Sunday June 25th:

 

A new crew arrived in Märket after celebrating a lovely traditional Midsummer on the main island; the raising of the maypole and dancing folk dances around it. Some of us even took part in the making of the Hula Hula world record on the square in Mariehamn!

We arrived a day later than the other crews because of the festivities but we didn’t mind; now we had the chance to spend an extra day on the Åland Islands. On Saturday Arja and Timo headed to the Åland Maritime Museum where the original Fresnel lighthouse lens from Märket was spotted.

 

It’s rather a nice day today, with temperatures around 15 degrees, fresh breeze, 8m/s south, south-west.

• Arriving in Märket and meeting Hely, Helena and Outi-Sofia.

We made ourselves at home, cooked dinner and even a lesson on geocaching was given in the afternoon!

Did you know that the westernmost geocache in Finland is situated on Märket!

Monday June 26th:

 

One of the fascinating things here on Märket is the unpredictable weather! We started chopping firewood in the morning. Showery rain and hard wind; at noon clear sky and sunshine, in the evening north-west wind 8m/s and rain again. Temperatures around 13 degrees! And the hypnotic sea: you never get tired of watching it!

A lot of wood chopping today! We also started the warehouse inventory downstairs; the cleaning continues tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow!

 

• Kari and Timo with the chain saw, ladies with the firewood cutter!

 

We decided to have fish soup for lunch, so Timo had to go fishing! 🙂

 

• We are lucky to have Kari, a real chef in the lighthouse kitchen! The Pirkka fish soup was delicious!

 

Tuesday June 27th:

 

A cloudy morning, south-western wind, temperatures around 12 degrees. The seal we spotted yesterday had disappeared  so we observed the birds on the island instead.

• Our Grey seal friend from Monday evening

Liisa and Timo are into photography so they got some really nice shots.

• A baby Arctic Tern: there are dozens of nests nearby on the southern side of the islet

• Little Ringed Plover

We continued the warehouse cleaning project; hopefully it´ll be a sunny day tomorrow for repainting the wooden floor grills.

• Arja and Helena scrubbing the floor grills.

 

Wednesday June 28th:

 

A sunny day, clear skies, temperatures around 12 degrees, moderate north-eastern wind 8m/s. A perfect day for taring the warehouse grills downstairs. The inventory of the warehouse shelves was also started. Quite a lot of bird droppings there!

The life on Märket is not only working your butt off; there´s also time for play! There are three million saunas in Finland but the one on this islet is very special. You bathe in the Finnish side of the border and take a dip in the sea in the Swedish side!

 

• Kari painting the floor grills with tar,  ladies tiding the shelves in the warehouse.

• Our sauna house on Märket and the “swimming pool” called “Mother´s Womb”.

 

Thursday June 29th:

 

What a windy day it was today! North-eastern brisk winds, clear sky, wind 9,6 m/s.

A lot of sawdust in the air due to wood cutting and chopping today! Timo with the chainsaw and Arja, Liisa and Helena with the wood cutter and firewood stacking. Kari in the kitchen preparing the traditional Thursday dinner; peasoup and pancakes!

• The woodchoppers

 

Friday June 30th:

 

Today we witnessed an awesome gale, not a storm, but a strongish wind of 15,8 m/s. The wind was howling when the sea rushed over the islet filling every little crack. When watching the raging sea I can understood very well why nothing can be stored outside the lighthouse building.The weather also dictates when to travel back to the mainland; in our case it looks as if we have to wait until Sunday morning. However, you have to be ready if Mats decides to pick you up anyway.

We cleaned the lighthouse lodgings and started packing to be ready if Mats calls in the morning if the wind gets favourable. Firewood chopping as usual, a lot of pics, a lot of wave watching, a lot of saw dust in the eyes as well!

 

• Wonderful waves today!

• Kari and Liisa took loads of pics today!

• Timo practising the guided tour! Still no visitors though! But Märket welcomes the radio amateurs from Holland and Belgium this weekend! Welcome!

 

Saturday July 1st:

 

Last day: cleaning the lodgings, packing and getting ready for the transfer. The wind was still quite strong in the morning 9,6 m/s but during the day the sea had calmed down and we got a call: be ready in the morning!

We also had visitors on the islet today: some grey seals near the shoreline and later on at nine p.m paddlers from Sweden. They had started paddling at ten am and had had lunch on Singö at noon. After ten hours of paddling they reached Märket. Quite a lot of paddling for one day! They put up their tents behind the lighthouse and stayed over night.

• We approached the seal very carefully and managed to get some good shots.

• Visitors from Sweden!