Week 39 Pera, Emmi, Martti, Juha, Ulla

 

Saturday 20.9.2014

 

Actually we have been in Märket allready 24 hours, because the journey started last night. We saw Pera in the Sky cafe as he was checking out the lighthouses of Helsinki shore. We noticed that as we are first timers we play in a different league as Pera when lighthouses are concerned. He has visited more than 18 and we have visited three. But live and learn, right?

As we started our journey to Märket (now the real physical journey) from Ekerö, we met our first tourist. Peter Karlsson had decided to visit Märket for the first time too. Apparently he is a keen lighthouser too and is a member of a Swedish association as he is from Nyköping.

The old crew we ready and wellcomed us with a cup of coffee as it’s customed here. We were able to talk with them and fish out the stories that they didn’t dare to write in the log. Thanks for Heli, Matti and Pasi for leaving us a clean and warm Märket.

First things first, we started with the security round. The rest of the day has been planning the next week, getting to know Märket and each other. We think are going to be good friends. Also we were aawing the mist that went away and came back again and went.

Tomorrow we are going to write a reportage about the two cool radioamateurs that are in the second floor doing something. What, we’ll know tomorrow.

 

Sunnuntai 21.9.2014

 

There  are 3 million radioamateurs in the world. Approximately 5 000 in Finland.  Here in Märket we have two of them, Martti and Juha.

Martti has started his hobby when he was 15 years old so he has seen a big development of the personal communication. From valve era to a virtual radioamateur game. One could ask why try to connect with people with radios and elementary gadgets anymore while we are living the age of internet, but ”there are people still sailing eventhough the motorized boats have been invented” says Juha.

Basically radioamateurs are trying to connect with other amateurs in different countries. According to Wikipedia ”An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators have been granted amateur radio license by a governmental regulatory authority after passing an examination on applicable regulations, electronics, and radio theory and operation.”

To get connected with somebody in Helsinki, Tokio or New York is quite common, but to get connected with somebody in Palestine, North-Korea or in Märket is what everyone gets very exhited about. This weekend they had an Scandinavian competition and Juha and Martti tuned the world for whole 24 hours. Occasionally they came to eat something.

These people have always been innovative and in the forefront in communications. It’s them we can thank for the many innovations we have now grown so accustomed. These days they are approaching a virtual worlds and in Oulu they have inspired the entire world that youth can soon join the hobby with a minimum upfront knowledge.

More on this intereting hobby you can read on web by Suomen Radioamatooriliitto.

Of course the work on the Märket worklist has started. Emmi and Pera kept busy with building structures. On tuesday it supposed to be sunny the whole day so we are planning to paint the white line. Ulla did the dishes, lunch and warmed up the small room’s oven upstairs. Also we prepared for the hard wind that’s coming. It should blow 15 meters/second from north. Exhiting. See you tomorrow.

 

22.9.2014 Monday

 

It was a dark and stormy day…

This classic start suites literally for today. It’s been 22 meters/second and in gusts of wind 27 meters/second most of the day. It already started last night with some thunder and lighting and today it has been amazing storm. We had to carry everything inside because the water took over the front yard and everyplace.

The day has been spent mostly by watching the surge of water in front of the lighthouse and in the side and back. The pictures won’t do justice. The howling sound, the taste of salt and the pressure of the wind just tell so clearly how powerful the sea and nature can be and who really is the boss. Also the colors of the waves are so incredible.

The storm dislocated one big stone near the helicopter landing site and the tarpaulin over the motorboat is torn to shreds. Tomorrow we’ll see what other things have happened.

We took some video too, but we have to see when we are able to download it for everyone to see. We have had some problems connecting the internet.

Still it hasn’t been scary at all. Märket has taken good care of us and from her windows it has mesmerising to watch how the water flows. It’s like watching the fire in the campside.

Lilla Märket getting a shower:

 

23.9.2014 Tuesday

 

The morning lightened beautiful and sunny. The storm turned into high winds and we could get down from the safety of the lighthouse to estimate the disturbions of the storm. The list is not too long. The after compost has vanished as well as the barrel where the trash is burned. Also safety fence was badly bend and the tarpaulin of the boat was shreded, but nothing more. Really good that we were able to safe some of the things yesterday.

The day has been quite full of cleaning. Of course we cleaned the places in the yard and also did a lot of dishes and cleaned ourselves, because we couldn’t yesterday. But we also finished the building structure so tomorrow we can start the work on the wall. Hopefully the weather forecast holds. It promised a sunny morning.

Today me (Ulla) and Martti (Mike Alfa Romeo Tango Tango India) were told about the every seventh wave. It usually is the biggest. Pera knew about it as did Emmi and Juha. Emmi said it has been in a movie too. Anyway the seventh wave is a phenomena which is a combination of the wind and movement of the water molecule. Here in Märket the biggest isn’t always the seventh one, because of the shape of the Gulf of Bothnia cause lot of  reflection waves.

