Hello from the Bahamas!
I am the lighthouse engineer for the Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society (BLPS). We are a very small non-profit organization, founded in the mid 1990s by Dave Gale, (father was from Perth) who, by himself, physically and forcefully stopped the Bahamas Government from automating the last three Lights. The government agreed to stop work, but only if we would maintain the "old technology" and machine out all the parts needed, which is my part of my "job".
We work closely with the Bahamas Port Department and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, which maintains the automated Bahamas Lighthouses. BLPS operates and maintains, with full co-operation of our government, three original kerosene fired hand wound lighthouses, built by Trinity House in the mid 1800s. Our lightstations are not museums, but fully operational navigational aids and have operated with original equipment, since they were built by Trinity House, or the Imperial Lighthouse Service in the 1800s.
We have two full time Bahamian keepers and families at each lightstation. Each night they pump the kerosene, drop the sun curtain, wind the lens clock and light the mantle. All of our lights have First Order Fresnel Lenses, with mercury baths and must be wound every 90 minutes. As far as we know, these are only fully operational manual lightstations left in the world. Do you know of any others? We use a very standard 1910s "Hood PV Burner" with a 50 mm autoform mantle. I can machine out any of the mechanical parts, we are currently machining vapouriser tubes identical to the original except made from titanium or 300 series stainless steel. Does anybody need some?
Our big problem is mantles! We were given a roll of very old mantle "sock" by Coleman Lantern Corporation and we sew our own mantles. They are terrible! They only last a day or two and it is our biggest problem. The original mantles were made by Falks Veritas Limited, now located in Malta (www.metco.com.mt/co/veritas/home.html) and they were great. I have spoken with Mr. Alex Coppola, in Malta, several times and while they have been very kind (they sent us their last 25 mantles which were in inventory for free) they have declined our request to make several thousand mantles for us. We never even got far enough to discuss price.
The proper Falks Veritas mantle is: 50 mm, double wall, autoform, Reference No. 820. Does anyone know of any source of proper mantles? If we find a good source, we will certainly share with you. Trinity House had nothing and I have spoken with several mantle manufacturers of smaller mantles, also no luck.
Several years ago, I spoke with a Jurgen Weissner, at The Everburning Light, on the Parramatta Road in Leichhardt, near Sydney, about a source of mantles with no luck. We are building a web site for BLPS as we speak: it will be ready in a week or so. I've attached a photo of the Elbow Reef Lightstation, in Hope Town, Abaco, Bahamas. Dave lives on a six acre island about one mile west and I live in town, about a quarter mile east. We are committed to keeping our lights operating manually forever. I am 52 years old and they will only be automated over my dead body! I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Jerry Whiteleather, Hope Town, Abaco, Bahamas. Email: jerryw1030@yahoo.com and Dave Gale, Hope Town, Abaco, Bahamas Tel:242-366-0285 email: davegale@islandmarine.com
Elbow Reef Lighthouse