Product idea: inflatable boat with a scaly outer shell knitted with basalt fiber and aluminum sheet. Like this costume armor, but the size of a houseboat. Advantage would be that the outer shell would tough, difficult to puncture, yet flexible, so that if it ran into another vessel/rocks/debris, it would give, rather than fracture. The outer shell would also protect the inner inflatable from UV damage. Maybe an art boat that looked like a dragon?
http://www.boredpanda.com/what-this-fiber-artist-does-with-aluminum-scales-is-amazing/
http://www.boredpanda.com/what-this-fiber-artist-does-with-aluminum-scales-is-amazing/