Dozens of Canadian, American and British backpackers have spent the past month collecting goon bags – the bags that hold cask wine – with the intention of building a raft to launch into the Mooloolaba canal system.

They used 80 of the bags to build the raft, which had its debut on the water yesterday morning.

“Basically, I can’t claim all the credit,” said American traveller Phil Saam.

“Me and a couple of people were sitting around ... we were sitting there drinking and we had the usual conversation about using the bags as pillows, and we started to realise the things would float if you built enough to sit on.”

Phil and the other backpackers had to work hard to collect the bags – drinking 20 litres of wine a day to reach the desired number.

“We’ve been going through quite a bit, it’s been a full hostel effort with quite a few people,” the 23-year old business student said.

“There’s no way I could have made it on my own.”

Phil said the raft, which he described as his best ever idea, was “amazing” in the water.

“It was 10 times better than we pictured it. It held together basically until the end, when we were hit by the breakers,” he said.

“We travelled to the ocean and saw three sharks along the way. We were worried about it falling apart ... there were some concerning moments as the waves were breaking as we left the channel.”

But the question remains, is there really nothing else to do on the Sunshine Coast apart from collect goon bags for construction projects?

“There’s plenty to do. We surf every day and travel around ... this has been a long time in the works, a side project,” Phil said.