blast and paint contractors so we will definitely clean it to bare metal and prime with a marine zinc filled epoxy. As far as the ladder that would be best. At Wolf Trap the ladder is about 2 feet away from the caisson so when you climb it, your back is to the lighthouse and it’s much safer. Also there is a small landing at the bottom. Still, a real dock with a boat lift would be best.
@@thelighthousecenters I always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper I am a very anti social person who likes just being alone . I worked as a carpenter my whole life doing it all but I could build a house on my own and run the electrical as well as insulation and painting and flooring and wallpapering. The older I get the more I would rather it just be me and my dog . I'll watch with anticipation and great delight your progress thank you for allowing us to follow you on your new adventure.
Composting toilets are great. You can do diy or Sun-Mar but the key is separating solids from liquids. If you throw the tp in the trash it saves room in the composting part of the toilet and it takes a while to fill up. When it’s eventually full just bag it and throw it away. It’s really efficient. You just need to manage the urine but on land I just dump it by a tree…
All of the railings are really strong. I wish I could say the same about our other lighthouse, Wolf Trap. The railings are rusted off and gone in places. Please follow because we will be putting out a video showing our first visit there!
"ABOUT THE BELL" If I owned this lighthouse I would also be thinking about an historic bell, "BUT NO" as an outsider watching this I see you as the lighthouse current future history, there needs to be a new bell commissioned marking this restoration phase in the lighthouses life. (That's if the original one doesn't turns up).
Do any log books exist anywhere showing what the workers did and how long they stayed out there? If so they would have lots of information about the lighthouse. I have log books from old electric company substations that are interesting and have the names of old workers and tell what they did.
Great vids! Lot of work to be done, but it will all turn out right with you guys at it! Question: Do you also examine the below-waterline from the outside too? And if, do you need specialized divers to do the job? Greatings from Germany :)
Gluten Tag! Thank you for the vote of confidence. We have diver friends, but will be using an underwater drone and making a video showing everything below the water line. Stay tuned. We appreciate the follow from Deutschland!
Guten Tag :)). TX for the response :). Very interesting! Will you -at some point-make a vid on "How to undiscover the Unknown"? I'd love it. Bis bald :))@@thelighthousecenters
I wanted to be a Lighthouse Keeper all my Life,(57 years old now)! Unfortunatly i was born to later,since pretty all Lighthouses are no longer operated by humans 😥
