Sunday 7th of May 2017
A new group arrived to Märket today. The sea was unsteady as the wind had blown from the North. Ari was there to take us from Mats´ boat with the rubber boat and everything went smoothly.
It is great to be back! The whole new crew has been to Märket many times and knows the island. Quick tour to see what has changed during the winter. We found out that the water tank was missing but other than that, everything seemed quite ok.
The first task was to fill in the water tank for the emergency. That was a fast job with three people working on it.
We also managed to clean up the floor of the aisle. It now smells of Euca.
Monday 8th of May
We woke up to a windy day! Already in the morning the North wind blew 13 m/s and during the day it started to blow as hard as 17 m/s. The waves moved across the island and only the lighthouse was left on dry land. Even Lilla Märket was left on the other side of the stream.
We had to save some equipment from the sea. The garbage barrel was close to have sailed away but Pasi drilled it to the rocks.
Petri found a flock of calidris birds (sirri in Finnish).
All in all, the day was really cold. At the coldest our thermometer gave 0,7 degrees.
Tuesday 9th of May
We woke up to a cold morning. There was some snow on the ground but the sun was still shining. Wind was not as strong as yesterday. Emilia and Petri had a morning swim and then started the work.
Pasi finished a new storage for fire wood in the warehouse and Pasi and Petri repaired the pipe of dirty water and installed that on rocks.
Emilia baked some bread rolls in the evening. Pasi said the rolls were not bad.
Wednesday 10th of May
Again a freezing night. Pasi started working already at 5.30 and water had frozen in water buckets. During the day temperature moved between 1-2 degrees but winds were calmer today.
Pasi and Petri repaired the old pipe of the water tank in the warehouse. The old one was very rusty.
Then the boys fixed the old fridge to be carried back to Åland. Petri installed the fridge on an old scaffold so it is easier to carry.
Pasi noticed there is a rock in the. He marked it so it is easier to notice.
Even it has been surprisingly cold there is a sign of spring!
Thursday 11th of May
Cold night, again. Emilia slept outside on the rocks. She said it was still too warm for her winter sleeping bag.
Petri has been bird watching today. He has seen some eagles and some other birds. Seals have not yet arrived on our islet, unfortunately.
The whole crew has been cleaning the old harbour from the rocks. Some rocks that were moved away last year are back and Pasi is determined to move them away, for good this time. See our strong men:
But it takes a girl to move the rocks:
The sea was really calm today and we have been waiting some fire wood to arrive. We almost thought we finally saw the boat in the horizont:
Friday 12th of May
Morning started beautifully today! There were no winds and temperature was as high as 5 degrees: almost summer weather! Emilia slept outside again and woke up to the sunlight.
We still saw no trace of our fire wood coming so Pasi an Petri worked all day dredging the old harbour. They managed to clear out many massive rocks because of their wisdom and power 🙂 Petri was multitasking and he actually caught a fish too (not our supper, though):
As the evening came, winds from south grew stronger and it wasn´t so summery anymore. The crew enjoyed some Märket-sauna and one more awesome sunset.