The Mysterious Boat That Landed on Ireland’s Coast With a Message but No Trace of Its Crew

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It was the fall of 2016, and a pristine winter snowfall had begun to settle on the Nephin Mountain in County Mayo. People were enjoying the fresh air and stunning scenery, when suddenly, they spotted an unusual vessel on a local beach that seemed to appear out of nowhere. They decided to call the authorities. When Coast Guard and lifeboat crews investigated the mysterious vessel, they were amazed at what they discovered.

1. An Unusual Boat With No Passengers

The waters off the West Coast of Ireland were extremely wild that day. The tide had formed huge waves that crashed on the beach in a terrifying symphony of sound. So, when people noticed an unusual boat bouncing on the waves in November of 2016, they became worried that passengers might be trapped inside.

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The rescue team, who had similar concerns, rushed to the boat to recover anyone who might still be inside. After the unusual boat was spotted by the locals, Coast Guard and lifeboat crews hurried to bring it to dry land. But as they entered the boat, they were stunned to find not a single person onboard.

2. County Mayo and Its Natural Heritage

County Mayo is a region on the West Coast of Ireland. To its north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean, and with County Galway on the south. To the east, it flanks County Roscommon. With an area of 5,398 Km and a population of 130,000, it’s the third-largest county in the country.

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The county has a varied landscape with scenic panoramas, natural amenities, and a rich archaeological, historical and sporting heritage. Diverse topographical features were created by a wide variety of geological formations in County Mayo over the centuries. The landscape varies from the relatively flat terrain of East Mayo, through large island-studded lakes renowned for their fishing and beauty, to naked quartzite peaks along the indented Atlantic Coast.

3. Strange Things on the County’s Shores

However, in recent years, Mayo’s beautiful beaches and coastal scenery have been spoiled by an array of items that have washed up on the county’s shores. For example, a kilo of cocaine was found on a beach area by an American tourist in June 2017. Then, a few months later, a helmet and a life jacket were found. These two items are believed to have belonged to two Coast Guard members, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith, who disappeared that year after their helicopter crashed.

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Along with these things, other items have been recovered from the shipwreck of the British sailing ship SV Arethusa, which was attacked by the Germans in 1917. These and other items have been found along the area’s coastline along with the remains of another wreck in the year 2017. However, it’s no surprise that these artifacts were discovered; the Atlantic Ocean in this area is known for its wild and stormy waters. But even with all this history, the discovery of a strange houseboat in 2016 shocked many of the witnesses.

4. Boarding the Stranded Boat

Ballyglass Coast Guard Unit’s Michael Hurst was the first person from the rescue team to be present on the scene, who alerted another Coast Guard crew. “I didn’t know what to think; I was just concerned about safety and securing it,” he told “The Daily Telegraph.” “Then I thought: Where in the name of God did this come from, and who built it?”

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Hurst described the boat as having been made from off-cuts of timber, spray foam and polystyrene, along with solar panels and Perspex windows. Overall, the vessel was small for an oceangoing craft, measuring approximately 12 feet in length and 10 feet high.

5. The Unique Construction of the Boat

The boat was so unique that Hurst compared it to a “floating caravan.” And even though the outside of the vessel was weather-beaten, internally it remained in relatively good condition. “I wouldn’t like to go out on it. But if you were homeless, it would be like a castle,” Hurst added.

So, with no crew members in the boat, everyone became curious as to the origins of the strange craft. To find out the answers, the Coast Guard unit decided to investigate the mysterious vessel a little more thoroughly.

6. The Strange Message

Upon their investigation, they were amazed to find a strange message written on the interior wall.. Thankfully, to the Coast Guard team, this handwritten note gave a huge hint as to who built the mysterious boat and where it came from.

The message read: “I, Rick Small, donate this structure to a homeless youth to give them a better life, that Newfoundlanders choose not to do! No rent, no mortgage, no hydro.”

7. Discovering Rick Small

From the message, the Coast Guard believed that the Rick Small who wrote the note is an eco-adventurer based in Ontario, Canada. And this Canadian has quite an interest in traveling across the country in unusual ways. In fact, he once toured 4,375 miles from British Columbia to Newfoundland on a solar tricycle powered by solar energy.

