Talkooviikko 21: Pirita, Pasi, Elina, Arto ja Pia

Saturday – 17.5.

The weather was sunny and quite calm when we, Pirita, Elina, Arto and Pia, took the boat from Käringsund to Märket. We were also pleased to have six visitors from Viking Line.

Mats boat was loaded with bricks (for 3 rd floor tile stove), stove of sauna and timber for seats in sauna and of course, food for one week. Boat trip went quite fast and safely. We enjoyed to see lot of eider on the sea.

Mats easily landed to Märket and there it was; lovely two colored Märket lighthouse just waiting for us! Anu and Liisa quided visitors from Viking Line and we got the first sweat by unloading the boat.

We had coffee with visitors and discussed about the severe weather condititions of Märket, about the renovation process and why on earth people want to come to Märket voluntarely – for me personally it’s easy to answer, to experience nature this way in a previledge.

Viking Line co-operates with Finnish Lighthouse Society by offering free boat tickets for us who are coming to work at the Märket. We hope they enjoyed their visit at Märket and are welcome again.

Pasi, who has faithfully worked already two weeks at Märket, took us to the safety tour. He told us everything about safe stay at Märket. We are in good ”hands”.

Pasi and Arto started to work immediately as a carpenters. Arto repaired the small wooden door of the attic and for this he brought a piece of wood from his hometown. The door has to look as it was before, so we needed old gray weather spanked wood for that.

First day was nice and busy. We enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Pirita. Now we are very tired, and it’s time to wash dishes… but the evening sun is lovely!

Sunday 18.5.2014

Sunday mornings weather at Märket: temperature + 7 celsius and south wind 5 m/s. Feels like summer……

We ate breakfast at 9:00 and the atmosphere around the table was joyful. Didn’t take long when these people, almost strangers to each other, got along well with each other’s.

It was time to start working day: some painting, cleaning and fixing the motorboat, heating the sauna stove before it will be moved to the sauna and of course there’s always some carpenter work and cooking.

The sea was calm in the morning but during the date it got calmer and calmer. It was really like a summer day, we worked on T-shirts!

Pasi cleaned and prepared the motorboat after long winter. Perhaps there’s chance to take a drive to see seals.

Engine didn’t want to start immetiately, but then Pasi showed who’s the boss.

There’s still a lot of work to do at sauna before first bath can be taken. But anyway, sauna stove is already at Märket and we heat it outdoors until the smoking (caused by protecting paint) stopped. Now it’s ready to move to the sauna building.

Pasi and Arto lift the sauna stove to the second floor.

Monday 19.5.2014

The morning weather at Märket: temperature + 10 celsius, south wind 2 m/s, nice morning again.

Pirita took the morning swim in “water pool” behind the lighthouse. We thougt she was brave, or maybe crazy. But she really enjoyed it.

We ate breakfast at 8:00 and planned todays work. Men waited enthusiasticly to continue to build sauna. To do list; install attic door and the fire safety plate, build log wall (between dressing room and sauna).

Orginnally old logs were Calgbergs cabin and now they will be recycled into a Märket sauna wall.

Pasi and Arto installing fire safty plate

At noon the sea was almost calm, but some rain for the afternoon was predicted. Pasi noticed with the telescope that nearby, on small rocky island, was a flock of seals. Others also heard them sing, but I didn’t. I have ever heard famous “song” made by seals, so I couldn’ t separate it from other sounds of nature. We took the motorboat and hurry to the rocky island. For safety’s sake we took the compass with us if the fog or storm would catch us suddenly.

We approached the flock and got the terrible smell of a rotten fish. Now I reconized the song of the seals! It sounded sad, differend that I expected. Seals swam towards us and they seemed to be very curious. Heads appeared from the water near the boat…from here….to there, they were so many, maybe hundreds!

Seals looked heartbreaking lovable with their big eyes. They were in various sizes and colours: tiny, wide, light gray, dark gray… Here’s one picture, hope we can share something with you dear readers, what we saw, and what we felt.

Seals, curious as well as a little cautious.

When we left back to the Märket, part of the flock started to follow our boat. They swam fast, and surprisingly they followed us all the way to the Märket. Seeing so many seals for the first time was an experience we will remember!

Around one o’ clock it started a soft rain and we had to stop carprenter work. At least now there was time to take an afternoon nap! Rain didn’t stop and it caused restlessness among our carprenters… They wanted things done, but the weather…

But good food always cheers us up, I think. We also heard that Finland won Kazakstan in ice-hockey, it was nice news. After dinner the rain stopped and men hurries to work, even thou it was seven o’clock.

Tired team is now ready to bed!

Yours, Pasi, Arto, Elina, Pirita ja Pia

Tuesday 20.5.2014

Tuesday mornings weather at Märket: temperature + 7 celsius, southeast wind 6 m/s. Sunny morning, but it felt much more colder than previous days because wind turned.

Finally the wall between sauna and dressing room started to arise.

Teamwork is needed when first Karlbergs old log is lifted to the wall

Our team seem to enjoy to work together and right away they are willing to help when help is needed. Pasi and Arto are good carpenters and Pasi can also do metalwork. For example, when Elina needed a new plate for cooking, Pasi prepared the plate right away. This kind of expertises are needed at Märket.

