'Deep Thought' is Cut Up and Her Story Ends... with a Certificate of Authenticity
- Scott Way
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
We thought the saga of Deep Thought was over, but strangely, she had one last tale to tell.
And that tale comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Many of you will recall the legend that is Deep Thought, the 44-foot Chris-Craft Roamer that ran aground on Milwaukee's Bradford Beach and kicked off a year-long series of struggles, missteps, storylines, and ultimately, sadness.
The unofficial Milwaukee landmark, which was finally auctioned off for a meager $2500 after a months-long media campaign, has been unceremoniously cut up, ending its curious journey from lakefront spectacle into a relic of Milwaukee lore.
A Strange Shoreline Arrival
The Deep Thought drama began in October 2024 when a storm pushed her, and her new owners, aground on Bradford Beach after it ran out of fuel while being transported back to Mississippi. She quickly became entrenched in the sand and the winter ice quickly locked her in.
Media picked up the story, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel leading from the helm the entire way. Deep Thought became a phenomenon in short order -- equal parts comical shipwreck and bureaucratic black hole.
Unable to get it off the beach, the stranded boat became a fixture on Bradford Beach. Locals snapped photos, tagged it with graffiti (including a cheeky SS Minnow decal), and decorated it for the holidays. The boat’s two-sided makeover, one side painted and the other mostly untouched, mirrored the growing divide between municipal frustration and public satire.
The Saga of Salvage, Auction, and Cost
The finances of the boat's grounding quickly stacked up. Salvage efforts cost the county somewhere around $50,000, and despite the city putting the boat up for public auction in hopes of fetching $25-30k, she fetched a mere $2,525 (plus taxes) in August 2025 — well short of expectations. That left taxpayers footing roughly $22,000 of the bill until an anonymous donor and a local philanthropic group stepped in to cover the outstanding amount.
In the end, the boat was purchased by All City Towing, the same company that got her off Bradford Beach. The company's owner Jeff Piller said after the auction was complete that he hoped to do something good with Deep Thought, although it remained to be seen how the haggard Chris-Craft had much left to offer. Amidst all the hubbub, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame even released a limited edition Deep Thought bobblehead for $35, but entrepreneurial options were few.
But leave it to Midwestern ingenuity to turn Deep Thought into a respectable collectible.
Piller cut up Deep Thought after buying her, sending most of her remains to the scrapyard, but kept a few pieces of the hull for those who want to memorialize her legacy. Since the boat was an open canvas for local artists, there were plenty of sections with impressive handicraft. Alongside a certificate of authenticity signed by Piller himself, the art that kept Deep Thought afloat, at least in an artistic sense, are now available.
Piller told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he intends to give sections containing the artwork to local charities, or to those who stop by his shop.
"If someone reaches out, I'll give them a piece, as long as I have one," Piller said. "I made nice authenticity certificates. They're kind of cool. It's a novelty," he told the news outlet.
Piller said he's keeping the transom section that contains the 'Deep Thought' to turn it into a bench for his firepit, but the remaining art pieces have helped turn the legendary boat into a source of positivity for him and the local community.
"It started as a job, just like anything else that we work on and, really, it's been kind of fun, at the later end," Piller said. "I've talked to a lot of interesting people. Everyone thinks it's pretty neat," he told the Sentinel.
Deep Thought's Final Thought
In a curious way, Deep Thought's final resting place isn't the scrapyard, it's part of Milwaukee’s collective memory -- a fate far better than most abandoned vessels. Her demolition won't erase her legacy — if anything, the decision to cut it up and hand out its pieces preserves the story of an abandoned boat that just wouldn't accept being abandoned.
Fair winds and following seas Deep Thought, we hope it's warm by the fire.
Comments