280608 New Keepers on Duty

 

We, the new lighthouse crew, Mika, Ritva, Markku, Tarja and Outi arrived today. First, we had to eat and sit and drink some coffee. Then we realized where to begin.

By accident we found the vacuum cleaner. We understood we have to hoover the whole lighthouse. After that women stayed inside going round and round, wiping and cleaning and making the beds. In the meanwhile, our especially handy men stayed outside planning larger scale projects. The boatshed roof requires some careful planning.

The day has been gray and rainy, but we have been very optimistic and energetic all day. By 7 o’clock the lighthouse was clean and cosy and we had moved the brand new fridge from the edge of the loo to the second floor kitchen. That’s the way we like it.

After a hard and strenuous struggle…

…the new fridge is up on the first level!

Greetings from the new crew on duty

Mika, Ritva, Markku, Tarja and Outi

 

290608 A Busy Sunday

 

Bright and calm Sunday morning. Started at 9 o’clock when we got a message from an approaching boat. It was a sailing boat wanting to visit Märket. During our breakfast we started the welcome ceremony. Markku and Ritva hurried to help with the landing. Outi organized the mixed catering and breakfast. Tarja opened the shop and office. Mika was making himself ready for the guiding tour. We hardly managed to eat our breakfast, we were so excited to have our first visitors. S/y Hedvig from Rauma with Marja-liisa and Erkki shared the beautiful Sunday morning with us. It is a pleasure to present the lighthouse, because we are so proud of it.

We had another chance to experience that pleasure with s/y Lova, making her maiden voyage. Christina, Hans, Göran and Ylva brought us greetings from the Swedish Lighthouse Society. On the top of the lighthouse, Göran was delighted to discover the great hundred years old innovation called sun valve, invented by his grandfather Gustav Dalen. Another cause of delight was the delicious smell of freshly baked donuts made by Outi.

Otherwise we did lots of construction work such as removing the plate roof of the boat shed and tearing off the loose plastering of the old toilet. We also checked the inner windows and their equipment, because the renovated outer windows are about to arrive in a few weeks’ time. The outboard motor was tested and fitted into the rubber boat. The grill was cleaned and equipped with new lava rocks.

The day has been exceptionally beautiful and calm. That’s the way we like it!

Greetings from the Märket team

 

300608 Bricks and Donuts

 

Today we didn’t have any guests, so we were able to work continuously nine to five. Ritva and Tarja were going to wash the old toilet building, but the men needed them more. In the boat-shed there was an enormous pile of old bricks needing to be removed because of the roof reno-vation. The ladies found very beautiful old red clay bricks and extremely heavy sand bricks and lots of sand. The red bricks were very fragile, and we felt like archeologists searching for treasures like undamaged bricks! We carried about ten wheelbarrows full of sand and crushed some of the bricks to rock crevices. We were able to save two basketfuls of clean sand and two big piles of reordered unbroken bricks.

While the ladies were digging inside the boatshed, the men were working above them, tearing down the old roof. The ladies in the shed had to be aware of possible falling parts from above.

We were so eager to work that we hardly remembered to have a break to eat something. Luckily, we had some heavy rain to organize the necessary breaks. Outi had baked some donuts for us again, based on an accidentally created recipe. We would like to recommend “monk buns” from Märket:

First take a lonely island with a lighthouse in the middle of the Baltic Sea, then take some wind of at least 7 m/s and some wet clothes and put some wood in the fireplace. Then take a cup of hot coffee and an irresistable donut. Then you know what happiness is. That’s the way we like it!

Markku, Mika, Outi, Ritva and Tarja

 

010708 Meetings

 

We woke up this morning as happy as ever to be still here. After discovering the bottom of the porridge kettle, we started out our daily work. Ritva and Tarja intended to wash the old toilet building again, but the lichen was so tight that it took many hours to clean it off with steel brushes. The men continued with the boatshed roof. After two days of demolishing, Mika and Markku finally got into new construction work. One of the two main supporting carrier beams was bolted into the lighthouse wall. As a sidework men reorganized the tool room into a brand new condition. As a result of it also some necessary window parts were found.

At last we had the pleasure to meet the native Märket inhabitant, Saku the Frog. He is also considered to be a bachelor. After the photographic session we set him free behind the old fridge.

Around midday we saw two boats approaching from the south. They fastened themselves into the nearby buoy and unexpectedly prepared for diving. As a pleasant surprise they also came ashore to see the lighthouse. In the afternoon we enjoyed coffee with the sunshine.

Later in the afternoon we got more visitors, m/s Tärnan with Vivan and Peter cruising between lighthouses, coming from Sälskär. Peter has been involved with the lighthouse maintenance work in the past years, including Märket.

It seems that we have found a daily routine into our lighthouse life. That’s the way we like it.

Markku, Mika, Outi, Ritva and Tarja

 

020708 In the Middle of Action

 

Hooray, hooray, hooray it’s the helicopter day! As we were informed beforehand, technicians from the Finnish Meteorogical Institute will arrive today! While waiting for them, we emptied our toilet compost plus recycled all other organic waste as well. While having fun with the wastes, we heard the helicopter come long before we saw it.

