To enter the 21st century in force, SPES has decided to set up an eProgram aimed at protecting the environment and highlighting renewable energies. Thus, SPES imported the first electric bus whose batteries are recharged by solar panels installed on the roof of its building…with excess of production sent to the grid. This eBus is configured in “Training” mode with tables, computers, and screens for 20 people. It can thus provide training in several underprivileged areas, moving from one to the other.

The “pièce de résistance” was the design and construction of a ZERO POLLUTION eBoat … (Air, Sea and Sound) which would also serve to promote are for the environment, history, and culture in general.

FOLKLORIC EXPLORER………ZERO POLLUTION eBoat

This boat was conceived by Marcel Lindsay Noë, one of the Honorary Directors working voluntarily with SPES for the past 35 years. The elaboration, according to the well-established specifications, and the construction were entrusted to the patriarch of the Mauritian boat builders. At the age of 87, Pierre Sénéque, has put more than 300 boats on the water during his long career. The first, aged 57, is still operational. Helped by his brother Hervé, both retired from the engineering side of the sugar industry but also mad lovers of the sea, having grown up in Mahebourg where their ancestor Fabien Rault had fought in the French squadron that had defeated the English in the historic battle of the Grand Port in 1810. Their nephew, Robert Rault, of Bob Boating Solutions Ltd, was the builder assisted by Gervais Lamarque, an artisan builder of traditional pirogues/canoes.

Given a new purpose in life, Pierre, despite severe health problems, produced in a few weeks a scale model 1:20… and the project was launched after approuval by Gaëtan Langlois – who unfortunately passed away before the project could be concretised – thanks to a generous donation from him. His wife, Héléna, of Portuguese origin but deep rooted in Mauritius, for many years, carries the torch as president of the NGO.: SPES.

Meanwhile, Pierre Sénèque, had found a new lease of life. Possessed, he had set aside the oxygen device that helped him breathe….in total immersion into the project. He was the first on the job site every morning and among the last to leave, sharing his vast experience and meticulous rigidity with the new generation. He had found a way of producing… his Magnum Opus!

July 25, 2020, a date that will remain forever engraved in the memories of the residents of the southeast coast, when the “WAKASHIO”, a Japanese tanker, carrying tons of crude oil, came aground on the reefs of Pointe d’Esny, Mauritius, causing horrible damage to a beautiful marine environment.

Faced with this Oil Spill, SPES, in a burst of energy and despite the effects and restrictions of COVID that were beginning to be felt, put the boat under construction as soon as the country emerged from the first confinement. The project, which was supposed to take three months, was realized at the end of a year…on the first anniversary of the disaster. July 25, 2021.

The eBoat is therefore a gesture of defiance to the polluting oil industry and proves that the technology and the means exist to do without it by using renewable energies graciously offered by God.

General specifications of “Folkloric Explorer”

• 10 m L x 5 m W Twin Hulled
• Materials: Marine plywood and timber, consolidated by Epoxy resin reinforced with fiberglass. Aluminum superstructure. (Aluminum and wood are easily recyclable)
• Each hull is made up of 12 sealed waterproofed compartments. VIRTUALLY UNSINKABLE.
• Draft: 35 cm… allowing access to very shallow waters.
• 30 seated passengers
• SUN POWER Solar Panels on the roof powering the batteries. (Independent charging, if necessary, by solar panels stored on land)
• 2 X Electric Outboard Motors of the German brand TORQEEDO
• 6 X 48V batteries from the German brand TORQEEDO. (These latest generation batteries have been chosen to operate the retractable foils of the 2021 America’s Cup sailboats)
• More than half a kilometer of zinc-coated electrical wires for maximum protection in the marine environment and hundreds of stainless-steel screws.
• A Kite Foil that will be deployed under favorable conditions to save electrical energy. (It is a fact that the wind doubles in power at the height where the Kite is deployed. In addition to this, the sail area of a Kite is equivalent, in power, to ten times that of traditional sails)
• Silent vertical wind turbine (much less harmful to birds), 600 W, feeding separate batteries to independently power navigation tools, sound system, extractors etc.
• Atmospheric Water Collector of the SOURCE brand producing 8 to 15 litres of drinking water per day using its own solar panel.
• Compostable Selective Toilet
• Zero plastic on board. Use of compostable bottles.
• Public Address System
• A net is positioned at the water’s edge at the bow, to skim and recover floating objects that will be recycled.

We gave work to the intelligent hands of local artisans.
The boat is designed to be shipped in a 40-foot container … for export.
(It can be easily recycled at the end of its useful life)

FOLKLORIC EXPLORER – A “sustainable” adventure will be managed by another NGO… Pointe Jérome Sailing School, which for the past ten years has taught sailing free of charge to hundreds of disadvantaged children from the age of 8, in the Mahebourg region….thus keeping them away from the potential dangers of the street.

The chief instructor is Robert Rault, who was trained at the prestigious sailing school, the NGO: Les Glénans, in France. He will also be the chief captain of the eBoat.

Based on the seafront of Mahebourg, Folkloric Explorer will offer Eco/Historical cruises along the banks of the Grand Port and possibly touch the Île aux Fouquets (Lighthouse), in the silence of its electric motors allowing breathing of the pure air coming straight from the Antarctic, riding the waves without crossing any land mass.

The Underprivileged and people with disabilities will be accommodated free of charge.