Latest news with #Chris-CraftRoamer
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
County hires salvage firm to remove Deep Thought from Lake Michigan shoreline next week
The boat plot thickens. After numerous attempts to rescue Deep Thought, the Chris-Craft Roamer that has been marooned in the Lake Michigan shoreline since Oct. 13, Jerry Guyer has been told his services are no longer needed. "I haven't given up," Guyer, the owner of Silo Marina told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The county told me to stop." According to Milwaukee County Supervisor Shelton Wasserman, the county signed a $55,000 contract with a Milwaukee-based company to remove the boat from where it is lodged 4 to 5 feet in the sandy shoreline of Lake Michigan between McKinley Marina and Bradford Beach. Weather permitting, the removal will happen May 6. Wasserman said the company has prior experience working with the county and picking up overturned semis on the highways. The name of the company has not yet been made public. Wasserman said the company will be bringing in equipment to pick the boat up and over the large boulders that form a barrier between the sandy beach and the beach's parking lot. Guyer's crew had been attempting to remove the boat by removing water and pulling it out of the sand, hoping to loosen it up and then pull it back into the water. Guyer's last attempt to remove Deep Thought was April 28. A pontoon he and his crew were using ended up getting broken and washing ashore in the process. Wasserman said the county will be paying for the boat's removal but hopes the county can be reimbursed for its efforts. The boat is on county property and its owners, Sherry and Richard Wells, left it after they ran out of gas. The Mississippi couple has expressed an inability to pay for its removal. To date, two donors have made donations to reimburse whomever removes the boat. This is another reason Guyer is concerned. Guyer did not have a contract with the city of Milwaukee, said Jeff Fleming, the Milwaukee mayor's spokesman, but he was put in contact with an anonymous donor. Guyer said he has spent $27,000 on salvage efforts. Now Guyer is worried he might not be reimbursed for his attempts, period. "The parks department does feel this new company is capable of removing it, and doing it in an environmentally safe way," Wasserman said. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County to remove Deep Thought from Lake Michigan May 6
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Second boat stuck on Lake Michigan shoreline with Deep Thought
There is now another broken-down vessel in need of rescue along Milwaukee's Lake Michigan shoreline. On April 28, Jerry Guyer, the owner of Silo Marina, once again attempted to salvage Deep Thought, a Chris-Craft Roamer, from its resting spot deep in the sand between McKinley Marina and Bradford Beach. In the process, a pontoon boat he and his salvage crew were using was washed up on the shoreline during evening storms, Guyer said. Guyer said it was bad enough that the storm pushed the pontoon up on the sand, where it is now resting between Deep Thought and the rocks, but one of the aluminum floaters has completely broke off, too, and is floating farther down the beach. "We are dealing with Mother Nature," Guyer told the Journal Sentinel on April 30. "That is always an unknown." Guyer said the mounting pressure, public interest and publicity documenting his efforts to salvage the boat, which has been stranded since Oct. 13 when its owners from Mississippi ran out of gas and headed back home, "doesn't really bother me too much." The pressure for him to get Deep Though removed amped up April 23. That's when Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson held a press conference, Guyer at his side, to announce an anonymous donor had come forward to pay for a portion of the cost to salvage the boat. At the time, Guyer had estimated he'd spent $20,000 on the effort. Now, he has the cost of a destroyed pontoon boat to add to the cost. It should be the responsibility of the boat owners to pay for its removal. But Sherry and Richard Wells have avoided phone calls and are no longer communicating with Guyer. In early April, Milwaukee County finally admitted the boat was lodged on its property. But no one from the county is stepping up with any solutions, other than to say county taxpayers will not foot the bill for the boat's removal. "It is the nature of the unknown," Guyer said of any salvage effort. "This thing has taken on a life of its own." Jessica Van Egeren is a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pontoon boat joins Deep Thought on the shoreline of Lake Michigan
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
You can remember Deep Thought, Milwaukee's abandoned boat, with this limited-edition bobblehead