For the first time the wind forecast did not match, the forecast was near calm, but it was blowing 9 m/s. So it was very good that the observation devices got proper maintenance by Harry and Timo. After a couple of hours solid work we got a pleasant break. The helicopter OH-HVG crew cheered us up by bringing some fresh pastry, as they had promised a year ago while visiting Märket. We got some fresh newspapers as well. Women were delighted to witness the sensational situation of seven handsome men sitting around the kitchen table, celebrating Miksu’s last flight as a frontier guard. Miksu (left in the photo), a jolly good fellow from Tampere, taught us the most expressive word of the Tampere dialect, which is “koirrarruakapurrkki”.

After watching the helicopter disappearing into the horizon, we went back to business. This time it meant mixing some plaster and filling some holes in the walls of the old concrete toilet building (eventually washed). Mika and Markku finished the construction of the first supporting beam.

We don’t feel being far away, quite the opposite. We are here and now, and the world comes to us.

That’s the way we like it.

Markku, Mika, Outi, Ritva and Tarja

 

030708 Counting down

 

Oh dammit! The daily report! We almost forgot it!

The three of us are leaving tomorrow morning, if the weather allows. Unpredictabe winds are forecasted for the weekend, and therefore we are living day by day, without knowing exactly who is coming and who is going.

In the morning we thought there will be no visitors today, but we were happy to see a sailing boat approaching from the south. Before nine o’clock Tuija and Rainer came from Rauma by s/y Helena, well before the forthcoming strong northerly wind. Mika fetched them with the rubber boat from the leeward buoy. Märket was an impressive experience for them, as it always is. They were a cheerful and knowledgeable couple, with lots of sailing experience.

After they left it was time our last common working session. Ritva and Tarja would have preferred to have one more day to finish the old toilet surface, but this will do so far. Mika and Markku finished the most difficult part of the boatshed roof, and they were pleased with the result. From now on, it will be much simpler to continue.

We made our own shopping from the good selection of Märket shop. Ten t-shirts left with us to the world. The message “Rädda Märket (Save the Märket)” will be spread out at least to Oulu, Nummela and Helsinki. We also sent postcards, which will be stamped with special Märket postmark.

Our five member lighthouse family will now separate. That confuses us. Anyhow, the work on Märket will go on.

That’s the way we like it.

 

Markku, Mika, Outi, Ritva and Tarja.

 

040708 Changes in the Crew

 

We had an early and confusing morning. Outi, Ritva and Mika will leave Märket today. And we, Markku and Tarja, will stay for 2-3 more days. Whole morning was hectic, the charter boat arrived after 8 o’clock bringing Jari for a week to work as a lighthouse guard. The rest of Jari’s team will come later when weather allows, hopefully on Sunday. Also on the boat were two members of the Lighthouse Society, Eija and Jari. They were very eager to see the lighthouse, because they are planning to become lighthouse guards in the future. Jesse, a reporter from the newspaper “Nya Åland” came to make an article about Märket and the valuable work that the Finnish Lighthouse Society is doing here.

After the boat had left, there was a strange and empty feeling. As a newcomer Jari was at once full of energy, and it didn’t take very long before both men were efficiently working on the boatshed roof.

Meanwhile Tarja was doing the usual housekeeping chores, and for the first time, even managed to lie down for a while on the nicely warm cliffs. After work Jari was running around the island looking for the sauna, but didn’t find one. Instead he found an exotic rock pool!

About 7 o’clock we ate tasty new potatoes from Perniö, brought by Jari. Northerly winds were blowing hard.

Märket rocks! That’s the way we like it today!

Jari, Markku and Tarja

 

050708 Watching the Surf

 

Already yesterday we knew that strong northerly winds will blow today. The wind has blown between 12 and 14 m/s, which means ”no guests today”. Waves are rolling over the rocks, producing amazing scenes in the sunshine! What was a cozy swimming pool yesterday, is now a swirling jacuzzi spa! That’s how the new lighthouse keepers will also get superclean water in the pool. Nature’s own water exchange system is working perfectly!

Jari and Markku have been busy with the boatshed roof. The work has required lots of planning and brain effort. Difficult construction problems have been solved with Ville’s assistance by phone. In the same time they have had to tear down old roof structures, while building new ones. The old roof has functioned as scaffolding during the work.

The daily life of local birds seems to go on as usual in spite of the wind. The eider ducks seem to gather into the calm side of the rocks. The wagtail young ones have today flown from the nest, their parents watchfully following their flight lessons in the windy conditions. We have been wondering where the seals have disappeared, still no observations today!?

The day has been very special for us watching the big surfs, feeling the power of waves and knowing that nobody will land on this island today. This was something that we really wanted to experience during our stay.

However, we wish for gentler winds tomorrow. Two of us are leaving and four new lighthouse guards are coming to continue our valuable work on this special island.

Oh yeah! We got a rock’n roll show today! That’s the way we like it!

Jari, Markku and Tarja