A Chantry Island Day: We kept a log of our daily trips to Chantry Island including each passenger and the load transferred. Of course, there was always a purpose for each day that sometimes was obscured by the fun involved. Here are some interesting entries:

 

Monday November 8:

Captains: Doug & Mike Huber

Temperature: 8 Degrees C.

Waves: 2 feet.

Wind: SW 20.

Cargo: 12 buckets of sand and 3 stones. Two weighed 250 lbs. and one 700 lbs.

In Tow: 12 foot rowboat with 6 HP engine.. Also in tow the raft with the sand and stones on it.

Time: 8 am.

Task: Move the stone to the site and allow the masons to continue their work.

Passengers: Mike Goodwin and Mike Sterling. Bob in London.

We moved the sand and stone up into position and helped the masons move the 700 lbs. lintel stone close to its position. Doug Huber returned to Southampton. Mike Goodwin and Mike Sterling try to return to Southampton via the 12 footer. We cannot make it and instead head for South Street. We are soaked by the surf as the SW wind rises.

We return for the masons at 5:00 PM. towing Ron Seaman’s 15’ Tillbury with a 25 HP engine. The 12 footer remains on the beach for another few weeks.

Friday November 12:

Captain: Doug Huber "Little Snick"

Temperature: 0 Degrees C.

Waves: 2 feet.

Cargo: 47 buckets of sand . Total Weight 2500 lbs. 6 bags of masonry

In Tow: 15 foot Tillbury with 25 HP engine.

Time: 8 am.

Task: Knee Wall on Loft Level.

Passengers: The 3 stone masons Bill, Al and Daryll. Bob Trelford, Mike Goodwin, Mike Sterling, Bob Chatterton. Photographers Carol Norris and Phil Miller.

The Task: Construct the "Knee Wall"

We transported the masons and photographers on the Tillbury into shore to begin their work.

We moved the sand and masonry to shore. One bag of masonry sank to the bottom due to the wave action at the makeshift dock.

Transported Bob Chatterton and the photographers back to the Snick at 10:00 am. Doug Huber returned them to Southampton.

We moved all materials to the Keeper’s Quarters. The task for today is to construct a "knee wall" of stone on the second floor loft. On top of this wall we will place a 6"x8"x24’ long timber that will be anchored down with lag bolts. The roof rafters will rest on them. This wall is constructed of rubble and stone.

This is very hard work. Al, mixed mortar all day long non-stop. Darryl and Bill Robinson set the stone with 100 lbs. of mortar per running foot of wall. (4800 lbs. of mortar in all) Bob Trelford was on the second floor on a scaffold. Mike Goodwin and Mike Sterling gathered stone and fed mortar into pails for lifting to the loft level. The mechanism was a heavy rope and pulley system. Bob swung the pails to the floor level and placed the stone for picking. This continued all day with tons of stone and mortar being used.

We left the Island in dim light at 5:30 pm. (Very tired indeed)

Saturday November 13:

Captain: Doug Huber "Little Snick"

Temperature: -10 Degrees C.

Waves: 2.5 feet.

Wind: SW 15 knots.

Cargo: Nil

In Tow: 15 foot Tillbury with 25 HP engine.

Time: 8 am.

Task: Roof Rafters.

Passengers: Tim Trelford, Mike Goodwin, Bob Trelford, Mike Sterling.

We moved the very heavy 6’x8’ timbers to the loft level. They were secured to the knee wall by large lag bolts and then the roof rafters were measured by Tim and cut by Bob on the ground floor. They were passed up in relays to the loft, placed, and nailed by Tim and Mike Goodwin.

At 5 pm. the task for the day was done and we returned by Tillbury to the Little Snick waiting about 300 yards off shore for return to Southampton with the Tillbury again in tow. Success!

Sunday November 21:

Captain: Doug Huber

Temperature: 10C

Wind: SW 5-10

Time: 9:30 A.M.

Task: Unload 1000 square feet of spruce for the roof. It is variable width 1.25" thick.

In Tow: Ron Seaman’s 15 foot Tillbury.

Passengers: Douglas Johnson, Bill Neish, Mike Goodwin, Bob Trelford.

On Saturday, Doug Welsh had moved the spruce from Dow Phillips` farm in Elsinore to the Southampton dock. We had loaded it on the roof of the "Little Snick". Most of the other material for the Keeper’s House was obtained from Trelford’s bush. We purchased the roof planks from Dow. These had come from giant spruce trees planted by the founder of Durham and recently felled.

We had to unload each piece from the Snick to the Tillbury and move it in to shore on the Tillbury. The spruce was very heavy and awkward to move. It took about 4 hours.

Doug Johnson did not realize that we would be gone for so long on a Sunday. Since he is always in the mood for anything to do with the water, he had fun. We all wondered what his wife would think since he just went out for a paper!