Artist builds boat out of a giant mushroom, takes it for a record-breaking 25 mile ride

A maritime mycologist living in Los Angeles, California, USA has turned a dinnertime side dish into a seaworthy vessel, after crafting a kayak made entirely out of one gigantic mushroom. 

In a remarkable 26.37 mi (42.43 km) voyage last August 2025, Sam Shoemaker (USA) paddled a 12-ft (3.6-m) boat made of Ganoderma polychromum mycelium across the Catalina Channel to the American mainland at Cabrillo Beach. 

Trekking alongside a giant fin whale, and battling rouge currents and inclement weather, he emerged from the 12-hour ride as a proud yet sodden record holder for the longest solo journey by fungal mycelium boat, as well as with a nice appearance in Guinness World Records 2027.

For over a decade, Sam has worked on “cultivating and collaborating” dozens of different species of fungi to turn the organisms into stunning sculptures and pieces of art.

Inspired by their adaptability and versatility, he started researching new ways that fungi can be used as functional materials, with the hopes of one day replacing some of the plastic and non-renewable equipment used in construction. 

To reach his goal, he alters the mushrooms in his lab, interacting with forms such as: bioluminescent, gourmet, native, rare, and even poisonous fungi.

“Most people don’t associate mushrooms with functional, lasting materials,” Sam said to GWR. “Most grocery store mushrooms will shrivel and decompose after a few days out of the fridge.

“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.”

One of Sam's mushroom sculptures, Yum Yum Yellow. Photo by Deen Babakhyi, courtesy of Ochi Gallery

Another mushroom sculpture, Dog Walker. Photo courtesy of Ochi Gallery

Sam's mushroom sculpture, Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Photo by Ian Byers Gamber, courtesy of Ochi Gallery

Though his medium is unique, Sam in fact is not the only mycologist known for the fungi art form. In 2019, student Katy Ayers worked with mushroom grower Ashley Gordon (both USA) to create the longest fungal mycelium boat in Grand Island, Nebraska, at a record-breaking 7 ft 6 in (2.3 m). 

Nevertheless, when Sam made his attempt at the title, he wanted to make sure that it could withstand the brutal ocean waves – so he had bigger plans.

Read more stories like this in our dedicated Adventures and Epic Journeys section!

His first shot at the mushroom boat was in 2024, when he built a 15-ft (4.6-m) vessel out of a wild polypore mushroom found outside of his studio in L.A.. Though he was satisfied with its performance, he says that he had more ambitious dreams, and began creating a new version.

With support from the art nonprofit Fulcrum, as well as the Warhol Foundation and the Pasadena Art Alliance, Sam returned to the street outside of his studio to turn a new sample into a record-breaking boat. Along with his cousin Laza, the pair worked in a surfboard factory to create a fiberglass mould of a kayak they bought on Craigslist, which would allow the mushroom to bloom into a seaworthy ship.

They then took the root-like part of the mushroom – called mycelium – and placed it into a womb of biodegradable textiles and plant-based materials, containing it within the exoskeleton of the fiberglass mould. This model was specifically engineered to improve upon the previous form of the mushroom kayak that they created in 2024, and would help them prevent the shrinking of the fungi. 

“It took only seven weeks for my mushroom to grow into the shape of a boat, but it took many years to make this construction possible,” he explained. “From day one, I knew I wanted to build a boat to paddle from Catalina Island to L.A.. 

“A boat is not really a boat until you have a journey or maiden voyage, and many things can float in the water long enough to take a photo – but I didn’t want to make a prop, I really wanted to have an adventure. And I wanted to show the full potential of what mushrooms are capable of.”

After the mushroom had grown into the proper kayak shape, Sam and Laza worked on the piece for an additional three months, to affirm that it could safely carry the artist from shore-to-shore.

“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,” Sam jokingly explained.

They then sealed the 107-lb (48.5-kg) vessel in layers of shellac and beeswax, guaranteeing that the entire boat would be biodegradable – as well as durable to the open-sea conditions.

