The Flipflopi Dhow
We pioneered our low-tech plastic boatbuilding technique when we created THE WORLD’S FIRST 100% RECYCLED PLASTIC SAILING DHOW - FLIPFLOPI NDOGO
At 10 metres in length and weighing about 7 tonnes, the Flipflopi Dhow is quite a spectacle, and a considerable achievement by Ali Skanda and his team of boatbuilders. The boat was launched in Lamu – at Ali’s boat yard – in September 2018 by Kenya’s Minister for Tourism and Wildlife, the Lamu County Governor, media, and crowds of local Lamunians, all interested in seeing the conclusion of all the beach clean ups they’d either witnessed or been involved in.
Lamu Island is on the north coast of Kenya, and has long been the most important centre for dhow building in the region. Lamu Town itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa, having been inhabited since 1370.
Waste plastics, mainly from Lamu’s beaches, were used to construct the entire boat. The keel, ribs and structural elements are all made from recycled plastic including bottles and bags, whilst the hull and decking is covered completely by re-purposed flipflops. Despite the unusual materials, the vessel was constructed by local craftsmen using traditional methods: proving if it can be done here on a beach in Lamu, it can be done anywhere!
Learn ALL about the process!
We documented the whole process of how this boat was made - from collecting plastic, turning it into parts and assembling the boat - and what we learned from it in the Flipflopi Boat Build Toolkit, so other people can learn from it and get ideas for other crazy recycled plastic projects :)
“The Flipflopi Project has always been about encouraging change in a positive way, making people smile first and then sharing the very simple message that single-use plastics really don’t make sense.
To create the Flipflopi boat we used only locally available resources and low-tech solutions, enabling our techniques and ideas to be copied without any barriers. So we hope people around the globe are inspired by our beautiful multicoloured boat and find their own ways to repurpose ‘already-used’ plastics.”
We have demonstrated that if you can build a boat capable of sailing thousands of kilometers essentially made of old toothbrushes and jerry cans, then everything is possible. As we say in Swahili, “kila kitu inawezekana”.
What’s Next?!
Building an Ocean-Fairing ‘Flipflopi’ that will Sail around the World!
Flipflopi Kubwa
Flipflopi Ndogo was only a start, a prototype. Owing to her size, we can not sail her further afield. And we really need to!
That’s why we are building a larger boat capable of sailing our message around the world. We MUST scale up our efforts to ban single-use plastic, and take this waste-plastic innovation and technology to other emerging consumer economies, worldwide.
Flipflopi and its simple, colourful, infectious message has a proven ability to engage new audiences. And the larger boat has the power to instantly become the most recognisable emblem globally of the urgent need for change.
In 2023, we begun the R&D into our second dhow, triple the size of Ndogo, made from 100% recycled plastic waste collected along the Kenyan coast. Colourful, happy and guaranteed to stop you in your tacks.
From the same boatyard in Lamu that birthed Flipflopi Ndogo, centuries old traditional boat building skills are being used to construct what will be the world’s second 100% recycled plastic sailing boat.
The Flipflopi dhow will embark on a voyage around the world that will be seen and heard by an estimated 4.8 billion people. More than 1 in 2 people on planet earth, with a tried and tested engagement model that creates lasting change at every stop of the expedition.