We got guests today from the Netherlands. Peter and Paulien from Voigt Travel arrived to Märket with Bengt Granberg. Our quests were glad and open-hearted. They were very interested in nature, history and our experiences of Märket and after guided tour we had nice discussion over cup of coffee.

Glad coffee break with our guests Paulien, Peter and Bengt

Saying goodbye to our quests, hope we’ll see again

Time at the Märket flies fast. Among construction work there are other regular work tasks to do; guiding also with foreign language when guests arrive to the Märket. This week Elina and Pirita share this responsibility together.

Also cooking and doing dishes are very important tasks to do. People do long working days here and it feels this sea-air keeps us hungry all the time.

Writing this dairy is also one task and I am happy to do it with help of all others. People who have worked here and everyone who is interested in our lovely lighthouse have a great possibilty to get information about things, and also take a memory lane of the progress on our effort to save the Märket.

We had fresh but sunny day today. All seem to be very tired and after dinner people dissappeared to do their own things. Märket dining room is silent when I’m writing this dairy. Good night for today.

Wednesday 21.5.2014

Mornings weather at Märket: temperature + 11 celsius, southwest wind 6 m/s. Sunny and warm morning.

Today, among other tasks, we had a cleaning day. We washed Lilla Märket and we had to empty the bio toilet. You could think that it was a stinky job but no, bio toilet works well.

Elina enjoyed the sense of Mäntysuopa. We had some fresh rainwater to do the last rinse.

We got visitors from Kirkkonummi, six teenage boys and their teacher on Mats Sjöströms boat. They were also watching seals nearby.

Pasi told about surveillance cameras that Finnish Coast Guard have here.

The sauna wall will be ready before this sunset! Arto and Pasi have worked hard with the logs.

Tomorrow we will know if the battle with wall paper in radio amateurs room is finally accomplished. If all goes well the wall can be painted next week.

Happy diary writer who today learned new things about photography from Pirita.

I was told that there was a large white seal on a shore and I hurried there with my camera. Instead I found Pirita bathing! (There was seal also, but more far away.)

Good night from our heavenly islet, even birds are admiring the sunset here.

Thursday 22.5.2014

Mornings weather at Märket: temperature + 10 celsius, south wind 5 m/s. Nice and warm morning again. For the evening more wind was predicted.

I woke up early and saw sun rising. I was sitting guietly for quite some time and birds let me follow their life very closely. It’s time for nesting…

Artic Tern brought a fish as part of their mating games.

We wrote yesterday that sauna wall will be ready before the sunset, and It was! Carpenters were obviously satisfied when they got the wall done. Today they installed the door and finished the roof. Sauna stove and pot for poiling water were also moved to the sauna!

Happy carpenters Pasi & Arto in Märket Sauna.

I am sure that everybody who has put effort to build the new sauna will come here again and have a well deserved bath. On the sauna benches they will enjoy unforgettable seaview and remember all nice moments that happened. In Finland we have this thing called ”Sisu” (guts) and that is needed to get this kind of job done with voluntary work.

View from the benches, wich doesn’t exist, yet.

Next we will fry some crepes outside, and hopefully we find a spot that is not too windy 🙂

Friday 23.5.2014

The mornings weather at Märket: temperature + 10 celsius and southeastwind 8 m/s. The wind had calmed from last evening and somehow wind feels softer in the morning. Waters temperature on the afternoon was + 7 celsius measured by my own termometer.

Mats arrived in the morning with Leif who checked how the old empty oil tanks look inside. There are plans to empty and clean those tanks properly. Next week Leif will come back with his colleague and right kind of tools. The tanks are quite big with narrow covers and very little space between the cover and the roof. It’s difficult and very dangerous to go inside the tanks without help available.

Leif had a quick look around the light house. Mats took some construction and metal waste on his boat to drop them to the recycling point. It’s nice that Mats helps us like this. Thanks Mats!

Coffee break was not serious at all. Mats told about ”exact” Märkets buoy coordinates which he has on his head… well see how it goes, but next week we have diver to do buyos for boats.

Pasi climped to the roof and put a new clip for the antenna. He had a safety belt on him, but we looked serious anyway.

At the sauna building Arto and Pasi finished the door moldings, fixed slope of the sauna floor and finished the dressing room roof. Maybe without that one rainy day the sauna benches would also be ready. Anyway, we had a wonderful week behind us and the weather has been great. We have worked hard, laughed a lot and now we are rolling like well fed seals, thanks to Pirita.

Arto from ”Kurikan Ryhti” nail roof of the dressing room.

Pasi got an idea to replace ordinary moldings with a nice old sailor rope which Elina found from the attic. Pasi teach us how to whip the rope. Elina and Pasi installed the rope to the dressingroom’s corner.

Sailor rope from Märket on the dressing room’s corner.

Dear readers, we wish you all very nice summer! And people how are coming to Märket, enjoy your stay and efforts here! We had a wonderful time, thank you Märket… we’ll see again!

Jaa tämä somessa