The striped tower
Red and white.
Dmadeo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roman Tokman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Roman Tokman — CC BY-SA 4.0
Elbow Reef Lighthouse is a red-and-white horizontally striped tower on Hope Town harbour, on Elbow Cay in the Abaco islands. It is one of the last kerosene-fuelled lighthouses still working in the world and one of only three manual lighthouses left. It was built in 1862 and first lit on 1 September 1863. Its light can be seen 43 km away. The keeper hand-cranks a weight mechanism every few hours to keep five white flashes every 15 seconds. The lamp burns a gallon of kerosene a night, and the light passes through a large lens floating on mercury. A local non-profit society looks after it. You reach the lighthouse dock by small boat, then climb the stairs inside the tower to the top, which looks over the little harbour, painted houses, yachts and the sea. The village below has narrow lanes closed to cars and wooden houses painted bright colours with white fences. The lighthouse is 10 km east of Marsh Harbour, reached by ferry. Entry is usually free, and donations support its upkeep. The stairs are narrow and steep. Hurricane Dorian struck the area in 2019, and much of it has been rebuilt.
Red and white.
Harbour views.
Painted wooden houses.
Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abaco
Yes, by narrow stairs inside.
By ferry from Marsh Harbour, then a small boat.