Samuel McLennan wanted to build an island. His plan was to convert a decommissioned ferry into what he called an ‘innovation island’.
Samuel McLennan aboard 'Heart', his boat made of marine debris. Photo: George Nicoll
He wanted to cover the ferry in plants and put accommodation, a bar and a restaurant on board. It would have been a place where Samuel held “leadership courses, events, and courses to look for solutions to the environmental issues in the area”.
He was going to use the recently decommissioned ferry that had taken passengers and cars to and from Tasmania’s Bruny Island, but when he presented his idea to the State Government, they told him it was too late. The ferry had been sold for scrap metal.
Samuel says it was his dad who suggested an alternative. “I was complaining to him about the idea being rejected, and he said, ‘why don’t you build your island out of fish farm debris, there’s plenty of that around.’”
After a few months of building his ‘island’ out of rubbish, Samuel changed course, and his new “way out there” plan to build a boat from marine debris and sail it from Hobart to Sydney was born.
Now, more than four months into his journey, Samuel is moored off Rhyll in Phillip Island. Despite a near death experience in a storm off the coast of Tasmania’s Maria Island, he says he is having “the time of my life”.
“It’s a beautiful journey. I’m meeting a lot of beautiful people and I’m learning a lot about myself. It is a spiritual journey,” he said.
When Samuel goes to towns and schools to talk, he has a request: “Just change one thing in your life, just one little bit. Help improve the environment by picking up one piece of rubbish, or … take action towards loving and nurturing yourself.”
Samuel’s next stop is Melbourne, and he is predicting it will take him about “a year from now” to get to Sydney. You can follow his journey on his Instagram account, @projectinterrupt.
