Climbing the Elbow Cay Lighthouse

(12/26/17) The Elbow Cay Lighthouse is one of the last operational kerosene fueled lighthouses in the world.  It was built in 1862.  The weight mechanism has to be hand cranked every few hours to maintain its sequence of light flashes.  It is lighted with kerosene oil with a wick and a mantle and burns about 1 gallon per night.  The light passes through the first order Fresnel lens floating in mercury.  

Once at the top of the lighthouse, it is possible to crawl through the small opening to get a 360 degree of the cay.

It was much easier getting out than it was going back inside to get down the stairs.  Lainey enjoyed the difficulty I was having in trying to get through the small door.

I finally got through with not any amount of grace but at least I was able to get down and continue walking around the island.

Joy