Week 40: Ari, Juha, Kalle, Mirja, Petri and Sven

Saturday 26.9.2015

Saturday was quite windy, but luckily the new group of volunteers could come to Märket as planned. However, the wind could be sensed on the boat trip to Märket since the waves were quite big. Thanks to Mats, the change of the shifts went smoothly, except the bouncy ride on the boat.

New volunteers took charge and the previous group could begin the journey back to home.

After the shift was changed and new group settled down, Ari took the first timers, Jussi and Sven, to a tour.

Jussi and Sven are listening when Ari is explaining things on the top of Märket.

Since there was no actual work to do on Saturday, keen bird watchers could take their telescopes and cameras and look around for birds.

Mirja and Sven are trying to find out what is that bird on the strand.

It was a young European golden plover (kapustarinta in Finnish).

Sunday 27.9.2015

Sunday noon was spent dismantling a chimney which did not perform too well – after removing the blockage the chimney work well again and hot dishwater was available again.

Plenty of good food results in plenty of dishes – fortunately Märket has a sink with quite a nice view. After dinner it is time to wash the dishes.

Kalle seems to concentrate on the dishes rather than the view.

The wind gained strength in the afternoon and it was necessary to save the radio antennas from the storm. The whole crew join in as we took down the antennas – in the very last minute. Radio amateurs needed an antenna, so the whole crew did a bit of ”moonlighting” i.e. one antenna was put back up again in the light of the moon (well, we did have a little help from an electric light). This antenna should be safe from the storm as it is close to the lighthouse.

Monday 28.9.2015

Everyone woke up before five o’clock, because there was a lunar eclipse after five. It was still windy and even if it was dark, you could hear that the waves were still going on strong. There were quite many clouds but luckily the eclipsed moon was showing every now and then.

When fully eclipsed, the moon was shining red.

After the eclipse, some went to take a little nap, but the breakfast was still around eight o’clock and normal tasks began after that.

Sven and Ari are piling the woods to get dry. Jussi is inside to get some more.

The wind was raising the waves so radio amateurs couldn’t get home as planned. Therefore they will have to stay in Märket to wait for the wind and the waves to calm. Luckily there is plenty of space in Märket and there are a lot of interesting things to do.

The wind was too much for this little bird. Sven and Mirja defined it to meadow pipit (niittykirvinen in Finnish).

Since the radio amateurs’ competition was ended, they could take most of the antennas down. Märket volunteers helped in anyway they could of course.

Sauna was warmed and it felt really good after being the whole day on the windy islet. After the sauna there was grilled sausage and the radio amateurs and Märket volunteers were spending time discussing this and that. It may be the last night for the radio amateurs, but for the volunteers, the week has just begun.

Tuesday 29.9.2015

At dawn, the wind was about 4 m/s. The sun was shining and it was very warm – it almost felt like summer. Even if the wind had calmed down and turned from north to south, the sea was still rolling. Radio amateurs were supposed to leave on Monday, but because of the hard wind, they had to wait until today.

Still it wasn’t for sure that they could leave. Eventually the rolling of the sea calmed down and it was possible to land on the north side of the islet. Mats gave a short notice and the whole crew took part in dismantling the last antenna. All of the equipment (tons of it) had to be carried to north bank. Loading the boat was another thing: some things had to be put below deck, while others had to be placed on the deck. After some confusion the boat was loaded with radio equipment and the radio amateurs journey towards home could begin.

Radio amateurs had so much equipment that the boat had to come to the northern bank where loading could be done.

Radio amateurs and Märket group posing together. Ari and Jussi are holding the cameras.

Some birds land to rest on the islet and one coal tit flew straight in to the lighthouse. After some pursuit, Mirja managed to catch the little bird and took it outside. The little tit seemed very pleased when it was released.

The crew had sauna in the evening after a hard days work: everybody was sweaty after carrying the radio equipment.

Sven was trying to get some new perspectives of the lighthouse.

Wednesday 30.9.2015

Summerlike weather continued and you couldn’t believe it was the last day of September. Wind was calm and sun was shining.

The first task of the day was to dismantle scaffolding from the stairway. After that, you could go upstairs more freely again.

Ari is giving pieces of scaffolding and Kalle is taking them down.

There was a nice surprise when Märket crew got some visitors. Few people from Åland had decided to visit Märket since it was so nice day. Sven got to do his first tour.

Sven beginning the tour with two guests.

Another nice surprise was that Mirja found a box full of blueberries from the cellar.

Mirja baked some pies because the berries had to be used before they get bad.

Since it was really calm day, Sven could row around the islet and try to get some new angles and Ari could use his helicopter.

Petri and Kalle are watching when Ari is flying the helicopter.

Sven caught Straightnose pipefish with his underwater camera.

Thursday 1.10.2015

The day was grey and windy, therefore it was a great day for inventory tasks. Until the afternoon, tools, paint buckets and cleaning equipment were in good order.

Jussi is trying to decide which paint bucket is to be brought safe to land for winter and which can be stored in Märket.

Mirja is defining the condition of cleaning equipment.

Petri is cleaning sauna with great attention. Even the floor drain was cleaned very carefully.

In the evening Märket team had some time to watch Ari’s helicopter videos that were taken Wednesday when wind was calmer.

Ari caught Märket from the bird perspective.

Friday 2.10.2015

The morning was sunny, but the wind was not as hard as anticipated – the notorious Valio-storm seemed to have chosen a more northern path. During the day wind calmed down a bit, but regained strength towards the evening. Temperature was close to +17, which is a lot considering that it is October.

The crew received information that their departure had been delayed by 24 hours – the shift would take place on Sunday morning. The reason for the delay was the weather forecast, which said that the wind would blow very strong from north on Saturday morning, which makes it impossible for any boat approach the island.

The crew was beginning to prepare for leaving but there was still some time to wander around the islet looking for some interesting things.

Noise of the sea accompanies nicely harmonica sound.

Ari found a tiny bird skeleton from a strand.

Petri caught a beautiful dragonfly with his camera. Märket crew thought that it would be a vagrant darter.

Saturday 3.10.2015

Valio-storm passed Märket up north, but the crew got a piece of the storm at night. Mirja woke the others up to watch how the water floated through the islet. At 4 o’clock a.m., everybody was admiring the waves in the moonlight.

The sky was bright and waves hit hard towards the islet.

In the morning, it was still quite windy. Even if the wind calmed and turned to the southwest and west, the shift could not be changed, because the sea was still rolling.