And finally, after years of work… the Little Mushroom Boat That Could was ready to take on the big waves.

Sam had taken six months of endurance paddle training in the time leading up to his event, and after receiving advice from a mentor, he practised on an unstable boat so he could get used to gaining control over the water while floating atop a mushroom.

“Many did not think that this journey would be possible in a mushroom boat, and were concerned for my safety,” Sam said. “Catalina Channel is known for very strong currents, unpredictable weather, heavy commercial boat traffic, and even great white sharks.”

He continued with: “To build a large boat out of a mushroom to cross a very dangerous ocean passage – when I had no seafaring experience – understandably seemed unrealistic and completely implausible.”

That said, he was still determined – and as Captain Andrei Nimoi ferried him and the boat to Catalina Island the day before the journey, Sam worked on getting ready for the task at hand.

And at the crack of dawn, they lowered the mushroom boat into the water, and from the shore of Catalina Island he set off towards L.A., trailed by a safety sailboat.

“From the island, you can’t see the mainland – and I’m just paddling into the abyss,” he said. I found this morning part of my journey to be the most difficult part of the entire day.

“I was only moving 1.7 mph (2.7 km/h) because the conditions were much worse than we had expected, and I was being pulled back towards the island in a cross-swell… I began to worry that I wasn’t going to be able to complete my journey, and my boat was flexing and was being subjected to forces that I had never subjected it to,” he continued. “I began to think that my boat might snap in half, and I wouldn’t make it to L.A..”

In the morning breeze, it was so dark that Sam became disoriented and nauseous, and began hallucinating shapes in the waves. He described his morale as “the lowest it was… at any point” in the journey.

Yet soon, the sun lightened up the watery horizon, and at mile 9 the currents turned in his favour. He had a snack (toasted bread with peanut butter, honey, and chili flakes) and borrowed an earpod from the trailing sailboat so he could listen to music. A fin whale even began to trail behind his boat for two hours, bobbing its head as he rhythmically paddled. 

“I had this adolescent fin whale under my boat, so close that I could almost reach back and touch it,” he reminisced. “And I’m within about a half-mile from my escort boat, and I have this creature following me with thousands of feet of water below me, without any other boats in sight.”

By the afternoon, they saw land, and began cruising along the coast – yet they weren’t done yet, as Sam battled strong currents and rouge waves that splashed up around the mushroom boat.

“There’s a lot more wind, the conditions can become very choppy, and you’re dealing with these refractory waves that are hitting the breakers and are coming back towards you like you’re in the spin cycle of a washing machine,” he said.

“After we had crossed the international shipping lane, I knew that the worst was behind us, and I remember just laughing as I paddled into the wind in these choppy conditions, getting closer and closer to Cabrillo Beach.”

And eventually, they made it.

As Sam approached the shore, he could see an enthusiastic group of spectators – his wife and friends included – gathered to greet the new record holder.

“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! I was not certain that I would complete the journey that day, and it felt like a huge accomplishment to reach the shore.” 

He added that he was a huge reader of the Guinness World Records books while he was younger, and seeing his name in print within the 2027 edition was a dream come true. 

But would Sam do it again?

Well, maybe not in a mushroom.

“My mushroom boat is heavy, 107 lb (48.5 kg), and is not particularly fast. It took a crew, a lot of resources, and a lot of time to make this one boat,” he explained. “It’s in good condition after the journey, but I would not say that this is a better alternative to the plastic injection-moulds that are available at a camping store.”

That said – he would love to see someone attempt a new version of his mushroom model, and he even created a free, 94-page compendium on his website that compiled all the knowledge he wished he knew about fungi before starting this process. 

“I am not a scientist, I am an artist,” he said. “And if I can achieve this much, I believe that we can go much, much, much further.”

So cheers to this record-breaking mycelium mastermind – Sam, you are Officially Amazing!