First, report from Diddy (the old shift):

The morning was foggy and the sun promised to come out soon. I
couldn´t see the boat until its really close.. and then all of a sudden
The Island is full of people.. Funny.. that four people can look like a
crowd.

I took the new lighthouse keepers on a tour, I showed them everything
important. We had time for a cup of coffee.. but then we got a signal
from the boatdriver that we had to leave. The swell had increased and
getting onbord was not that easy.

I made a stupid thing: I went too far out on the cliff... and slipped
on the wet seaweed. In seconds I was taking my first bath of the year.
The water wasnt that cold.. but it was good lesson for everyone.

I shoud have known better. One of the boys pulled me up
really fast and one of the other got a picture. Well that one is on me... Always be very careful on a wet cliff!

I already miss Märket and I hope the next lighthouse keepers are enjoying themselves as much as I did. I made a promise to go back, and I will.



Diddi and Tossan

Then, the new shift:

The shift has changed on Märket again. For the next week there will be two of us taking good care of the unpolished jewellery of the Baltic, Märket.

Our journey to the lighthouse was pleasant. We took a ferry from Turku to Långnäs. We slept there and from Långnäs we were taken to Eckerö by Henryk Gwardak, a local member of the Society. Our captain mr. Eckerman gave us a boat ride from there to Märket. Weather was beautiful with hardly any waves.

Aproaching the island was just so exciting as we expected. We were gazing over the horizon for a good 20 minutes, only seeing the island on the radar. Suddenly Kristian spotted the lines of the lighthouse through the fog and in no time we saw Diddi wawing us on the shore. Lighthouse was glowing beatifully in the morning sun.

After unloading our gear Diddi took us around the lighthouse and showed us way to go with the daily routines. Things got really exciting when it was time for her to leave the island. She was just grabbing the rail of the boat, when she slipped of the wet rocks and fell in to the water. After a quick rescue operations she was back on the rocks screaming out loud. But, as she told us, "only because of the cold water." For an experienced sailor like her it surely wasn't the first time in the sea.

Now there are just two of us on the island. We have been exploring the island and spotting seals and passing ships. Tomorrow we will begin to work with the toilet first and hopefully we will get some visitors here, too.

We have a laptop, but recharging it is a bit of a problem. Today it was sunny and the solarpanels worked well. Unfortunately we can't recharge the laptop with it.

The lighthouse keepers´food storage.

For the lunch we had pasta in tomato sauce with garlic and herbs and there will be lentil soup for the dinner. We have plenty of foodstuff as you can see. Kristian is staying at the top floor and I'm occupying the room above the wood shed. We will change over in three days time.

It is easy to settle in when everything is in such a good order here. Our special thanks for the previous lighthouse keepers. You have done a great job.

Cheers from the Märket,
Kristian & Markus

The night on Märket

(From the webmaster: Today we finally found the direct email system from the great Nokia E61i. Now they can send high quality photos and emails from Märket. ´Lighthouse keepers´dependence on 220 electricity is now over!)