Saturday the 22nd of July
The grey morning didn’t promise a calm arrival to Märket for the week 30 group. Luckily the waves weren’t too big and the crew was able to board on time.
Veera and Jake were last ones to arrive at Käringsund and after their bikes were secured and all the bike bags were loaded, the journey to Märket was ready to begin. The first timers Anne-Mari, Tommi and Lenina were excited when Mats started the engines and hit towards the islets and the lighthouse. The change of the crew was a hard task when the landing was made from Eastern harbour and all of the food and luggage were carried to the lighthouse across the super slippery rocks. No use for shoes there and some of the crew ended up bare feet to avoid accidents.
The crew had also two cyclers with them, who wanted to visit at Märket and of course find the Geocache from the island. Jake and Veera brought a travel tag with them, which was found from Poolbeg Lighthouse at Dublin Bay in Ireland. The tag has already visited in Gustavsvärn and Bengtskär. The tag has a miniature of a German lighthouse on it and it continued its journey to another lighthouse with the cyclers.
At the horizon there was a sailboat and visitors, new Finnish Lighthouse Society members actually, were picked from the buoy by Jake. Lenina and Tommi participated also for a tour as Jake, the living Märket story and history book, guided them around the islet.
Visitors were as usual warned about the terns and this time the mommy tern had a reason to be alert; a baby tern was sleeping between the rocks. We weren’t sure about it’s condition but we hope that mommy tern is taking care of the little one.
In the sunny afternoon there was also a sailboat from Sweden with 6 persons. Lenina took the guiding and they were really impressed with our little lighthouse. You might spot many Märket shirts in Sweden in the future.
The afternoon continued with the daily tasks and some introductions to the lighthouse living for the newbies and some woodwork. Veera and Jake cut the logs and Tommi and Lenina started to pile up the cut firewood while Anne-Mari and Anne prepared the dinner.
Sunday the 23rd of July
The morning started in g reyish weather. 
Anne had made super delicious porridge for breakfast and after some caffeine the crew was ready to begin the daily chores. 
Jake, Veera and Anne started doing the firewood. This huge amount of wood is done with the firewood machine which operates of course with pure solar power.
Video of the wood cutting was shot by Anne-Mari who washed the dishes while the firewood was made: Watch the video here.
Lenina went to practise some motor boat driving and Tommi got the test ride together with the researcher Markku who took off to the sea with his boat from the buoy.
Luckily the little rain, which begun after some 2 hour firewood work, didn’t last for long. As usual Veera had a lighthouse design on her nails. Unfortunately this time the picture was really small, 
but visible; one of the visitors, a Swedish gentleman, spotted the design immiatedly.
The day continued with the cloudy and a bit chilly Northern wind. That didn’t upset the cheerful crew though.
Markku, the researcher took Tommi with him to his boat to learn about his work with the container ships. In the afternoon the crew got a call from Tommi; they’d stopped to help some Swedish boat with an engine break. The Swedish coast guard instructed them to tow the boat to the Swedish harbor. The trip to the Swedish side took nearly 5 hours, so the men were no show during the lunch.
When the sun suddenly emerged again, the girls decided to have a small lighthouse photoshooting in front of the cute Lilla Märket. Here is Anne-Mari’s lighthouse fashion. Due to ever-changing very versatile weather conditions the clothing choice was a bit challenging. The sun finally decided to shine the rest of the evening so the woodwork and other tasks were continued. Anne and Veera made also an inventory to the kitchen.
The brave sea rescue couple finally arrived in the late evening, just in time for well deserved sauna.
Because Tommi was at Märket for the first time and got to experience something unique and different, the crew decided to award him with a wooden certificate of bravery and seafaring. Jake, the grandmaster of Märket volunteering (11 summers of lighthouse living), was giving the certificate to Tommi. The evening continued with the planing of next day’s big visiting tour for 38 people.
Monday the 24th of July
The sunny and warm morning started yet again with the delicious porridge and yesterday’s rescue operation story: Tommi and Markku went yesterday to the sea in the morning. They spotted a motor boat which seemed a bit odd, because it was in the middle of the busy waterway and wasn’t moving at all. They decided to check it out because the three young men there were waving for them. Their engine had broke down and they needed towing. They were coming from Mariehamn and they were supposed to go to Sweden, but the engine stopped. Markku and Tommi called to the Swedish coast guards who instructed them to tow the boat to Grisslehamn.
The sunny, but windy day got interesting when the motor of the rubberboat didn’t start at all. Markku started to figure out the problem with Jake. Then Lenina got a call from the captain of the visitor group’s boat; how would the 31 visitors get to the island in this weather and this situation? If the rubber boat was out of the picture, the crew was forced to row to the buoy. The wind was blowing from North with the force of 8 m/s so the harbors weren’t safe.
In the afternoon it was clear that the motor was totally dead and needed maintenance. After the late lunch Markku drove with his boat to Eckerö to get the motor fixed. Despite the motor boat problem, 
the day was full of laughter and perfect lighthouse mood.The visitors were supposed arrive at 4.45 pm so there was time for some woodwork and other tasks.
Anne-Mari and Anne decided to bake an apple pie for dessert and some bread, which seemed to be also Cheshire Cat’s favorite.
After the coffee and pie the crew prepared themselves for the visitors; row boat was dragged out from the shelter and the oars were fixed. Then at 4.45 pm the group arrived to the buoy. 
Lenina and Jake rowed to pick them up 5 times in small groups. Tommi, Veera and Anne took care of the shop and guiding while Annemari made the coffee for them. It was a surprise for Tommi to realize that his godparents were among the visitor group. Last shopping was done at the harbor and 7 pm all of the group were back at their ship, well done the Märket olympic rowers!
It was time for supper and well-deserved sauna.
