180709 Fresh Keepers

 

Today Märket got four fresh keepers Päivi, Sari, Kari and Maria, with Jake, Jari ja Salla continuing their stay here. Three visitors arrived at Märket on the same boat with the newbies.

After a quick briefing the previous crew left early to catch a ferry back home.

All newcomers had been here before and were amazed how much has been achieved with the restoration work in one to two years!

Heavy fog covered Märket in the morning. The weather cleared up a bit later and we ended up having a wonderfully sunny and calm day.

We also had a sailing couple visiting the lighthouse. They seemed to truly enjoy the visit.

Workwise the day has been rather intensive. 90 glass tiles were taken down from the machinery room.

Plenty of those tiles are in good condition and we would be happy to sell them. Anyone interested? Detaching blastering from the storage room walls continued.

We witnessed a great air battle as sterns defended their colony against an unidentied black bird.

The water is heating up in the stove for us to wash off the dust of today.

 

190709 Changing Weather and Hard Work

 

Rain washed Märket at night. The morning was somewhat windy but dry. We didn’t have any visitors, though. During the day we did get some showers but all in all the day was ideal for working outdoors. And work we did!

Our own Miss Nautophone proved herself as putting up scaffoldings for the nautophone tower progressed tremendously today.

We also did some lighthouse household chores: Cleaned up the warehouse, burned waste in the stove and cleaned the machine saw.

We got to enjoy gourmet experiences as well: outdoor lunch, chicken flambe from the barbeque and yummy chocolate pudding.

The work continues as we’re writing this at eight pm…

 

200709 On the Top

 

Today certainly was a day of achievements. The nautophone tower scaffoldings are in place and restoration work is already on its way.

The protective plates for the machinery room windows were installed. Plastering the machine room wall progressed nicely. In the process we invented a hair trend, Märket rappausraidat, i.e. plaster highlights.

Things happened indoors as well as old paint in the first-storey room was being scraped off. We also made some more firewood for the stoves.

We certainly don’t get bored with the weather here! Rain at night, fog and light showers before noon and clear skies later on. We had to empty the boat from rain water in the morning.

Visibility is now amazingly good. We’re very happy because according to the weather report this is the worst weather day of the week!

Wind is moderate but Märket’s Northern inlet is calm and good for landing. Despite of that we sadly had no visitors today.

We had exotic lunch consisting of something that quite was chicken, namely barbequed quorn. This was a new and surprisingly positive experience to our taste buds.

We’ll reward ourselves with a round or two of card games in the evening, just as we did yesterday.

Märket wishes everyone a pleasant and relaxing evening.

 

210709 A Job with a View

 

Märket provides with excellent opportunities for workout. Today we took a full advantage of this “personal trainer”: climbing on scaffoldings, weight training (carrying scaffolding parts), hurdles on the bridge, etc.

The end result of the climbing exercise was actually scaffoldings for the storage room wall.

Other preparations were also done to the wall which is now ready for fresh paint.

We’re fully convinced that no other place in the world offers as breathtaking views as ours here! Filling in dents with plaster in the nautophone tower proved this.

The chimney and the tower scraped clean of lichen. Most of the old paint in the office room door is just a memory.

A lot of effort is required to keep both the renovation work and lighthouse keepers going. Today we placed an order for provisions and material by SMS.

We’ll receive a delivery from Yvonne tomorrow evening. She’ll also bring along a group of guests.

The day was rather windy (some 11 m/s SW) but wind is forecast to drop tomorrow. In addition to the wind we had a mostly sunny day with one or two short showers.

Märket is looking forward to yet another happy workful day tomorrow!

 

220709 Painting it White

 

… namely the storage room and nautophone tower. Both are now shining bright white. After great joint effort, plenty of preparation work, it was most rewarding to put the final, most visible touches to these contructions!

Working up there we spotted a lone seal on the cliff.

Fixing the lightning conductor has been the to-do list for quite a while. We finally completed this task today.

Window frames got new glazing. The last of the lichen in the chimney was scaped off.

The highlight of the day was the food and material delivery and four visitors in particular. It was nice to see new faces. One of the visitors will be staying here with us until Saturday.

Last summer Motacilla alba had built a nest in a dent in the wall by the lighthouse building. The dents were filled this summer and no nests have been seen – until today. The bird has found a nesting place at a new address, in the Northern granite wall.

Exactly 30 years ago, on 22 July at 9 pm, the machines of Märket were shut down and the lighthouse was fully automatized.

 

230709 Living with Uncertainty

 

We get to experience the life of lighthouse keepers in the old days as our shift change plans are likely to change due to wind conditions on Satuday. In our case it´s a question of just days though, not months. It now seems that some of us will depart tomorrow, others on Sunday. We’ll know more tomorrow morning.

All kinds of skills come in handy at Märket. The Lighthouse Society’s treasurer Sirpa, the visitor who arrived yesterday, checked Märkets accounts today.

The nautophone tower is now ready as is the front facade of the upper floor of the storage room.

The scaffoldings were taken down and moved to the South side of the storage room.

Hopefully there’s enough time to renovate the South and back walls before all the scaffolding parts have to be returned.

The day has been windy, sunny in the morning and then cloudy. Due to wind chill, those who have been working on the roof have had to wear caps.

Amidst of all the hard work, we have managed to chill out a bit: sunbathing, playing cards, reading books, taking in the views, chatting away…

 

240709 Farewells and Welcomes

 

Excellent timing for fixing the lightning conductor yesterday: there was thunder and heavy rain at night. Rain ceased by the time we started working.

Things happened indoors as well: scraping storm windows and cooking lunch on the little gas stove.

 

On the past couple of days we’ve seen seals on the nearby cliff and on Märket, too. Following the adventures of our house spider on its web in the kitchen window beats any TV show.

We’ve got confirmation that the current keepers will indeed leave this evening and the newcomers will take over. Sadly this means one less day at Märket for us. Jake and Päivi will be staying one more week.

The boat will also bring a couple of visitors and a filmmaker. He’ll be documenting the Märket renovation operation for the Lighthouse Society.

The week has been unique. Many of us have done things we’ve never done before and learnt new valuable skills. We’ve seen very concrete outcomes of our work, which in today’s world is rewarding in itself. But first and foremost we’ve contributed to saving this remarkable lighthouse.