The man and the mushroom kayak: can a boat made from mycellim change the future/

Sam Shoemaker's record-setting voyage shows the promise - and limits - of fungi as a plastic alternative

On a clear, still morning in early August, Sam Shoemaker launched his kayak into the waters off Catalina Island and began paddling. His goal: to traverse the open ocean to San Pedro, just south of Los Angeles, some 26.4 miles away.

But upon a closer look, Shoemaker's kayak was no ordinary kayak. Brown-ish yellow and bumpy in texture, it had been made - or rather, grown - entirely from mushrooms. His journey, if successful, would mark the world's longest open-water journey in a kayak built from this unique material.