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hack club's shipwrecked event

five days in boston. what did i do?

by nova - 12/27/25, 03:45 PM

3702 words ( 19 min to read)

Last summer, I attended an event called Shipwrecked. Hosted by Hack Club, the event had a simple premise: code for 60 hours, then fly to Boston, Massachusetts for a four-day hackathon (August 8th-11th, 2025) on a private island.

The Bay

To go to Shipwrecked, we had to complete sixty hours of coding in something called the Bay. We were able to start working at the start of May, and it took me until August 6th to get everything done. I made these projects:

You'll notice that this is ~104 hours, not 60. The overage is because of flights. My family has very little money, so we needed help paying for the flight to Shipwrecked (which was over 4,000 miles round trip). They offered "need-based stipends", but you had to do an extra 40 hours to get one. I did that, and I got a fun email after a bit of talking to an organizer:

HCB <hcb@hackclub.com>
[Shipwrecked] You've received a $950.00 grant for Flights!

Flying There

(Note: I'm going to yap a lot here! Feel free to skip to the "Day 1" heading below if you aren't interested in my travel.)

At around 3:30 AM on August 8th, 2025, I got in the car. My mom drove me to the airport, and we went inside. TSA was closed, as I had taken the classic "arrive two hours before your flight" advice and showed up early. Once they opened, my mom left and I went through security. I had one small suitcase, as well as my laptop bag. TSA was relatively painless, thankfully (I live in a very Republican city, and I'm transgender, soo... it's not always the best).

Home to DEN

I boarded the United Express plane and flew to Denver International Airport. The plane ride was okay enough. It was a tiny, cramped plane, but I had an aisle seat. The plane wasn't equipped with Wi-Fi or power outlets, so I spent the whole time listening to downloaded music on my phone.

Denver International Airport (DEN)

It was beautiful, and I enjoyed my time there. I hurried from the small planes area to the main United terminal, and found my gate. I went to a place called Kabod Coffee and bought a chocolate croissant and a medium iced coffee (with caramel syrup). For some reason, I forgot to add half & half, and so it was pretty bitter. The croissant was good, but not $6 good (the actual price I paid for it, though airport markups exist of course).

DEN to BOS

The flight got delayed :(

We had to wait for them to fix some maintenance problem, and eventually the captain decided to reject the plane. We had to walk to an entirely different gate to board a different plane. The flight was scheduled to leave at 8:09 AM, and ended up leaving around 9:30 AM (so over an hour of delay). The plane was quite nice, and it was my first with seat-back screens and USB ports. I enjoyed the flight, and I had a great time watching the map on the seat-back screen. We arrived smoothly, and there I was. Boston.

Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS)

Truly an amazing airport, except parts of the layout. It was a catastrophe trying to navigate from my gate to the meeting spot in Terminal C. I met some other Hack Clubbers there, and grabbed a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sandwich.

Day 1 (Aug. 8)

It's still August 8th, but time to get on the island! I rode the Silver Line 1 (SL1) bus from the airport to the EDIC Pier. It was packed, since we had ~10 Hack Clubbers on it (and it had many non-Hack Club people). We made it to the pier 20 minutes before the last ferry, and I even got a DM from an organizer, Evan, asking me where I was. We boarded the ferry to Cathleen Stone Island in the Boston Harbor. It was pretty great, and I watched some people drop tea bags into the harbor as a reference to the IRL Boston Tea Party back in 1773 (for non-Americans, this was an important part of the American Revolution).

Arriving on the Island

We were welcomed onto the island with some information:

Exploring

I went to my room. I was rooming with this really cool person (not naming them as I haven't asked them for permission), and we both needed to get our badges set up. Shipwrecked had these very cool PCB badges, but you needed to connect them to a computer. I had forgotten my USB-C cable, and my roommate's Linux laptop was having trouble communicating with the badge. I borrowed a cable from an organizer, and we both flashed our badges from my MacBook Air. After that, I headed to dinner and had a pretty good meal.

