Canadian houseboat washed up on Irish coast baffles everyone

Staff at the Ballyglass Coast Guard Unit in Ireland have been left baffled after a mysterious object appeared on their coastline recently.

They brought ashore an unusual solar-powered houseboat found floating along the coast near Cross Beach in County Mayo on Sunday 13 November.

See also: Little girl gets fright of her life when she asks ship to toot horn

See also: Boaty McBoatface wins public vote for the name of new polar research ship

The vessel was reportedly built by an environmentalist in Canada.

A handwritten note found inside the boat which went some way to explaining where the boat had come from.

It 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."

Local Declan Murphy, who lives nearby and brought his family down to look at the boat, told told the Toronto Star: "I was intrigued to see how this man-made vessel from all sorts of leftover materials... could make such a treacherous journey."

He added that he hoped there had been no one on board when the boat had left Canada.