Tuesday the 25th of July
The morning was a bit grey when the crew woke up for their daily lighthouse living. After the breakfast the sun suddenly emerged again and shone from the bright blue sky. Lenina and Tommi went to scrape the plaster from the wall and Anne-Mari started to do firewood. Veera washed her and Jake’s clothes while Anne did the dishes.Then at the horizon the crew spotted a sailboat heading towards the island. Visitors coming!
A sailboat crew of 6 people and one furry sea captain drove with their own motor boat to the harbor. Dina, 11 years old sea farer was at the Märket for the third time. Lenina gave the visitors a tour while Jake was keeping company for his new friend at the yard.
Dina also signed the guestbook with ecological ink (blueberries) of course. After the group’s departure it was time for lunch and other daily chores. Jake and Veera changed the container to the Biolan toilet and washed the floor and after that it was food compost’s turn. The smell was hideous, but the compost was full and it needed to be done.
Tommi and Jake took the compost to the continuation compost.The rubber boat’s motor got into the maintenance and some problems were found. The spare parts need to be ordered from Japan, so the motor won’t be in condition for Saturday. Luckily the wind will be calmer while moving towards the weekend. However the circumstances can change at Märket very quickly. Mother nature sure makes the lighthouse living interesting and exciting!
The cheerful crew didn’t mind about the motor problem though, it was only Tuesday and many more awesome days ahead. As for supper the crew prepared some lamb stew from the lamb that was brought from Viking Line with bikes by Veera and Jake.
A very nice finish for the day indeed.
Wednesday the 26th of July
The morning was grey and a bit sleepy when the crew woke up for the day. Mats called that he won’t bring any visitors to the island so the crew started to make the food order for the next week and continue woodwork and plaster scraping from the eastern wall.
The wagtail has a nest on the wall and Anne-Mari got a picture of the cute little one.
The woodwork was an interesting task because of the freshness of the logs. Some of them broke into parts easily and some of them stretched like a chewing gum. While parts were still attached to each others it looked like the old “Sidoste socks” – commercial from 1982 when trying to separate them.
Anne and Tommi also climbed to the sauna’s roof because the chimney needed to be photographed for the possible need of maintenance.
While Tommi, Lenina, Jake an Veera were doing the scraping and woodwork outside, Anne and Anne-Mari baked some delicious bread for supper and next day morning. The scent inside the lighthouse was divine.
Tommi also made an inventory of the shop with help of the shop manager Anne. The rest of the day went by with yet again sunny afternoon and joyful spirit.
Veera bought the red retro Märket shirt and decided to modify it due to a bit too tight fit with the sleeves and neckline.
The final result was a very nice Märket summer top. Nice bows on shoulders and the bright red colour.
Time was for supper and evening chilling again. The crew would’ve like to have some visitors, the wind was relevantly calmer than a day before and sunshine would’ve been a very nice weather for some sailing, but no boats were spotted at the horizon.
Thursday the 27th of July
The warm and very moist day begin with the chores. Then the crew got a call from Markku the researcher, who was heading back to Märket from Eckerö. Then in the horizon there was a motor boat heading towards the island; finally some visitors! Weather was very good for seafaring so the crew was already expecting some tourists. Lenina rowed to the buoy to pick them up. A family of four came to visit Märket with their cool motor boat.
At the same time the crew got water from Markku who got back from Eckerö. Jake went in the afternoon with Markku to the sea and rest of the the crew continued their tasks.
After the lunch there was again sailboat heading towards the island. A family of three with a little boy Leo came to visit Märket. They were heading towards Käringsund and told the crew that Leo learned to stand at the sailboat. The little 4 year old was very clever boy.
Tommi also fixed some old wooden boxes for the t-shirts and stuff at the shop. Now the history is as well in use there with the rest of the museum goods which are nicely presented.
The terns obviously have an another round of babies be
cause one of them was very vicious towards Anne and Veera at the western side of the island. It came from the sky like a missile.
After the dinner Markku got back to the sea and the crew started to wash dishes and plan the Friday’s Biolan toilet work and other cleaning.
Friday the 28th of July
The grey and rainy day forced the crew do the tasks inside. Cleaning,was on agenda while waiting for the afternoon when the rain was suppose to stop.
Of course for the weather forecast we use www.yr.no and in Kven. Kven is the language that persons of Finnish descents living in North Norway use. The forecast changed for the afternoon; the rain continued up until 5 pm.
On task list were cleaning the sauna, toilets and the rooms inside as well as washing the floors.
To avoid rainy day blues, here is some Märket musing in a form of a picture gallery.
At first, a pic of Märketskallan from the sea yesterday taken by Jake.
Veera cleaned the pissoirs while Anne and Anne-Mari took care of the kitchen. Kitchen shelves and the inverted funnel were washed properly. Tommi and Lenina then did the floor
s of the living quarters and the shop. Jake burned the trashes and washed the kitchen’s watertank.
The rain started again after 1 pm so the crew decided to made an inventory to the shop and arrange the goods into the old wooden boxes that were fixed and renovated by Tommi.
Then in the afternoon Tommi called the crew to watch a spy behind the shop’s window; a black guillemot (Cepphus grylle, fin: riskilä) was inspecting us and the surroundings behind the window.
Anne-Mari went to the sea with Markku and the rest of the crew was eagerly waiting them to return to celebrate Anne’s birthday with a strawberry cake.
Jake and Anne decided to clean up the sauna’s water boiler; it was pitch black from soot. The sauna’s drain and floors were going to be cleaned when it was sauna time.
The Märket documentarist thanks the awesome crew for the laughs and good time. The sunny week 30 at Märket is almost done. For some it was the first, hopefully not the last, and for some it was a beginning of the second decade of lighthouse keeper’s life.