Google, “What are kayaks made of?” and top hits include roto-molded polyethylene resins, thermoformed plastic, fiberglass, carbon, wood. But you’d have to go in for some deep-dive internet search voodoo before you came up with mushrooms as an option. But it is possible.
Sort of. California-based sculptor and mushroom enthusiast Sam Shoemaker has a passion for creating art out of mushrooms, and his latest project has been growing a fungus kayak. Shoemaker has posted photos and videos of his home-grown watercraft to Instagram, revealing a 15-foot floating, paddle-able object that could generously be termed a kayak but is more like a sit-down , to be fair (where’s the cockpit?).
Shoemaker says he used an ocean fishing kayak to create the mold inside which the structure grew, so he can call it a kayak if he wants. To be precise, Shoemaker didn’t use actual mushrooms, but mycelium, which is the root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like tendrils. The fruiting bodies of fungi, such as mushrooms, can sprout from a mycelium.
Here’s the science, according to Shoemaker himself: “A hemp substrate was used to propagate this mycelium inside a two-part mold over the course of about four weeks. After the gestation period, the mycelium was dried to render a strong, hydrophobic and inert cork-like material. The boat was sealed with locally sourced beeswax.
No rigid internal support fame or hardwood was used.” He does admit, though, that his .