It was then time to explore the island. I went around on my own, and filmed a video. It was fun, and I introduced myself as I walked around (including a lot of personally identifiable info, so that will not be shown here). I edited it with Clipchamp, but they only had the slow "public" Wi-Fi available to us, so editing and uploading were both challenging.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was great. We got the meal times, a calendar, the password to the faster Wi-Fi, and more info. We also got the next challenge: build a project with no text or numbers. Afterwards, we had s'mores over a campfire!

Starting to Code

I started coding my app for this. It was "no word chat", a chat app where you couldn't use words or numbers. I failed quite brutally at making this, as websockets are confusing with Next.JS and things just wouldn't connect. I fell asleep and decided to debug in the morning.

Day 2 (Aug. 9)

Breakfast was great! I got hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, waffles, and orange juice! After breakfast, I went to a workshop: How to Run a Non-Profit, by Zach Latta (founder of Hack Club). It was very insightful, and I enjoyed it a lot! Afterwards, I stayed in the Lewis Expedition Center (the conference room, essentially). It had air conditioning and outlets, both things I needed to work on my project (did I mention my MacBook dies within around thirty minutes of being unplugged? That will be relevant twice later). It was a very hot day, and the dorms only had ceiling fans. I then worked on my app more, but didn't manage to finish it, as Socket.IO just didn't want to function properly :heavysob:

I stayed for the next workshop, hosted by another staff member, Chris. It was about shader math, and was quite interesting (it also talked about SineRider and some math from some previous events). I continued to work after that, for a bit.

Lunch

Lunch was nice, though I sadly can't remember what I ate. I was having a lot of gender dysphoria (can't remember why exactly), so someone (who asked me to not name him at the time) gave me a pair of cat ears :3

Swimming and Coding

This was the only time we would be able to swim, so I tried it. The harbor water was cold and my swimsuit was too tight, and generally it wasn't the best experience. I was also wearing swim trunks for it (though I had a pretty gender-affirming swim top), and thus it caused me even more gender dysphoria. I went back to work, but it was fairly clear I wasn't going to finish in time. It became clear to me why most people worked in teams, but I suck at making friends and generally doing group work, and my few friends at the event were already in teams (which were capped at three people).

Pride Flag Salute

A group of 7 people, including me, saluted the Progress Pride flag the island had flying to the song Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan, and it was very fun! šŸ³ļøā€šŸŒˆšŸ«”

Ship Showcase

The first Ship Showcase was not great. It was so loud in there, and my sensitivity to loud noise (as well as lots of people talking at once) made me have to excuse myself and stand outside of the pavilion. I did see some cool projects while I was there, but it made me very anxious about the next days. We then got our next challenge, build an app that could be used by four people at once. The deadline was quite early (3 PM the next day, and this was being given at 8 PM). I tried to team up and actually did get a team formed, but I was too tired and didn't have any ideas, so I fell asleep. I missed lightning talks, which made me quite sad, but I had zero energy.

Day 3 (Aug. 10)

I slept in very late. By the time I woke up and had breakfast, it was around 10 AM. I messaged my team, and while they had made progress, it was clear I wasn't really able to help much. I left the team and asked organizers if I could continue my chat app. I was told it was okay for me to do so, so I started coding again. Websockets continued to be overly complicated, so even though I skipped all of the workshops that day, I didn't manage to finish before 3 PM.

Ship Showcase

They changed it to a "science fair" style, where everyone leaves their laptops open and presents their work that way. It was much better, and I hung out for a while despite not having anything functional to showcase (an organizer "heavily encouraged" me to go, despite not having a project). Also, a girl named Addy was handing out cat ears to people at Ship Showcase, and I got a pair! That means I got two pairs of cat ears at Shipwrecked, and I love it :3

Hot Ones, and my next project

There was a Hot Ones challenge. I was going to try it, but as soon as they pulled out a waiver, I went running. I don't handle spice very well, and I wanted to get started on my next project. Speaking of which, our next challenge was to make a project that uses as much color as possible. I decided to make a Discord bot for photo filters, and as anyone who knows me would expect, the first filter was a pride flag.

