LOS ANGELES — Maritime mycologist Sam Shoemaker paddled a 12-foot kayak cultivated entirely from fungal mycelium across 26.37 miles of open ocean to reach Cabrillo Beach on the California mainland.
The ocean crossing took 12 hours. The vessel held.
Guinness World Records verified the 42.43-kilometre voyage, granting Shoemaker an official entry in its 2027 book for the longest solo journey completed in a boat engineered from fungal mycelium. Navigating through the Catalina Channel, Shoemaker battled heavy cross-swells, turbulent weather, and unpredictable currents, paddling a portion of the route alongside an escorting fin whale.
The open-water traverse pushed the bio-fabricated vessel to its limits.
Shoemaker launched from Santa Catalina Island, steering through treacherous Pacific swells before touching the sands of Cabrillo Beach. Heavy chop battered the organic hull throughout the expedition. Yet the dried fungal composite withstood deep salt-water immersion and continuous structural flex under manual paddle strokes.
| Voyage Parameter | Record Specification |
|---|---|
| Navigator | Sam Shoemaker, Los Angeles |
| Hull Material | Wild fungal mycelium composite |
| Vessel Length | 12 feet |
| Route | Santa Catalina Island to Cabrillo Beach |
| Distance Logged | 26.37 miles (42.43 km) |
| Crossing Time | 12 hours |
| World Record Category | Longest solo journey in a mycelium boat (2027 Edition) |
The oceanic passage caps over a decade of bio-sculpture experiments inside Shoemaker’s Los Angeles studio, where he cultures native, glowing, edible, poisonous, and rare fungal strains.
Commercial grocery mushrooms turn to mush in days outside a refrigerator. Wild polypores behave differently. Once dehydrated and treated, the dense cellular matrices of wild species harden into water-resistant, rigid blocks capable of bearing structural loads.
Shoemaker floated his first functional prototype in 2024, utilizing a wild polypore specimen harvested outside his studio walls. That maiden hull floated, but Shoemaker wanted a purpose-built marine shape.
To build the record-setting iteration, Shoemaker purchased a used kayak off Craigslist and partnered with his cousin, Laza, to cast a custom fibreglass mould. Inside this frame, living mycelium fed on organic substrate, binding the composite into an airtight, buoyant 12-foot marine shell.
Shoemaker will showcase his data, hull durability analysis, and crossing logs when the Guinness World Records 2027 volume hits global distribution.