My most severe and only problem on the reef is to catch up with time. The old clock in the chief keeper´s kitchen has decades ago stopped at 10.52 AM, but in reality time flies here. With a jet engine.


Who noticed first that the clock had stopped?

But already on the third day of my stay here I feel perfectly familiar with the reef and the lighthouse. We have become good friends already. Since the weather once more was on my side, I decided to continue to organise everything outdoor and in the storages.


The safety matters are in order now.

Because I am probably the only keeper beeing alone on the watch for this season, it would be too hazardous trying to remove the two remaining windows in the staircase from the outside, since no security straps or helping hands are available.

The strenght of the continuos watch from the keepers is their wish to leave a bookmark to the lighthouse. To come back later and see the windows they have painted back in 2007. Or the chair that they renovated and that still is being taken good care of.

Small steps from every keeper, but together a giant leap for the lighthouse. The weakness of the system with a new crew every week is that everybody primarily wants to establish something rather than putting everything back to its place again. Re-organising becomes nobody’s business. That, of course, is perfectly ok. In the end, it is far more relevant having two more windows fixed for the winter than keeping on vacuum cleaning for a week.

Therefore I take it as my humble contribution to the project to try to get most of the stuff back to places where they are easily found next spring.

Today I removed the Danger Zone rope since no more visitors for the season is to be expected, gathered all firewood in the storage, divided tools in two sections; the new ones that were to be needed in the renovation go up into the lighthouse after the radio-amateurs leave, and the historical once, like sledge hammers go all in one place in the firewood storage.

Gathering life wests, putting up life saving devices at a fast access location close to the entrance, counting full gas bottles, charging tool batteries . Found a pullower in the Gas storage so If you miss it, it now hangs in the cleaning cabin in the shop.


Found one pullover.

In the afternoon, there were expected newcomers. Two additional radio-amateurs landed with a private helicopter and the pilot, an amateur himself, took Antti back to Mariehamn, so the number radio-amateurs now increased with one.


Another metallic bird onthe sky of Märket.

If the pilot will decide to stay until Sunday, I hope he will be up to date with the weather report and bring the helicopter to safety on short notice, on this location, where the wind can change in direction and power very rapidly, inspite of the fact that the weather here have been far more generous to me than I actually would deserve.

Leif Rosas