Talentless Show and S'mores

After dinner and some coding, I went to the Waterfront Landing with Astra, a friend of mine! We hung out and discussed voting, as she runs a roleplay government in Hack Club, and in-person elections at Shipwrecked were scheduled for the next day. We watched some of the Talentless Show (which was quite funny) while mosquitos ate us alive. The Shipwrecked mosquitos were actually so bad, mainly because there were so many of them! There were s'mores at the campfire, as there had been on past nights, but I actually attended this one :D

Day 4 (Aug. 11)

I pulled an all-nighter, so we're starting this at midnight!

Conference Room Rave

As soon as the organizers announced that there were boba and snacks in the conference room, people started showing up quickly, despite it being 12:30 AM. Within a minute of the announcement, the room had at least 15 people. Within a few minutes, even more. I mixed AriZona Ginseng tea with boba pearls, and it was great. I also had chips and soda, as well as an energy drink. We then got a massive speaker out and turned it on, and started playing music. It was great! Finally, we went to the Waterfront Landing and helped clean things up.

Magee Lounge

It was time to lock in and code! I was in the Magee dorms on floor one, and my roommate wanted to sleep. Thus, I worked in the lounge. I powered through tiredness and built a functional version of my bot, while listening to people talking about Daydream (a Hack Club satellite event that is long over by now, but had just been announced at the time).

Sunrise

I was awake for sunrise, and wow, it was beautiful. I took my laptop and water bottle outside and sat on a bench to finish coding, and I got my project shipped in the cool morning breeze. Once I shipped, I went to eat breakfast.

Voting!

It was time for the Parliament elections (for the aforementioned Hack Club roleplay government). I helped Astra set up the two ziploc bags (one with ballots and the other as a drop-box), and we announced where to go to vote. I cast my ballot and it was great.

The Great Grand Packathon (and final Ship Showcase)

It was time to pack! I packed my bags and hung out in the quad (grassy area between all of the dorm buildings). It was fun, and I was given a Canadian candy (Coffee Crisp) that I really liked. We then went to a tent-like area for Ship Showcase. On the way, I asked my friend if I could pick up the ziploc bags containing ballots, and she said yes. I brought the bags with me, and I showcased my bot! My laptop died part of the way through the showcase, and there weren't any outlets, but I was still able to showcase and got a cool Shipwrecked keychain! I then found my friend and gave her the ballots.

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony was very fun. They handed out ice pops, and William Daniel was revealed (long story, you would have had to have been at Shipwrecked for the William Daniel lore). Some people then went to the first ferry, but as my flight wasn't until the next day, I stayed. We went to the conference room to clean, and I got some funny pictures. One more quick pride flag salute later, and I boarded the ferry. An organizer gave me $15 for food in Boston, and after we got off of the ferry, I got a CharlieCard loaded with $4.80!

Going Around Boston

I traveled around Boston with Astra. We first went to the airport to retrieve her missing passport, and she (happily) got it back. We got Dunkin' Donuts again, this time with me getting a really good frappe-type drink and a breakfast wrap.

We then took a taxi to the library, which was unexpectedly expensive. We spent a little time there, and then went to Raising Cane's for lunch (I only got one or two chicken tenders, as I wasn't very hungry). Next, we took the Orange Line of the T from Back Bay to Tufts Medical Center, and then the Silver Line 4 bus to South Station.

South Station impressed me a lot. I didn't expect a train station to have stores, a bunch of places to eat, and such amazing architecture. We then got on the Silver Line 1 to the airport, and I said goodbye to Astra. After she had gone inside, I took the free ride back to South Station. On this ride, my phone had died. I tried to memorize the directions to the post-event accommodations (the HI Hostel) when I noticed I only had ~5% battery left, but failed.

