- Did you know you can grow a fully functional boat out of mushrooms?
Ah, to sail the open sea! To feel the wind in your hair and the spray of salt water on your face while the waves crash on your mushroom boat.
Wait, what?
That’s the kind of strange vessel artist Sam Shoemaker just used to complete a 25-mile ocean journey. He sailed from Santa Catalina Island to California’s mainland in a kayak made out of fungus.
For years, Shoemaker has been creating sculptures by growing mushrooms into funky shapes. But the fungi’s durability and versatility inspired a dream of turning them into a boat.
He tried his hand at creating a mushroom boat a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t suitable for an extended trip on the open ocean. So, with the help of his cousin, Shoemaker got to work again.
This time, the new boat satisfied his requirements. Aboard his fungal vessel, he successfully sailed across the Sand Pedro Channel.
It wasn’t an easy trip, though. Challenging weather conditions turned it into a 12-hour endeavor and made Shoemaker fear for his life about halfway across the channel.
Yet he persisted. For his efforts, he’s earned the world record title for the longest solo journey by fungal mycelium boat.
That’s one coveted award, I tell you what.
Fascinating Fungus
For more than a decade, Shoemaker has been fascinated by mushrooms. He appreciates their “adaptability and versatility” and uses his fungal sculptures to explore how mushrooms can be used as renewable, functional materials.
“Most people don’t associate mushrooms with functional, lasting materials. Most grocery store mushrooms will shrivel and decompose after a few days out of the fridge,” he told Guinness World Records.
“But the wild mushrooms that I work with are very hardy, and once they’re dried and preserved, they won’t immediately decompose in the water.”
Shoemaker attempted constructing his first mushroom boat in 2024. Although the 15-foot vessel, grown out of a polypore mushroom he found outside his Los Angeles studio, was functional, it wouldn’t have cut it for a true ocean journey.
Growing a Boat
So, Shoemaker decided to try again. With the help of his cousin, Laza, and support from various art organizations, he set about creating a fully seaworthy boat.
As the base for the vessel, Shoemaker used a fiberglass mold made of a kayak he bought off of Craigslist. On the mold, he created a “womb” filled with biodegradable textiles and plants, which housed the fungal starter.
Over seven weeks, the fungus grew over the mold, completely covering it in. As it grew, Shoemaker and his cousin kept rotating the mold in a contraption they built.
“We created a sort of medieval torture device to spin my boat like a rotisserie chicken so that it could grow and dry evenly throughout this process,” explained.
However, the boat still wasn’t done. Shoemaker then took another three months to turn the kayak-shaped mushroom lump into a seaworthy kayak.
He sealed the fungus with layers of shellac and beeswax to keep the boat biodegradable and environmentally friendly. By the end of the process, he had a 107-pound kayak made entirely out of fungus.
During tests, the thing floated safely and seemed like it would be suitable for an oceanic journey. So, Shoemaker underwent a half-year endurance paddling program to prepare himself for his challenge.
Rough Seas
California’s Catalina Channel (or Sand Pedro Channel as it’s officially called) is known for its treacherous currents and temperamental weather. And indeed, as Shoemaker set off from Santa Catalina Island at daybreak, Mother Nature was not on his side.
“From the island, you can’t see the mainland – and I’m just paddling into the abyss,” he recalled. “I was only moving 1.7 mph (2.7 km/h) because the conditions were much worse than we had expected.”
To make things worse, the rough waves were pushing the fungus kayak to its limits. It had been fine during stress tests, but in the real situation, the thing started to bend and buckle.
“I began to think that my boat might snap in half, and I wouldn’t make it to L.A.,” said Shoemaker.
The rough seas also tested his endurance. The waves made him nauseated and he began hallucinating shapes in the water.
Some of those shaped were real, though. A young fin whale, curious about the mushroomy sailor, followed Shoemaker for a good while under his boat.
As Shoemaker saw land in the afternoon, the ordeal still wasn’t over, as he now had to battle rough coastal currents. But finally, 12 hours after setting sail, he put his feet on solid ground at Cabrillo Beach.
“I remember thinking that I was a lot less sore and a lot less tired than I had thought,” he said. “I was really high on adrenaline. And it was just a great day!”
With that, Shoemaker is now the proud titleholder for the longest trip completed in a fungal mycelium boat with 26.37 miles. It’ll probably be a while before anyone tries breaking that record – unless the man does it himself.