Saturday 24.10.2015
On Sat 24 Oct our departure from Käringsund to Märket was delayed by weather conditions, thus we started off at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. After our arrival the weather was fine but rather windy (14 m/s). During our first evening at the lighthouse we made a tour on the grounds, climbed the tower and planned the tasks of the coming week.
Sunday 25.10.2015
We started preparing for the coming winter by cleaning inside the lighthouse and carrying into storage anything the winter winds might blow away, like pieces of furniture from the terraces.
Carrying the rubber boat into the warehouse.
The weather conditions were ideal for photographing, so we made lots of great shots of island nature, like pictures of flowers in the wind, and scenes of rocks partly covered by lichen with a spectacular yellow colour.
Monday 26.10.2015
Late autumn day, clear sunny weather with surfs on the sea.
Hanna and Marianne carried buckets of sea water and filled the firewood containers. Fredi took the tasks of serviceman (maintenance of the generator) and chimney sweep (cleaning the chimney of the sauna stove).
Merja was overjoyed when her amateur radio equipment started to operate and she could make a connection at last, after moments of anxiety and despair and some fuss with arranging tangled ropes at dusk the previous day.
With the Märket 130 years celebration in mind, we started to clean the windows of the lighthouse and discovered a great tit which had entered the building and let it fly away through the open shop window.
We admired the rise of the full moon, and then spent a cosy evening together by the fire, burning candles, playing card games, and Heini and Taina finished the 500 piece Märket puzzle in approximately 4 hours.
Tuesday 27.10.2015
We spent the day cleaning windows, attacking the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, arranging (and rearranging) the objects in the warehouse and on the kitchen shelves… so it was a day without events… except for the seal Fred saw swinning in the sea, but it had disappeared by the time the others came running with their cameras.
Wednesday 28.10.2015
An unusually warm and calm day, almost no wind – perfect for cleaning the windows of the lighthouse.
Memma enjoyed a huge success as she opened her amateur radio connection with the Märket call-sign OJØC – resulting in a real pile-up with lots of participants from numerous European countries.
We explore the island every day, and take photos of nature scenes, plants and animals. Today Fred discovered a small and slim fish (about 20 cm) which probably had died as the waves had thrown it on the stones of the shore. As we found a book about fishing in the lighthouse library, we identified it as Zoarces viviparus (kivinilkka in Finnish).
Thursday 29.10.2015
Cloudy day, not much wind.
Animals of the day: Fred saw a sea eagle, Hanna and Memma was seals swimming in the sea.
According to Finnish tradition, we ate pea soup for our Thursday meal, and had a pancake party in the evening.
Friday 30.10.2015
Our last day on Märket, we will leave in the morning on Sat 31 Oct.
Bird observations: three sea eagles, a sandpiper, a hawk.
We made the last preparations in order to close the lighthouse for winter, and planned our trips home.
Memma’s dipole antenna was taken down from the top of the lighthouse and the amateur radio equipment was packed for transport.
Marianne practised using the traditional fire extinguishing equipment with the purpose of emptying it from water for winter.
