Friday 27.7.2007 – Märket marathon and new crew

Yesterday evening we saw the most beautiful sunset ever. Satu and Sari took the last photos and we celebrated their and Angelas and Mimmis last night at the Lighthouse.

Friday morning Angela did the last paintings, she also packed one window with her to fix it at home. Saris mission for the day was Märket-marathon. She ran six times around the island, so it wasnt really the full-marathon… maybe next summer?!

About 7 oclock came long-waited boat with food and watersupplies and new crew.

We talked with Ville a little about repairing the roof and windows of the lighthouse, and soon it was time to say goodbye to old crew. Päivi and Jake stayed for another week with new crew Seija, Andrei and Katriina.

 

Saturday 28.7.2007 – Bird watching and grinding

The day started with taking the Lighthouse Societys flag down. Wind blew very hard but otherwise sun was shining and weather was quite warm.

New crew learned our work methods quickly, and scratching and painting goes on.

Their first opinions of the lighthouse were positive, the place was not at so bad condition as they thought it would be.

We also had time to do some birdwatching: we saw at least (sorry we dont have the names in english…) ruokki (alca torda), riskilä (cephus grylle), tylli, karikukko, suosirri, haahka, lapintiira, merilokki (seagull) and millions of sulkasääski which is a little insect belongs to choborus-family. It would be nice to have a bird-book here!

The weather changes fast here.

Now in the evening the wind is settling down and we are going to lift the flag again.

 

Sunday 29.7.2007 – Busy but no visitors

Today we have been very busy. Jake repaired the window in the kitchen. And with the same power supply, we took the paint off from one of the doors. And Päivi cleaned the kitchen, with a vacuum cleaner.

Vacuming on Märket.

Unfortuately, today we had no visitors, ’cause the wind was blowing so hard. But the good side of this was, that two of us were able to go to the “shower”.

Caveman take shower then look at bird. Ugh!

Finally nature observations: one cute white adolescent seal, two new birds which were Calidris ferrugineus (kuovisirri) and Stercorarius parisiticus (merikihu).

Lunch outside because of the work in the kitchen.

 

Monday 30.7.2007 – Three tiny fish

In the morning, we went to say hello to our little seal-friend who was enjoying the sun on the Eastern rocks of Märket. It let us go very near to it, we could almost touch it!

A very brave and friendly pet.

The weather was very nice today, but no visitors came. Only the Coast Guards drove by with their boat, but they didn’t stop for visit. Then in the evening, by dinner time came a sailboat!

Every boat is the greatest event of the day.

The sailors had a bit difficulties to find a good place for their boat, but finally they were able to make a quick tour around the lighthouse.

Märket wildlife-experts recognised one new bird: phalacrocorax carbo (merimetso). Päivi tried to catch some fresh fish for food, but she only managed to get three tiny ones (about three centimetres per each). So no fishmeal for dinner…

Before the job…

…and a nice result of the work.

Now the kitchen window bench has been scratched clean from the old paint. Need to find a new target for tomorrow.

 

Tuesday 31.7.2007 – Why the wall was built

Yesterday evening was a bit cloudy but nice. There was a beautiful rainbow on the Eastern sky.

One of the wonders of the rainy summer.

This morning we woke up with the sound of a very strong wind. The Swedish side of Märket was flooding and the waves were huge and they hit up high.

The sea takes over the islet.

There was also a great river through the Eastern (Swedish) part of the island. The weather forecast on the radio said that the speed of wind was 16 meters per second.

A river makes a change compared to the usual sea scenery.

Now we can understand why they have build the wall to protect the lighthouse. Today the waves reached the wall easily, and there certainly have been much worse storms through the years.

The water nearly hits the lighthouse.

We had to take the flag down again, but that wasn’t enough; we also carried the mast into the shed because the wind blew so hard.

 

Wednesday 1.8.2007 – Butterfly lightness in the sun

A warm, sunny and nice day! We put the flag back where it belongs, because wind wasn’t too bad.

A perfect day for looking for some seals or boats in the yard.

The Lighthouse Society’s symbol is back in its place.

Still, the “old waves” were so big, that no landing on Märket was possible. That meant no visitors today, only one Swedish motorboat drove by.

Beside our everyday scratching and painting, Jake did some farming. He planted potatoes and flowers to the front yard.

Jake tries to make sure the potatoe supply will be guaranteed next year.

There were two new birds for today: a big grey one (harmaahaikara = ardea cinerea) and a small brown one (pensaskerttu = sylvia communis). Also one beautiful butterfly flew around.

One of the nature’s wonders flied around today.

Good news today was that we are going to get our window-engineer Angela back! She stayed here last week and wanted hard to come back. As you can see, the lighthouse-fever is a serious illness…

By the way, we have only eight jars of herring left! (Oh no, that means that we have been eating 22 jars of herring in one and a half weeks!)

 

Thursday 2.8.2007 – Busy day guilding people around

This morning we took showers, changed clean clothes and did our hair. Some quests were to be expected. And, in the afternoon, two boatful of guests came from Åland.

From the sea came the visitors.

Plenty of people on the islet today.

Soon after that came one more boat from Sweden. They were very brave and drove their boat almost to our front door!

Landing on the reef is a bit of a challenge.

So we were very busy with guiding the groups around and selling Märket souvenirs.

The strange bird for today was dendrocopos major (käpytikka). It was having a rest in the lighthouse tower when Jake took the visitors up there. We are wondering where it will go for the night, our “trees” here are not quite big…

Checklist for food supplies is done, today we cooked the very last potatoes and ate the last fresh fruits and vegetables. But no worries, we still got lots of tin cans and a bit herring to go!

Ready for some new visitors – as always!

 

Friday 3.8.2007 – Time to pack the bags

Today we almost got German visitors, and the Swedish ones canceled, however, they promised to come on Monday.

On the reef, every possibility of urgence must be taken into consideration.

We did some conservation as usual. In the morning, we found a small table flag, which was left by yesterday’s visitors, or maybe from ghosts of Märket?

To whom belongs the mysterious table flag?

In the morning, we found a possibly sick or maybe a very lazy seal. It let us in a meter radius from it, and there were white spots in its eyes.

The seal let the photographer come close.

We also saw a new bird today, the name of which was Turdus Pilaris. The bird reminded us of that our berry bushes were in danger of being consumed. And now we have to pack our belongings for the departure. It’s time to give room for new lighthouse guards.

Old chairs outside the warehouse.