A Ghostship Traveled 2,000 Miles And A Three-Year-Old​ Mystery Was Solved

A solar-powered houseboat washed up on the beaches of western Ireland three years ago. Today the mystery of where it journeyed from has been clarified.

The wooden houseboat was discovered by a local in County Mayo, Ireland one night on the beach.

Michael Hurst an officer in the Coast Guard told reporters: “We had received a call from a member of the public to say that a caravan type vessel had been washed ashore on the west side of the Mullet peninsula, near Drum beach.

“It looked a little bit like a caravan. In the water, it seemed just a strange-looking object really.” After arriving on scene Hurst boarded the vessel to check for anyone on board, his search came up empty but he did find a note on the dry erase board inside the vessel.

With Rick Small no where to be found, the boat remained unclaimed. Some members in the Coast Guard and a few locals refurbished the vessel and donated it to a community sensory garden in Bringhamstown.

The Ghost ship and its origin remained a mystery for three years, until this Thursday. Hurst received a message from a journalist, saying he had cracked the case.

The Canadian broadcaster found Rick Small and interviewed him. 62-year-old Small told CTV that he built the solar boat to raise awareness about climate change.

“I was going to go from Newfoundland around the Arctic to here in the summer. To show that the ice is disappearing.”

Small was unable to find the perfect motor to fit the vessel, so he gave it away setting it free in the ocean.

(Cover photo courtesy of Worldation, source CNN)