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Copal Selva, launched a crowdfunding campaign to refloat his self-built barge, the Golden Crow, when it sunk in Regent's Canal near to the Angel. He launched a crowdfunding campaign after his self-built canal boat suddenly sank last week has been “overwhelmed” by support.

Copal Deselva, 39, raised more than £5,000 in just nine days after launching an online fundraising effort aimed at restoring his boat and saving him from homelessness.

He discovered last Monday that The Golden Crow, the boat he has been building for two years, had sunk in the Regent’s Canal near Angel, where it was moored. He had been staying at his girlfriend’s house on the Sunday evening but on returning home found the boat six feet under water.

“It was devastating,” he said. “It’s my home, my possessions and my dream and it was all just lying at the bottom of the canal. I still don’t know how the boat sunk, but I think it might have been a hit-and-run.”

Mr Deselva then came up with the idea of launching a crowdfunding campaign. He posted an appeal online asking for donations so he could raise and restore the boat.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the support,” he said. “It’s so nice to be part of a wonderful community that cares. It’s come out of nowhere.”

On Tuesday, a three-man team from the River Canal Rescue, which offers breakdown and recovery assistance on the waterways, managed to raise the boat using a tarpaulin, rope and three petrol-powered pumps.

Luckily, some of Mr Deselva’s most valuable possessions, including a 300-year-old Nepalese drum, survived despite the soaking.

He works as a tarot reader and “healer”, a therapist specialising in inversion therapy, which involves being upside down or at an inverted angle.

Last Thursday, pupils from Highbury Grove and Highbury Fields schools who had just received their GCSE results enthusiastically helped him carry debris from his boat.

Meanwhile, the Canal and River Trust has allowed Mr Deselva to stay on the canal near Angel until he is able to get a tow elsewhere, and has offered to take away any waste.

Boaters can usually tie up in one place for 14 days, but near the Angel it’s only seven.

Mr Deselva believes he needs around £5,000 to restore his boat to its former condition and pay River Canal Rescue for their services, but he has set a fundraising target of £20,000, which he admits would allow him to finish off his boat.

“This would allow me to finally get my home finished so I can fully focus on my healing,” he said.

In the next few days the 39-year-old hopes to get a tow to Hackney, where he can moor outside the Proud Archivist pub off Kingsland Road. He plans to use a dehumidifier and heater to fully dry the interior of his boat.

He then plans to head a bit further out of London so he can get more work done on the boat.