Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

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johnhens
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Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by johnhens »

I'll start with the floor installation.
We (niners and I) arrived in Houghton on 5/10. We went to the NPS headquarters and loaded our tools and personal gear and 2 kayaks. We were given the full blown tour of the Ranger III's engine room which is quite impressive. We made our way to the hotel around the street construction.
We had the usual breakfast at Soumi the next day, love their potato pancakes. We took care of the usual pre-trip duties picking up gear and supplies. We went to the Flooring manufacturer to discuss a few installation ??'s and were lucky enough to be given a tour of the plant, where the raw wood is turned into T&G maple flooring!!
Quite cool!!
The ride on the Ranger was very smooth, a little cool to be on deck. We arrived at Rock Harbor and off loaded our carts which had our tools and kayaks.
We began work the next AM, tearing out the carpeting and removing the loose tiles. After clearing that out, we checked the floor for low spots. We had brought flooe leveler and we levled the concrete slab.
We put down plastic and started laying pressure treated sleepers which were attached to the floor with concrete screws. Poly insulation was laid between sleepers. NPS electricians came by to discuss running service under the finished floor. They took measurements and said they would return the next day.
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We were staying in the Ranger Residence (the first building on the right towrds the campground). We got started early the next AM putting down plywood subflooring. We were gluing and nailing the subfloor to the sleepers.
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The electricians showed up and ran their pipe from the wall through the sleepers and stub up through the floor.
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We finished the subfloor, while niners and part of the crew went to begin work on the roof. We were watching the weather and had a few days with decent weather to get the roof done.
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We sanded the floor seams to even the floor and put down rosin paper and began installing the wood floor.

The next day, it snowed as we worked inside on the floor, having to go outside to cut flooring pieces to length.
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We sanded the floor the next morning, vacummed and wiped the floor down with mineral spirits. After allowing it to dry, we applied a sander/sealer. We finshed that and took a quick trip to Passage Island to see the Lighthouse. I had always wanted to see it, pretty cool.
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We did a light screen of the floor and put down the first coat of poly.
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We repeated this process 2 more times. We went out for a little while in Tobin Harbor fishing. We ended up catching 2 lake trout. Fresh fish for dinner.
We finshed the last coat and let the floor set for 24 hours. I must say it turned out nice. We had to cut the doors down by 3 3/8" . We poured a concrete ramp to raise the entrance to the height of the new floor.
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We moved the cabinets back, the electricians returnred to run their pipe under the cabinet shelves.
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It was nice to be done. It was nice being able to stay in the Ranger residence, as it was heated and we could shower and do laundry.

We usually had free time in th evening, so I either went fishing or birding. Lots of warblers moving through.
We began moving the cabinets back and the desk/counter. We installed a new threshhold and put weahter stripping on the door. I was waiting for the Voyager on the 23rd as Tricia would join me and we would head to Malone Bay.
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by moss13 »

Welcome back John. The new floor looks great! Nice job and thanks to folks like you who put in the work and time to help out.

Did you happen to flatten out the portage from Duncan to Tobin while you were there? :mrgreen:
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by upnorthjeeper »

Nice job!
"Imagine living your life without being afraid to take a risk and to explore life."
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Isle Royale Rob »

Wow! i have been checking daily for a trip report and finally there is one! And what a great report! Nice work on the floors. I appreciate your hard work and will admire it first hand in 21days, 10 hours and 51 minutes! But who's counting!
hiked 2000, hiked 2001, boater in 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011, solo hiked 2016, boater 2018, boater 2021, Boater 2022
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Ingo »

Very Nice John! It's clear you know what you're doing! Can't say enough thanks you and niners :D
22: BI-PC-BI-RH, 21: RH-ML-DF-MB-DF, 18: MC-PC-BI-DB-RH-DF, 17: WI-IM-SB-FL-WC, 16: RH-CI-TI-RH, 14: BI-ML-CI-CH-MB, 13: RH-PI, 12: MC-CB-HL-TH, 11: WC-HC-WC, 09: MC-BI-DN-RH, 05: MI-CI-MB-DF-RH-TM-RH, 02: MC-LR-WL-CH, 01: BI-DB-RH, 79: worked RH
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Tom »

Very nice work, indeed! Thanks for the TR. Just bummed I won't be hitting RH this trip (leave this Sat!) so I could visit the floor and boast.. "Yeah, I know the guy that put this in. I'm kinda a big deal. :wink: "

Thanks!
Tom
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by philranger »

Thanks John for the great pictures. I hope the Rangers make everyone take off their boots before they come in.
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Kevinl »

Thanks John for sharing. Awesome looking floor. Nice fish you showed us too.
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by johnhens »

Ingo wrote:Very Nice John! It's clear you know what you're doing! Can't say enough thanks you and niners :D
Thanks to Dan, the 2 Chrisses, one of which had the boat to run us around, and Jim who is working for the NPS this summer in the Houghton Office, so if you stop there say hi to Jim and tell him how nice his floor looks!!!

Hopefully niners will put up some pics of the new roof on the Sis cabin!!
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by johnhens »

Tom wrote:Very nice work, indeed! Thanks for the TR. Just bummed I won't be hitting RH this trip (leave this Sat!) so I could visit the floor and boast.. "Yeah, I know the guy that put this in. I'm kinda a big deal. :wink: "

Thanks!
Tom
Being that you are the OTRP, that is a big deal!!!
Saying you know me may get you kicked off the Island or a tleast some free couch time with the guy and his little inkblot pictures. Don't do as I did and ID them as various points on the IR map!! :lol:
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by johnhens »

moss13 wrote:Welcome back John. The new floor looks great! Nice job and thanks to folks like you who put in the work and time to help out.

Did you happen to flatten out the portage from Duncan to Tobin while you were there? :mrgreen:

moss we had 2 plans:
Tunnel through and make the portage a sea cave through. NPS said no!!
Make a carryover (car lift system) to get up over. NPS said no.

We tried!!
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by k2one »

It did turn out great John and like I told you when it was a work in progress, I put my best men on the job!! Thank's for your trip report and your friendship on the Island!!
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Backpacker534 »

It's nice to see that talented people were able to volunteer some time and renovate the Rock Harbor end of the island. It definitely looks a lot better! :D
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by fonixmunkee »

John,

It's awesome that you do things like selflessly volunteer your time to help out Isle Royale. I applaud you sir, and thank you for sharing your experience.
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Re: Roch Harbor Volunteer Project 5/11-5/23 '09

Post by Nick »

I especially like the fine job you did on the siding at the Passage Island Lighthouse. :twisted:
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