Once members of the Irish Coast Guard established the boat’s potential owner, they got in touch with authorities in Halifax, Canada, and informed them about their discovery. Canadian officials were shocked to know that the vessel had made it so far. Amazingly, Rick Small had reportedly been planning to sail the boat across the Atlantic himself.

8. The Boat Had Last Been Seen in Portugal Cove

However, Canadian authorities managed to discourage him from making the treacherous 4,000-mile crossing. “The boat was last seen in Portugal Cove in Newfoundland during the summer, when it broke loose,” revealed a spokesman for the Irish Coast Guard.

When the news of this vessel’s remarkable journey spread, social media was flooded with reactions from the residents of County Mayo

9. Reactions

Many people reported that they had seen the boat before it drifted away from its Canadian home.They were stunned to know that the boat had made it across the Atlantic Ocean. “It is amazing how it got here,” Hugh Gillespie wrote on his Facebook page.

Another Facebook user, Colton McDonald, wrote that he had helped Rick Small purchase the boat’s materials from a local lumberyard. “Weird character but really interesting… Amazing how far the vessel got. I will have to just speculate on what happened to him!” McDonald added.

10. Failure to Find Rick Small

Since Mayo City Council in Ireland had the empty houseboat, they placed it in a nearby storage depot. Meanwhile, an official known as “Receiver of Wrecks” was assigned to look after the boat to allow the vessel’s rightful owner one year of time to claim it. However, Rick Small never contacted the authorities.

The authorities tried their best to contact Rick Small, but they were unable to inform him of the boat’s discovery. All this meant that the vessel’s future could not be decided for a year. But, as the vessel’s future was still hanging very much in the balance, many groups declared that they wanted to take ownership of it. After all, it was Small’s intention to give away the boat.

11. Final Decision of the Fate of Boat

Among the many interested groups, Men’s Sheds, a non-profit group, offered to work on restoring the vessel. And a suggestion was made to make the vessel a tourist attraction on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. But when the vessel arrived on the beach, people in large numbers wanted to see it, so local authorities realized its potential as a permanent beachfront residence to help boost tourism.

However, Hurst explained that in any case, people wanted the vessel to remain in Mayo County. “If the vessel is not claimed and it remains in Ireland, we would like to see it kept locally,” Hurst told “The Mayo News.” “There has been a lot of interest in it. And the feeling locally is that because it came ashore here, it should remain here.”

12. More Odd Things

Ireland, based on its own location, is known for getting strange things wash ashore. There have been a lot of occurrences, apart from the solar powered boathouse, in which things drifted on the Irish coast in remote lands. One boat drifted from amazing 4, 000 miles off.

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This was a Cuban refugee boat that washed ashore on Sligo beach in Ireland. According to experts, the boat was homemade. The hull of the boat has rotted and the bottom is covered with barnacles. It is the very first time such a boat was recorded washing up in Europe. In a weird turn of events, back in the year 2009, millions starfish washed ashore on the beach in Sligo.

13. An Odd Turtle

A rare and peculiar loggerhead turtle washed ashore. In reality, it was just the second time that a turtle had been discovered on Irish coasts. . The young turtle was in a comatose state. Rescuers were called in to collect the turtle and try to revive the poor creature. The turtle was also suffering from hypothermia when discovered. After being successfully rehabilitated, the turtle was returned to the sea to live in its natural habitat. In May of 2016, a wooden object washed ashore on the island of Tory. The wooden object was a type of fork shaped sculpture with a face engraved at the top.

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Researchers believe that the artifact once belonged to an African tribe. The family that discovered the product believed it was only a regular stick and proceeded to utilize it to play fetch with their dog, only later did they realize what a rare find it is. The family was encouraged to take the thing to a museum to have its own roots looked into further

14. Starfish

It had been estimated that about 50, 000 of the sea animals had littered the shores. Needless to say that this was extremely rare occurrence. Even though starfish are common in the North Atlantic near Ireland, researchers said they’d never seen such an event.

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It’s believed that the starfish were killed because of intense weather then drifted towards Ireland’s coastal areas.