Don't have a boat? Make one! Or not.

The $20 boat. Pic: Eastnews Press Agency
Two English anglers had to be rescued this week after their home made fishing boat was stranded off Essex, but the real news, is that they made it from insulation foam and silicone – for the grand total of £9…

Aaron Jones and Jamie Toms were tired of fishing off the jetty, so they asked a mate to build them a boat. The three looked around their house and found some old scrap bits of wood, some insulation foam and coathangers – perfect! But they needed to glue it all together, and not wanting to be cheap about the whole affair, they spend the equivalent of $20 on silicone.

With that outlay, they got themselves a two man row boat, complete with some second hand oars (they found) and an anchor. The anchor was made from a lump of iron tied to 15m of nylon rope, and the rowlocks were made from twisted coathanger wire. It’s no wonder the thing floated, let alone get the two so far offshore!!

‘We’re just two lads who were bored and wanted to make a boat – why not?" Said the ‘skipper’ Jamie Toms. “It’s better than going out and doing drugs and committing crime. Obviously I said thanks to the lifeguards and sorry for being a bit of an idiot and going out with no safety gear.”

The pair came unstuck when one of their oars snapped. With one oar, and only one of the pair knowing how to swim, they decided to call the emergency services, who promptly rescued the two, towed their ‘boat’ to shore and destroyed it for being unseaworthy. At least they weren’t out of pocked much.

They also got to keep their catch, a dogfish, two Cod and three Crabs.