EXODUS The Evolution of a Caribbean Tradition. Owner’s statement.
Exodus was the final boat designed by legendary Carriacou boat builder Alwyn Enoe and built on the beach in the village of Windward. Using hand selected white cedar timber he and his sons cut down themselves, the process took three years and was beautifully documented by film-maker Alexis Andrews in the award winning documentary Vanishing Sail.
Carriacou (or otherwise known as West Indies) sloops are not a specific class of boat. They were originally used as cargo carrying small vessels to ply their trade between all the islands of the Caribbean. Made to be perfect for sailing in Caribbean seas. As such, island boat builders have continually revised their designs and tinkered with improvements, reflected in the small half models they initially create as the only guide from which to make the full size iterations. With a more plumb bow and stern giving a longer waterline than those that came before, Alwyn still maintains that Exodus is his best and fastest hull ever.
With the intention of doing more racing, in 2014 Phillippe Fabre’s (the original owner) son Robbie, who had studied boatbuilding in the UK, undertook significant changes to the rig using materials salvaged from the classic yacht SV Berenice. He also made some structural reinforcements and added a 60hp Yanmar engine. Unfortunately Phillippe Fabre fell ill and was not able to use the boat as he wished so reluctantly listed her for sale. Based in Bequia, SVG, we flew to Antigua and purchased her.
We wanted to make our own changes, primarily to make Exodus easy for the pair of us to handle ourselves as a couple and be comfortable to stay in when at anchor. With Exodus already being in Antigua and Woodstock Boatbuilders being the pre-eminent wooden boat builder in the Caribbean it make sense for us to commission Andrew Robinson and his team to make the extensive refit. The fact that Andrew was also a West Indies sloop owner (‘Summer Cloud’) only sealed the deal.
West Indies sloops are built with empty interiors (for cargo) so after taking detailed measurements of the space we designed a galley and berths (one double, three single), plus added a head, hanging space for clothes and other storage space. After a complete re-wire, LED lights and fans were installed. We also changed her livery to orange, with dark grey and white accents and a pale yellow deck. Woodstock Boatbuilders made significant structural improvements to strengthen the boat with extra knees and stringers and installed false floors so the lead ballast would not rest on the exterior planking and strain the seams. The Gunter rig was changed to a Marconi rig by shortening the boom and adding a fixed back stay, plus detachable running backs. The genoa was changed to a 100% jib on a Harken roller furler and the bowsprit was removed.
After the re-fit and we sailed her down to Bequia which has been her home base for the last 9 years. During that time we have enjoyed sailing her around the southern Caribbean and raced her at Bequia Easter Regatta. She has been hauled out, painted, anti fouled and rigging checked each year either at Ottley Hall in St Vincent or Slipway in Carriacou. Often when she has been in Carriacou Alwyn Enroe has come to the yard to do some traditional caulking, which he still loves doing. On a mooring in Bequia she has been maintained by shipwright Roddy Ollivierre and the engine has been serviced by Kerry Ollivierre.
In 2019 during a blustery race day at Bequia Easter Regatta we got a crack in the boom. After which we decided to replace both the boom and the mast. Exodus was taken down to Grenada to Driftwood Boatbuilders. Judd Tinius ordered a piece of seasoned Douglas fir from Canada and upon its arrival fashioned a new mast and boom to the same dimensions as the previous one. She came back up to Bequia in 2020.
Exodus is somewhat of a celebrity in the southern Caribbean and has been written about in various articles. We are also proud to have been part of the effort to lobby UNESCO for recognition of the unique skills of the boatbuilders which in 2023 resulted in their acceptance of such. Wooden Boatbuilding in Carriacou and Petite Martinique is now on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Exodus is a piece of living Caribbean history. Our circumstances have changed and she is no longer being sailed as much as she should. Going forward, we hope someone else will cherish her as much as we do.
Modifications Made by Robbie Fabre 2014
“The mast is the mizzen mast of the 1923 Samuel White built 92 ft ketch “Berenice” which foundered in Port Grimaud following the “Medicane” that hit just after the 2011 Voiles de St Tropez. Berenice had been re-rigged in 1992 by the (late) Ed Burnett (he designed the Royal barge “Gloriana” for the Queen’s jubilee), it is the Ed Burnett hollow mast you have. Berenice’s radar had been poorly mounted which resulted in some troublesome rot due to water ingress at the spreader level. The mast was cut in half where rotten and brought across the Atlantique as deck cargo on our Lochin Sport Fisherman on a cargoship. In Antigua the mast was completely stripped, reshaped, marginally lengthened through the scarf and reassembled (at least 40% lighter than the original exodus pole).
Exodus being less beamy than Genesis and the mast being so much lighter justified the external chain plates to keep the shroud angle at a minimum and safe 12 degrees. The bow sprit is the Berenice self tacking boom jib. The gaff of the gunter is new: built by Robbie. the boom is Berenice’s mizzen boom lengthened to size. The spreaders are Berenice’s. The gooseneck was locally supplied (Berenice’s was too heavy and broken beyond repair). The existing temporary tiller is from a late Victorian quarry stone lifting handler (I got tired of tiller’s snapping at the wrong time!). The snapped (2015) new one was built by Robbie,and the straight circular wooden one (snapped 2014) came with Exodus from Carriacou. The portholes and most of the deck ironmongery comes Davey and Co in the UK, the floorboards are salvaged English Oak and a Yammar engine was installed”.
Phillippe Fabre
Refit 2016
Between March and October 2016 the West Indies sloop Exodus, built in Windward, Carriacou by Alwyn Enoe, underwent an extensive refit and restructuring. The vessel was hauled at Sammy’s Boatyard in Falmouth Harbour and the work was carried out by Woodstock Boatbuilders. During the extensive works the following was undertaken:
- Several midship frames on each side had sister frames fitted.
- Full length stringers were added.
- Larger deck knees were fitted by way of the rig and coach house. 3 large knees were added at the transom.
- Extra floors were added forward and aft.
- Beam clamps were fitted by way of the chain plates.
- Ceiling boards (internal planking) were fitted throughout the vessel from the centre line to the beam shelves.
- A fixed backstay was fitted on the transom.
- The overhanging boom was cut down to fit inside the new backstay.
- A substantial stainless steel stem head fitting was fitted.
- A windlass, chain and chain locker were fitted.
- Existing lead ballast ingots were melted down with some lead added to the keel and others made smaller to fit better under the floorboards on the new internal planking.
- The previously empty interior was filled with furniture and fittings: a large V berth, an enclosed heads, an extensive galley, a salon berth, two quarter berths, lockers, shelves and storage areas plus an extra battery, electrical fittings, pumps and tanks. An outdoor deck shower was added.
- The 16″ propellor was replaced with an 18″
- The Gunter mainsail was replaced with a mast head Marconi mainsail on a substantially shorter boom
- The overlapping hanked Genoa was replaced with a 100% jib on a roller furler
We estimate that at least 2,500-3,000lbs of wood and metal were added during the restructuring and refit.