Lost in Boston

I arrived in South Station as the sun fully set. I thought to myself "No worries, I'll just charge my phone at the station!" Nope. There are no outlets, and power banks needed a phone with power to rent (you had to scan a QR code). I tried charging off of my power bank and my MacBook, but my MacBook died at ship showcase and my power bank had died the day before (I forgot to charge it).

Ok then, next idea. Boston's maps are quite good (they have little stations that have backlit maps on display). I walked to one and looked, and it didn't list the HI Hostel. I walked around a lot before my anxiety got the better of me, and I went back to the station.

I asked some transit police if they could give me directions, and their directions were so unhelpful that I ended up right back in the station not long after. I decided I might just try to go to the airport to charge, but a transit employee gave me actually useful instructions, and I can now never forget "Don't stop until you reach Kneeland Street".

I got there, then got to the hostel and got checked in. I got up to my room, got my bag and shoes into the cubby by my bed, and went to sleep. It was 11:30 PM now, so I had been lost for about an hour.

Day 5 (Aug. 12)

I slept until around 10:00 AM, then scrolled through Slack messages until hostel check out time at 11:00. I sat in the lobby for around another hour before wanting food.

Apple Maps showed a place nearby called Ding Ho Restaurant that apparently had plates of Chinese food for only $5! It even showed "Credit Cards Accepted", which was good (since I had spent all of my physical money). However, when I got there, they had a cash only sign. I left and went back to South Station, this time with a fully charged phone and in the day.

Food and Travel

I ended up eating at the McDonald's in South Station, as I didn't want to pay airport prices for food.

After eating, I went to the Silver Line 1, paid my fare with the CharlieCard, and got to the airport around three hours before my flight. I then had by far the most painless TSA experience of my life, and ended up at my gate quite quickly.

I then met up with my friend Alex (p variant), who had a flight very close to mine! We talked for a bit about Shipwrecked and some other Hack Club things, and it was great. Once his plane departed, I went back to my gate and plugged my laptop in. While I was waiting, I heavily considered taking an offer to connect through Washington D.C. in exchange for a first class upgrade and some flight credit. However, I didn't end up taking it due to timing. Looking back, I wish I had taken it.

Flying Home

BOS to DEN

I flew from Boston, back to Denver International Airport. I got snacks throughout, and it was enjoyable overall. I used frequent flyer miles to buy internet, and just tried to work and do things throughout the time. Then, I landed in Denver.

Denver International Airport, again

It had been many hours since I had eaten, and I had been saving my money so I could afford airport food. Still, all I could afford at the restaurant I picked (Shake Shack) was a burger. It was a good burger, but not very big, and I couldn't afford a drink. I filled up my water bottle and ate my burger while practically running to my gate (it was a tight connection), and made it.

DEN to Home

I boarded the small plane, and as soon as we were at altitude, I fell asleep. I woke up right before landing, and we then landed at the airport in my home city. My mom was there to pick me up, and we got in the car and headed home.

In Conclusion

Shipwrecked was incredible. While I didn't get the most out of it, and while there were some lows, there were so many amazing moments that made it incredible. It was my first ever hackathon, and I will remember it forever.

What I Learned

I know this is a bit cheesy, but I felt I wanted to include it. From Shipwrecked, I learned how important it is to manage time, work together, and enjoy all of the events (including a lot of the smaller things I missed out on). I know what I will do when I go to more events in the future, and I would be far less prepared if I didn't have Shipwrecked to teach me these things. Oh, and I learned to charge my devices so I don't get lost on the streets of Boston, MA at 11 PM again as well! (/silly)

Final Notes

To all of the organizers, friends, and amazing people who made Shipwrecked the amazing event it was for me, thank you from the bottom of my heart <3

You can watch the full Shipwrecked video here, it covered the full experience really well :3

For names in this post, I either got explicit permission, or they are Hack Club HQ or Shipwrecked organizers (and thus you can get their names by watching the video). If you are named and want me to remove your name, or for anything about this article that anyone wants to tell me, send me an email at nova@novatea.dev!