VISITORS to the Hastings public boat ramp this week have been met with a strange sight: a boat moored to the dock made entirely out of rubbish.
The creation is not only floating, but seaworthy, and the man behind the mission, Samuel McLennan, has sailed his craft along the Victorian coastline for over a year after making the journey across from Tasmania.
The 48-year-old’s inspiration was born from a time of reflection in his personal life when he returned to Tasmania in 2020 after a stint living in Sydney. “Things weren’t really working out for me. I couldn’t really find my place in the world. It was a time of deep reflection,” said McLennan.
He had been struggling to gain traction with his innovative entrepreneurial ideas and had been pursuing an idea to build an “innovation island.” He had approached the Tasmanian government with the idea of converting a decommissioned ferry into such a place, where innovation and thought could thrive. When the government rejected his idea, his father, Stephen, suggested, “Why not build an innovation island yourself, out of fish farm debris? There’s plenty of that around.”
McLennan started his journey with a single piece of plastic pulled from the sea. “It was about being open like a child, just playing,” said McLennan of learning to build from waste, “working out what bits go together, what bits don’t, and how I could combine bits to make them stronger.”
A few months in, he had a vision of himself on the ocean, sailing on this thing made from rubbish. “I thought, I’m not building an island, I’m building a boat.” Some people told him it was insane, but others urged him to keep going.
In April 2024, after 18 months building on land and another six building on water, McLennan set sail from Hobart. The 27-foot vessel, named “Heart,” is constructed of 22 buoys from fish and oyster farms, as well as dozens of white polyurethane buoys. Inside is dry and what McLennan describes as “quite spacious,” with two stretcher beds and a little cooker. The vessel even has a solar panel that was being discarded, which he integrated into his craft.
McLennan admits his vessel “looks like she’s out of a Mad Max movie,” constructed from pipes, ropes, and nets from fish farms, fishing ropes, oyster bags, tarpaulins, and plastic sheets.
McLennan has now been at sea for about 16 months and has been sailing along the coast of Victoria. He comes to shore to peruse what he calls “Project Interrupt,” presenting his story to community and environmental organisations, school children, and organising clean-up days along the coastlines.
McLennan sees a direct correlation between poor mental health and an increasingly polluted environment. But his broader mission is one of inspiring people to change a little, so we can come together, listen to each other, and create healthy people and a healthy planet.
“I choose to lead by example, and share stories and insights that inspire people to take new actions for themselves,” said McLennan. “Since 2018 I have lived with very little money, and after learning how to detach from a number of cultural norms and pressures (e.g., money, alcohol, and sugar), I’m now having the time of my life.”
“I now nurture myself, others, and the environment, and it’s proving to be a great recipe for success. We can’t tell people what to do. There is no energy behind that. It’s necessary to lead by example and show people the benefits—they’ll naturally then choose to do it themselves and they’ll lift themselves up.”
McLennan is planning to reach Sydney in 2026 and is content in his achievements so far. “I’ve ended up building my own home that floats, and I’ve never built a boat before in my life. But the personal satisfaction I’ve developed through building this vessel and undertaking this journey has been phenomenal.”
First published in the Mornington News – 2 September 2025
