060708 The Day of Delayed Departure

When the sea finally settled, the last remaining four of the new crew were able to jump in the vessel in Eckerö. The journey to the mysterious island beyond the horizon started with the cheerful hejsan by our crew, Yvonne and Mats.

Unfortunately the wooden yacht whose crew had hoped to stay in Märket overnight had to depart at the newcomers’ arrival, when buoy was needed for our vessel. Tarja and Markku of the last week’s crew gave us basic training for all tricks and thingies of Märket. No tears were spared as their dinghy sailed further away.

Now, the night gathering, the wind is blowing 6-7 m/s and there’s a thin lace of clouds in the horizon.

Bye for now from Märket

The Lightkeepers

070708 The Day on the Roof

This morning the guys started to work at six o´clock. The body of the new roof for the boat shed is now ready. Johanna chopped some of the old roof beams into small pieces and we have boiled some water for washing. But Jari thinks that warm water is for cowards and bathed in the sea.

We have celebrated Ari´s birthday today with some African pancakes and ice cold juice.

Weather report on the radio: Märket 12, west 7.

The Lightkeepers

080708 The Day of the Bird

The bright sunshine woke us all up in the morning. The weather seemed great for working on the roof. We had porridge for breakfast and after eating, we were all full of energy. Krista and Mari helped the guys on the roof by carrying boards while Johanna was dealing with a huge amount of dishes.

As the weather was so warm, the girls decided to take a bath with the rest of the heated water. After the bath they tried to watch the horizon with high hopes to see some visitors but unfortunately there were none.

Meanwhile the guys had a new project manager: tiny little swallow had fallen out of its nest on the newly build roof. The bird’s presence made the guys work even harder. Unfortunately the bird fell down and we rescued it later from the floor of the future boat shed. During the lunch break Ari tried to activate the bird to fly so it could manage the bird’s life on its own. Training did not do the trick so we placed the bird in a sheltered place hoping that hungry seagulls couldn’t see it.

Despite this unexpected event, two thirds of the roof was ready before the coffee break. We dreamed of having our dinner on the brand new roof. On the coffee break we saw some sails on the horizon. Krista started practicing the tour for the visitors, but unfortunately none of the boats came to visit Märket. Better luck tomorrow!

Nailing on the roof continued after coffee despite the scorching sun. Suddenly we were alarmed; we are running out of nails. From now on we’ll have to use nails more sparingly and hope to get some more from Yvonne and Mats. After couple of hours of furious work we decided to call it a day. While Jari took the tools back to the tool shead he managed to find more nails. We were relieved – our project is not in danger.

The guys took a bath in the seal pool to clean off the hard day’s sweat. The dinner was served on the newly built roof in the evening sun.

Märket +8, northwest 4.

The Lightkeepers

090808 Trapped by the Wind

Today weather was so windy that we are still here in the Märket islet. We hope that tomorrow we can leave from Märket and the two new lighthouse keepers can come. Märket has shown us many times and ways in this week that sea, nature is stronger than man. And that you have to respect the sea.

Today we have spent the day resting.

Thanks to Märket for this week.

Ville, Viivi, Karolina, Anne and Markus