Odd Homemade Houseboat Mysteriously Washes Ashore In Ireland

The Ballyglass Coast Guard out of County Mayo, Ireland, were called to investigate an odd craft floating off the coast near Cross Beach after being alerted by a concerned citizen. An officer from the responding unit, Michael Hurst, told BBC that given the size and shape of the vessel, he initially thought it might be a caravan (or as we'd say on this side of the pond, a camper). He also reportedly described it as "habitable." It should also be noted as this point that there was nobody on board. First picture source, BBC. Second source, RTE.





So yes, it looks a little different from the run-on-the-mill houseboat but what makes this boat's appearance on an Irish beach mysterious?

The boat was built by Canadian "eco-adventurer" Rick Small, who gained attention in 2015 when he road a solar powered trike across Canada in 2015.

And it was last seen in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. 7,000 km (4,350 miles) away.

One important clue might be a note found written inside the boat, apparently written by Small, gifting it to the homeless youth of Newfoundland:



A Conception Bay resident named Samantha Arden told reporters that she'd seen the boat last in the end of July in Portugal Cove-St Philips. I held off a day to see if anything would come out about or from Mr. Small. Nothing so far. At least two people who spoke with Small said his goal had been to sail the boat across the Atlantic so it's completely unclear at this point if the boat drifted on it's own or if it was piloted by Small, raising the possibility that he's been lost at sea.

Local man's houseboat washes up in Ireland

“The boat was beached there by my road,” Ewart recalled. “I do a lot of sailing myself and I thought: I got to talk to this guy, because I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ewart said the boat looked like a camper and was equipped with solar panels and two electric motors. It appeared habitable and Ewart believes that Small was living on the boat.

“It was his home,” he said. “It looked like something that he could stay in for a while.”

During his conversation with Small, Ewart said Small made comments on the number of gas burning engines.

“I asked him what his plan was,” Ewart said. “He said he wanted to take it across the Atlantic, he wanted to prove that solar power can do it.”

In 2015, Small travelled from Thunder Bay to Victoria, B.C. on a solar-powered bike. He made the 7,000 kilometer journey across the country a second time and ended up in St. John’s Newfoundland where he started construction on the houseboat.

The source above, Thunder Bay News Watch, said that Small could not be reached for comment. A Facebook user Jesse Kearley posted a picture yesterday showing Small on the boat. The picture was accompanied by this brief post:

This boat was tied up in Portugal cove Newfoundland after being sent out of fox trap because it was an eyesore. I spoke to the man myself who built the ship and he told me he was from British Colombia and was gonna sail his ship from Newfoundland through the gulf o Alaska. Whatever happened to him after I don't know.

Mr. Ewart from above was also quoted by the BBC:

"The boats steering system was only a piece of plywood bolted to a PVC pipe. And the motors barely had enough power to move."

"I never saw him again"

He recalled his last encounter with Mr Small in 2015: "When he left our area he was standing on top using a long 2X4 (piece of wood) to push his way out because the current was stopping the boat."

Here's another shot of the boat from 2015:



You can see Mr. Small being interviewed in front of his trike in 2013 in this YouTube video:



Here's hoping Rick Small is safe and well with another interesting story to tell!

I knew someday, they would find Noah's ark.

a reply to: Black_Fox

I thought there was something vaguely familiar about it! I was thinking more along the lines of the Galileo Shuttlecraft from Star Trek:

a reply to: theantediluvian

That's pretty neat. Hope nobody was on the boat when it left Newfie waters, though.

a reply to: theantediluvian

S&F, glad to have you back in non-election mode. This is an interesting post.

Prior to spending some time in Florida I had no idea that a houseboat could be little more than a trailer on a barge. This appears more mobile than those I saw, sometimes kept aloft with 50 gallon plastic drums.

Looks like it was caught in storm in atlantic on its way over . Usually bad storms there this time of year . Guy probably got washed overboard during storm .

Nice looking houseboat though . Always wanted one . Had to settle for live aboard 56' catamaran instead due silly regulations / restrictions on houseboats .

originally posted by: theantediluvian
a reply to: Black_Fox
I thought there was something vaguely familiar about it!

or a ww1 tank

Nice, it has solar panels to boot. Looks like someone was remodeling it but then decided to scrap that project and donate it as the note says. Hope it does go to good use.

a reply to: theantediluvian
Rick is an..eccentric person. Great guy though.
He used to live by us in Thunder Bay
Heres our local papers article on this

www.tbnewswatch.com...

Nothing different written in it really asides from it stating him being a past resident.
I bet he's shocked it made that journey though.

Im sure he will put out a comment to the paper in a day or 2

a reply to: Ksihkehe

With a couple of axles, this thing could easily be towed like a camper. I'm guessing the dimensions had something to do with the ability to get it down the road to the water.

originally posted by: Ksihkehe
a reply to: theantediluvian

S&F, glad to have you back in non-election mode. This is an interesting post.

.

Me too. Welcome back Ante!

a reply to: Macenroe82

Absolutely nothing wrong with being eccentric, particularly when you're building solar powered vehicles that can cross Canada (twice from what I read) or funky looking houseboats that can cross the Atlantic.

It is cool, hope someone repairs it and lives in it, I used to live on a boat made from a WWII pontoon. I would love to buy a puddle jumper (Stargate) and have it as a study or bedroom, but guess I'm eccentric.

Hahaha!!! A big floaty wooden solar thing and you guys all are behaving as if it were the cat's meow. Bloody eccentric lot.
It re:minds me of some wings flown too close to the sun. Only this time Mother's water.