Exodus is a GibSea.

She is built in 1989 by Gibert Marine, a French boat building company that was founded by Olivier Gibert and the daughter of Henri Jeanneau in 1972. The 80ies GibSeas were widely used in the charter trade. They were hand built piece by piece. Structurally strong, good performance, comfortable and spacious, with a beautiful finish. In the mid-1990’s Gibert Marine could no longer compete with the bigger companies that mass-produced charter boats. They were bought out by Dufour.

Exodus measures 13,72 metres. She sleeps 7 people. There are 2 double cabins, one for the boys and one for visitors or extra crew. We are comfortably lodged in the large captain’s quarters. The lounge is very spacious. The table folds out for guests to dine comfortably. There are two pilot berths in the lounge. One is taken up by Gitane and her toys. The other one houses our start off library. Given our shared passion for books, the library will surely grow as we go along.

We chose the GibSea 442 because it offers a perfect combination between the performance, safety and space needed for a cruiser.

Under the lounge seats, under the beds and in the outside lockers is lots of packing space. We were amazed to fit the entire contents of our Ford Transit van effortlessly into the Gibsea. We even have packing space left.

The bow hosts a separate sail locker, the perfect spot for bulky items like spare sails, ropes, fenders, an extra buoy, or leisure stuff like the hammocks, the sand toys, …

In Malta we made several upgrades to the boat. Exodus has been equipped with the most recent safety- and communication equipment:

  • VHF-DSC radio with weather fax.
  • An SSB long distance marine radio with pactor modem, allows us to send and receive e-mails and get daily weather reports anywhere in the world.
  • Antenna Tuning Unit, KISS counterpoise
  • Furuno Radar
  • AIS (Automatic identification system) transponder for the boat so we can see and be seen by all the boats in our vicinity. It has an integrated wifi.
  • Man Overboard system connected to the AIS
  • Iridium satellite phone for worldwide calling or messaging
  • Back up navigation systems
  • The life raft for 6 people was serviced on Manoel Island boat yard. We kitted it out with a UV and waterproof jacket, and mounted it on the deck.
  • Life jackets
  • Grab bag
  • 25 kg Rocna anchor
  • Drogue Anchor for storm weather
  • 3m dinghy with a 3.5 HP Tohatsu outboard

To be independent for energy and water we kitted the boat out with the following:

  • 3 semi-flexible 200W solar panels,
  • Silent Wind 400+ wind generator with hybrid charge controller
  • Schenker Reverse osmosis water maker- to convert sea water into drinkable water
  • A custom made stainless steel transom arch to mount the alternative energy and radar
  • 1000 Watt invertor
  • Sterling alternator 3 way splitter

To keep energy consumption low we also invested in:

  • LED lights throughout the boat
  • Keel cooling system (fridge and freezer)

We serviced the autopilot.

To cater for basic needs we installed a Magma gas barbecue off the port stern.

Two fold-up bicycles, an inflatable kayak, a dinghy and outboard make us more mobile when we go ashore.

We designed a suitable Exodus logo and had stickers printed.

To finish off we lifted the boat out in Tunisia, where we stripped the hull and applied Copper Coat anti-fouling. We placed the skin fittings for the water maker inlet and keelcooling, and converted the existing fridge into a freezer and fridge combination.

The end product is a family friendly, capable blue water yacht fully kitted out for exploration.