A dilapidated boat that was taking up too much space in the backyard has taken a Sunshine Coast father-and-son duo on a journey of repurposing the vessel into a "floating school bus".
The boat had been sitting out the back of their Yandina workshop for years, "growing plants and taking on water".
But owner Dean Frith and his son Beau said sending it to the landfill was not an option.
The pair, who were originally boat builders, had initially considered either breaking it up and disposing of it or turning it back into a functioning boat and selling it.
Then Dean had another idea.
"[Dad] was just like, 'Hey, listen, we really believe in recycling and trying to do anything we can to sort of repurpose something ... instead of cutting it up and throwing it away, other people might get way more use out of it,'" Beau said.
The floating school bus project
Beau said the boat would be used to pick up school children from surrounding islands and take them to the boarding school on the island of Aore.
But the work in progress — dubbed the floating school bus project — will have benefits for the wider community too.
It will also give greater access to travel into the creek systems and other remote areas.
"The fact [is] that they can get volunteers from the main island out to the school as well as getting building materials and other things they might need on the island."
He said the school's current boat was slower, more suited to transporting larger items and was "in a bit of a state".
"It definitely needs a bit of work done to it to be able to get it to the point where it's back to being seaworthy," Beau said.
Vanuatu 'gets in your blood'
Dean said he volunteered at the boarding school four years ago with another Sunshine Coast group that regularly visited Vanuatu.
He hasn't been back since, but said the place and people held a special place in his heart.
"Once you go there, it just gets in your blood. The people are so lovely. They're extremely shy people," Dean said.
The tradesman said sharing those skills with the island community had a huge impact.
"You can show them how to concrete, or put roofing screws in or build a boat — you show them, and they learn so fast, it changes their life," he said.
Sending a boat by boat
Beau said the boat — which he likened to a "ute" on water — would be loaded into a shipping container once it was complete.
But it won't be the only item shipped off.
"A big part of what we like to do [is] try and give back as much as we can," Beau said.
He said building materials, clothing or anything else of use would be loaded in so the container didn't go over half empty.
But he said the finished product could still be a year away.
"We're just sort of chipping away at it just using spare materials and things that we have available to us, but winter is always a good time for us because it's our slowest period."
