Week 39: Ari Marita and Mirja
Saturday 21.9.2013
Temperature max + 15 degrees,wind 4 m/s
The new crew (two persons) arrived today with Anne and Anne´s friend from Ekenäs. It was a surprice to all of us to see them in Eckerö! 😀 They left Märket with Mats and two members of the old crew but Marita is still here with us.
It was a nice day with a lot of sunshine and migrating birds (for example mealy redpolls (urpiainen), redstart (leppälintu), ringed plovers (tylli) goosanders (isokoskelo) etc. etc.) We saw also two white-tailed eagle.
Ari began to do important repairs right away.He is renovating the door because rainwater has come trough the door with a very hard wind.
It is the full moon now and we are waiting for a nice day again.
Sunday 22.9.2013
Temperature + 13 degrees, wind SW 5 m/s. A nice day again. Mostly cloudy but a little bit rain in the afternoon. The wind will increase tonight. Red cumulus clouds are telling it too.
Marita has cooked us blueberry soup from fresh blueberries which Mirja has brought with her. Delicious!
Ari has continued to work with the outdoor.
We were looking for the geocatche in the evening again, and it was a good way to get to know the environment of the lighthouse.
A stormy day is coming. We have to make sure that for example the lifeboat is still working. It has been moved to a safer place after the huge waves from south last week.
Monday 23.9.2013
Temperature + 11 degrees,wind max 23 m/s. So it has been a stormy day with WAVES! And the storm is still continuing.
We have rescued all kinds of items.
We are saving the lifeboat with two ropes.Ari is a brave man. He emptied the lifeboat because it was full of water,
Bonus video of the waves hitting Märket:
Tuesday 24.9.2013
Temperature + 10 degrees both in air and sea,wind max 15 m/s and is in the evening increasing. Waves have been big all day long and now they cover 3/4 of the islet again.
We have been working in the kitchen,cleaning windows,cleaning the front yard after the storm etc.
We weren´t waiting for any visitors but today we got one unexpected young visitor: a great spotted woodpecker(käpytikka). Unfortunately we have no food to give to it. It is looking for wood and food from the islet´s vegetation too.
Only one mealy redpoll(urpiainen) is still here looking desperately for food. The waves have surely taken the last seeds from this islet.
We all have been so excited from the weather conditions that now we´ll surely sleep very well like last night.
Wednesday 25.9.2013,
Temperature +9 degrees,wind max 16 m/s. We got hard wind last evening again: 20 m/s, but in the morning it was much less,about 10 m/s, but the waves are still big. The huge waves are only a memory now.
It was a good day to work outside again, still cleaning the damage after the storm. Marita has been cleaning the gas stove and it is now shining.The whole kitchen is shining!
Today we have studied geology of the islet with Marita´s magnet stick. We got our magnetic stick to stand right over the rock just like the raw eggs “stand”at the september equinox
Thursday 26.9.2013
Temperature + 9 degrees,wind max 19 m/s. Huge waves covers again 2/3 of the islet at this moment and the wind is increasing all the time. We have got two stormy days here this week.
We got a surprice visitor today again: a deer fly (hirvikärpänen)!!
The small birds (those two poor fellows) are rolling like balls forced by the hard wind. It seems that the seagulls are flying backwards.
We are keeping the lighthouse warm because outside it is getting colder and colder and it it so nice to come inside.But while the sea is now so exiting, we will go out time to time to see whats happening .
Tomorrow is the day we clean the lighthouse and pack our things. Apparently the wind will dropp on saturday.Let´s see.
Friday 27.9.2013
Temperature + 8 degrees, wind max 14 m/s. The sea is still guite rough.
It has been a grey day with some rain. We have been working mostly inside removing paint,renovating the metal plates in front of the ovens to protect from the fire, etc. The wind makes us feel like we were standing in a cool winterday.
It´s good that the sea has not taken the hot water pot! Fortunately it is downstairs inside and we get warm water for washing ourselves. With cold water it would be too unpleasant for two of us.We would like to take a bath in the sauna!
Marita likes more cold water because she likes to swim in lakes/sea in wintertime too.And here she was swimming in the “south harbour” this week!
Sheet metal plates have found a calm place in a pond with a lot of bricks which were piled on the rock nearby.
It is so windy that it´s not safe to take them out.
We haven´t been cleaning the lighthouse today because we will not leave tomorrow. The waves are too high, and now we are waiting for sunday. If not on sunday then hopefully on tuesday. Marita´s 3rd week begins here tomorrow.
Greetings from
Ari, Marita and Mirja