'Deep Thought' Sells for $2500 Leaving Milwaukee County to Foot the Bill

Photo- Mike Norris / Pexels

Milwaukee's infamous abandoned boat, Deep Thought, has a new owner. Unfortunately, the auction well fell short of expectations and sold for a mere $2500 to the same company that helped remove it. After washing ashore on Milwaukee's Bradford Beach during a storm in October 2024, the boat quickly achieved mythical status. Government officials, and the boat's owners, battled back and forth about who was responsible for removing it. In the end, it was determined the City of Milwaukee was responsible for getting Deep Thought off the beach, but that was just the beginning of a months-long saga.

The vessel spent the winter being thrashed by frigid Wisconsin temperatures. Locals turned the boat into an unofficial landmark, snapping photos for social media, decorating it for Christmas, covering it in graffiti, and ultimately pillaging everything of value onboard. It became so popular that a limited edition bobblehead was offered to locals who wanted to champion the battered boat and its quest for fair treatment.

Deep Thought underwent several makeovers during her 10 months on the beach -- a Jekyll and Hyde transformation of sorts with her port side (facing the beach) getting multiple new paint schemes, while her starboard side (facing the water) remaining mostly untouched.

As the auction pictures show, however, there was no way the 44-foot boat was going to be seaworthy again. Holes were evident throughout her hull, and her interior had been completely torn apart from both weather and theft. The addition of the "SS Minnow" sticker on her starboard side, undoubtedly left by a local, represents as a cheeky ode to her reputation among Milwaukee's residents.

When they finally removed her tattered shell from Bradford Beach in April, city officials hoped to recoup the hefty $50,000 recovery costs by auctioning her off to someone who'd appreciate her story. Despite a donation from an anonymous Wisconsinite, and another from the Hoan Foundation -- a Milwaukee non-profit -- the city was still short roughly $25,000. In July, prior to the auction, Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “It could be a real money-making opportunity for someone... There's a lot of excitement surrounding this boat.” “If we can make a profit that would be even better,” added Wasserman. Despite hopes of a buyer willing to undertake the challenge of rebuilding the 40-year-old Chris-Craft Roamer, Deep Thought sold for only $2525 to All City Towing, the same company involved in removing it. With taxes, her total cost was $2807.67.

There were 45 bids registered, although the auction had 15,622 visitors -- a sure sign that locals were invested in seeing where her journey would end.

Even with the public interest, the sale price leaves city taxpayers on the hook for roughly $22,000. On the auction site, bidding was slow leading to the August 5th deadline, which left an opportunity for All City Towing's owner, Jeff Piller, to scoop up the troubled vessel. Piller told the Sentinel, “I want to do good things with the boat and not let it cost an arm and a leg.”

He told the newspaper he hopes to cut up parts of the boat and sell them off for charity. With the outstanding bill left behind in Deep Thought's wake, Wasserman told the Sentinel the cost for salvaging the boat would have to be pulled from the parks department, possibly its emergency maintenance fund. "The taxpayers are going to have to take it on the chin on this one," he said. Wasserman tried to put a positive spin on things, however, telling the newspaper that despite the low auction numbers the county avoided another $3000 in disposal costs.

"I'm happy to announce as of today, Milwaukee County is officially out of the yacht business, and I couldn't be happier," Wasserman told the Sentinel. #news