Above, top row:
Alwyn Enoe
adzing a frame;
caulking; Alwyn’s
son Cal.
Middle row:
father and son
boatbuilders; the
film won the
Donald Gosling
Award in London;
Exodus in frames.
Bottom row:
Exodus’ launch;
Alexis Andrews;
screening in Fort
George, GrenadaWith 80 screenings in 23 countries so far, their feet
have hardly touched the ground. Events have been held
across the Caribbean (including an emotional screening
in Andrews’ home of Antigua, at Antigua Classic Yacht
Regatta 2015), all over north America and Europe.
The British premiere took place in 2016 at a small
film festival in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. It might
not have been the obvious choice for a premiere, but it
was from Scottish soil that settlers departed for the
Caribbean two centuries ago, eventually reaching
Carriacou where they taught locals the boatbuilding
skills that Vanishing Sail documents. A poignant link and
typical of Andrews’ determination to make the publicity
and marketing junket a more meaningful experience.
Over the winter of 2017/18 screenings have taken
place on the English south coast, with Classic Boat
and boatshed.com as presenting partners. A packed
theatre at Portsmouth’s Historic Naval Dockyard, with
introduction by Tom Cunliffe, was perhaps no
surprise. But screenings at other venues have drawn
similar crowds.
Andrews and Sihera make sure one of them is at every
screening worldwide, wherever possible, to take
questions afterwards. That’s great for the punters, but
why go to such trouble? The two friends, who met in the
film’s early stages, spend much of their lives on the road
and work hard to make each screening a success. They
receive the warmest tributes, yes, but for what?
The key quote in the film is by boatbuilder Alwyn
Enoe, now in his 70s, who says: “If this thing gone from
here, everything gone you know.”
In other words, building boats on the beach at
Windward may have fed the community for generations,
but by 2015, that tradition was hanging by a thread. The
long-term aim of the Vanishing Sail project has been to
provide impetus for that tradition to continue. Both with
ties to the island and the region, it’s something Andrews
and Sihera would dearly love to see happen.
Andrews explains: “It seemed a simple idea at the
time to interview a few characters in the Grenadines
telling stories of trading by sail in the West Indies. Once
edited together, with sailing and fishing footage, plus
some archive clips and music, the short documentary
could form a record of the old ways of the region. So
together with a few friends we made a teaser and began
an online crowd-funding campaign.