 

24.9.2014 Wednesday

 

Today it’s been a long day. We woke up already at 7 o’clock and now at nine pm we haven’t eaten supper yet. But first things first. The diary first and then food ;). We did some painting and then some painting again. We are so hungry that we’ll let the pictures speak for ourselves.

And some news from the radio guys. They got the satellite, that has been in some pictures, working and now the bites just fly from Märket to the shore and back in a blink of an eye. Maybe tomorrow we can use it for the video uploads?

Now food and then some sleep. See you tomorrow.

 

Thursday 25.9.2014

 

Food is one of the most important things here in lighthouse. Even though we have modern comforts like internet, sauna and pisuars here we dont’ have a nearby foodmarket. So planning what to eat the whole week, what to eat in one day and making inventar of the foods for the next group is very important, and we find, a bit challenging. But we have eaten really good this week and there has been no leftovers.

Also to keep the kitchen running on has to remember to empty the biowaste, trash and waste water and do the dishes. If you have red more than one diary entry there is always at least one picture of somebody doing the dishes. When there’s five people eating three meals a day there’s always a lot to wash. Luckily like in many things here in Märket this has been arranged very efficiently and innovatively. Märket is full of cool inventions and it is like a well oiled machine in many places.

But also the renovation work continued. Yesterday the color was white today it was red. But tomorrow we´re giving it a finishing touch. Also a temporary safety fence has been set up, so everybody remembers were the drop is.

Today we also got a more detailed report about the business the boys are doing in the second floor. Here is what Martti wrote:

 

 

”AMATEUR RADIO

Known as people in the forefront of technology and related innovations, amateur radio operators or hams have pioneered a virtual version of their global communication network all interested young people can enter with minimum entry barriers or equipment investment. This amateur radio simulator, accessible globally across the internet, offers a natural gateway for youth to join the actual hobby. But as Market Lighthouse is outside of any Nordic cellular or terrestrial internet service, the radio hams took it one step further and communicated through a satellite link using a high speed wideband connection of 15Mbit/s. Advanced global communication was at its best with all modern elements involved.

Last night was historic as the amateurs entered their virtual platform for the first time from Market Reef and communicated by voice with their counterparts on all continents. Totally more than one-hundred people, most new to the hobby, were contacted and the traffic was handled smoothly for all those involved. Voices from New Zealand, Chile and South Africa sounded as clear as if they were coming out of the loudspeakers.

MÄRKET LIGHTHOUSE

Important for ships plying a busy sea route, the fully automated Market Lighthouse also features weather station facilities and handles frontier guard duties. The Finnish Lighthouse Society is undertaking a major project to renovate the site and keep the reef populated for current maintenance and for historical reasons. This means that solid communication is an essential requirement. Market Reef’s comprehensive communication needs necessitate access to reliable data and personal information exchange for monitoring, safety and overall care. The reef’s power plant can now be overseen from a distance while the folks on duty can communicate with their loved ones back home.

Traditionally wideband satellite links are expected to be out of reach cost-wise for private individuals, but satellite communication provided by Nordic telecoms operator TeliaSonera refutes this notion. As the monthly fee is not far off from the cost of terrestrial service, many remote second-home sites in Nordic countries will soon be connected to the internet and the outside world.

Amateur radio and the voluntary efforts of the Finnish Lighthouse Society help to bring the latest advances in high tech within reach of people for whom telecommunication is both a pleasure and a passion as well as people who need telecom in serving society at large.”

Hey almost forgot. We got to upload two videos about the storm. They can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWI2_u62fcM  and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX28ITfeNQg.

Later!

 

26.9.2014 Friday

 

The morning rose yet again and will rise for us at leat two times more here in Märket. Mats confimed us that he can’t come and make the change tomorrow because of the high winds. He said it could be even 17 m/s and radio’s weather forecast said 20 m/s from southwest. So we get an extra day. It’s a nice bonus even though boyfriends, wifes and cats are missed dearly.

We finished the wall today. That was really cool to do and we (Emmi and Ulla) are lucky that we got so good foreman. We woudn’t been able to do things like these by ourselves. So thanks Pera for good and patient advices.

Because the high wind it’s was important to take down the painting stand. It’s quite big work one has to make for painting a little bit. But it has to done.

The rest of the day was full of little, different Märket tasks.

 

27.9.2014 Saturday

 

Still here! Today we were suppose to start our journey home, but nature decided otherwise. Well another day and another tasks to do. We wanted to get everything ready so we can have a day off tomorrow. So inventory, dishes, disassembling, cleaning and cooking…and now we are done! Well done.

By the way! We have been really lucky today. We have seen a very rare bird species here in Märket. It is iron duck, which lives in the stone and sometimes it comes up and watches what is going around. Normally you can see only the head.

Pera, Emmi, Martti, Juha and Ulla