Saturday 2.7.2016

New crew arrived, Inari, Jari, Minna & Elisa, not with the miniature car though. The Micro-car associations from Sweden and Finland gather every year for a Rally at Eckerö, Notviken. One Messerschmitt stayed at the same place, plenty others came with the same ferry.

Because of the increasing wind, the change was quick. Unpacking, safety check and plans for the next week were todays main tasks.

Due to the wind, no visitors arrived today. Still quite many nestlings on the islet, so some areas are still not accessible. The majestic sound of the waves are a hypnotizing soundtrack for the day.

Sunday 3.7.2016

No strawberry jam in the house!! One of the basic groceries at the lighthouse is missing! We will have to survive with lingonberry jam with the morning porridge.

One of todays tasks was changing the winch and strap. Oh no, that means we have to test it too! The waterlevel is low so it was difficult to manage the boat, but it went great.

We almost got vistors today, one sailing boat went by, and took many pictures from the lighthouse. And vice versa.

We will most likely get at least one visitor tomorrow, nice! A sailor called from Eckerö asking about the visiting possibilities and the weather seems  very promising so far.

Today we will heat up the sauna, but now it is barbecue time, bon appétit!

Monday 4.7.2016

What a day! It’s been a warm and mild sunny day, wind 1-3m/s, temperature around 15 °C. We started fixing the kitchen cabinet, with instructions from the mainland. Eight new screws and the cabinet is now firmly attached to the wall, so it will hold all the food that is preserved here.

Round noon Heikki, the solo sailor, arrived and landed smoothly to the north harbour. While he was  guided round the islet, a rubber boat arrived from east. Divers had their boats further on, and a couple with a dog came to see the lighthouse. Seals and birds here are not used to dogs, and the dogs are not allowed to the yard of the lighthouse or in the buildings. The divers might come to visit  tomorrow!

The seals came to enjoy the sun as well, and suddenly between the numerous seals, we see three kayaks coming. Kjell, Per och Jonas from Saltsjö-boo were thrilled about the amount of curios seals and their singing. They might send some videos to us later on. They have had a wonderful trip and continued happily towards Enskär.

The late lunch was enjoyed at the terrace in t-shirts, traditional finnish summerfood with potatoes, herring, and local islanders loaf, baked by Jari before the trip.

Tuesday 5.7.2016

We had some marvellous bananapancakes for breakfast!

As warm as yesterday, but more windy. One big german sailingboat passed, but no visitors today. So we had splendid  time for doing the dirty work, we emptyied  the composting toilets in the morning. It was afterall an easy thing to do, not at all as scary or smelly as we thought.

We also did some maritime exercises, and documented the operation as well. The purpose is to write a manual for the rubberboat.

Some cormorants “Phalacrocorax carbo” came to dry and rest in the western cliffs. And only one seal was spotted today.

Wednesday 6.7.2016

Did we write yesterday no visitors? Early evening we got a call from Mats, that he is coming with two visitors. The two sisters spent their childhood on Åland Islands, but now Mallo lives in Florida and Tepa in Sweden. They were really impressed by the place and had a swim in the Moders Magen. And then the divers called, weather they could came for a late visit with their own rubberboats. Tavi Nautic Club is a sports divers club from Turku founded in 1970, and today they have app. 120 members.  And diver Samuli sent greetings to Paula from Lighthouse Society!

Today we woke up to a windy day. We knew immediatly, that visitors can’t come, it was 12 m/s NW, gusts up to 14 m/s. Sun was shining though, and waves looked great.

We painted inside and outside, jobs started by “colleagues” weeks 22 and 26. The attic room is still smelling linseed oil paint, so unfortunately it is not possible to sleep there yet.

Today we celebrate the poet Eino Leino, and poems and summer. It is a flag day in mainland  Finland, not on Åland Islands.

“Minun mieleni on niin kummallinen
kuin meri kuutamolla.
En tahtois ma touhuun ihmisten
ja en tahtoisi yksin olla.”

Eino Leino, Meri kuutamolla

Thursday 7.7.2016

Today we live on a very small islet, almost half of the area is under  water! There are new lakes, streams and waterfalls all over. Wind started to increase during the night, it’s been round 14 m/s NW. All morning it sounded like somebody is boiling eggs in the kitchen, the ventilation pipe has some parts that make the sound.

Sun is shining, so it looks lovely and we feel very safe here. The pre-booked guests naturally can’t come. We had a walk round the dry cliffs, and were amazed by the show. So, there is new water in the pools, and even Lilla Märket is flushed.

Cleaning, hoovering and dusting is on todays list. And although we didn´t have thursdays peasoup, we still had pancake, and since the owen was on, even some bananacupcakes…

Tomorrow we will go treasurehunting, who knows what we might find in the rock holes, salmon or other fish would be nice. Or some wreck from the sunken ships…

Friday 8.7.2016

Busiest day of the week? All unfinished projects needs to be finished, all the things you wanted to see you need to see etc. Plus all the food you thought you’ll need for a week needs to be eaten… Thank you Inari for keeping us well & being so innovative this week!

The beams for the winch are now shining white, well done Jari & Minna!

We rewarded ourselves with a lovely walk round the islet. The sea was still too restless for visitors to enter the lighthouse.

Thank you so so much travelling companions and guests this week, thank you Märket, and all the best for the next weeks! See you soon!