Deep Thought, Milwaukee's favorite abandoned boat, may soon be gone, but you can remember its six-month stay on the lakefront with a limited-edition bobblehead. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee announced April 25 that the Deep Thought Milwaukee Abandoned Boat Bobble is available for pre-order in the museum's online store. "The bobble features the boat that has become an unofficial Milwaukee landmark after it was abandoned in mid-October 2024 along the city's lakefront ...," National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said in an email to the Journal Sentinel. "This bobble will give anyone who wants to remember Milwaukee's most famous boat the opportunity to have a replica version in bobble form!" The graffiti-covered bobble boat is positioned on two springs on an oval, blue, water-and-sand-textured base with "Deep Thought" printed in white letters on the front of the base. The bobblehead is about 8 inches long. Only 2,025 bobbleheads will be available, exclusively in the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum's online store. They're $35, plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order. They're expected to ship in November 2025, according to a news release from the museum. Deep Thought, a 33-foot Chris-Craft Roamer, became stuck between Milwaukee's McKinley Marina and Bradford Beach on Oct. 13 after its Mississippi-based owners ran out of gas. Weather, costs and other challenges repeatedly delayed the boat's removal. As the months went by, Deep Thought became somewhat of a Milwaukee icon, earning an entry on Google Maps, its own "I Closed Wolski's" sticker and T-shirts and other merch inspired by it. Eventually, it became covered in graffiti. Most of its electronics have been picked over or destroyed. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson recently called it dangerous and an "eyesore." After uncertainty about who would be responsible for organizing and paying for the boat's removal, Johnson announced Wednesday that an anonymous donor had offered to cover at least part of the cost of removal. Jerry Guyer, the owner of Jerry's Silo Marina, and his team have been working to get the boat unstuck throughout the week. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is at 170 S. 1st St. in Milwaukee. Deep Thought is far from the museum's first bobblehead depicting a Milwaukee legend ― others include Bay View celebrity The Milverine and famous Brewers fan Front Row Amy. More: Anonymous donor paying for Deep Thought's removal from Milwaukee shoreline More: All of our reporting on Deep Thought, the abandoned boat along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bobblehead Museum releases Deep Thought abandoned boat bobblehead
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
One piece gone, the bulk of Milwaukee's abandoned boat still to go
Nobody game them permission, but a crew from a local salvage company once again took it upon themselves to try and remove an abandoned boat from Milwaukee's lakeshore. On April 22, a crew employed by Jerry Guyer, a local salvage guy who owns Silo Marina, arrived on the section of beach between McKinley Marina and Bradford Beach. They had one mission: get the boat's flybridge and cockpit off the Lake Michigan shoreline. With sawzalls in hand, the crew cut through what formerly was the top of the boat, then hauled the pieces up and over roughly 30 feet of boulders where a trailer was waiting to haul the parts away. Nobody has claimed responsibility for removing the flybridge from Deep Thought, a Chris-Craft Roamer, but it was found on the beach April 15. The boat was abandoned by a Mississippi couple on Oct. 13 when they ran out of gas and missed the entrance to McKinley Marina, where they had planned to dock for two nights. Guyer has attempted to salvage the boat but had to halt efforts once winter rolled around. Deep Thought has been lodged in the shoreline sand for six months. On April 18, Milwaukee County's corporation counsel said it is the county's responsibility to remove the boat from its resting spot. County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman specifically said on April 21 that Guyer "is not authorized to move the boat," and would not be reimbursed by the county for his efforts. Guyer sent out his crew on April 22 anyways. Guyer estimates he has spent at least $20,000 on salvage efforts, including equipment. He has repeatedly said that once he starts a project, he wants to be able to finish it. That is proving to be the case with Deep Thought. "It's a challenge," Guyer told the Journal Sentinel. "I'm not giving up." Weather permitting, his crews will be back out in the morning. This story has been updated to include a video. Jessica Van Egeren covers abandoned boats and other topics of interest for the Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: One piece gone, a bulk of Milwaukee's abandoned boat still to go
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Milwaukee County responsible for abandoned boat, but original owners from Michigan may have to pay for its removal
It's looking like the abandoned boat, Deep Thought, won't be hanging around the Lake Michigan shoreline to soak up the summer sunshine. If all goes as planned, the Chris-Craft Roamer will be gone sometime next week, Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Wasserman said the county's corporation counsel recently was asked to determine which state, local or federal agency has legal jurisdiction over the abandoned boat's removal. On April 17, he was told the boat's removal was the county's responsibility. Since October 2024, when it was abandoned by a couple from Mississippi, it has remained stuck between McKinley Park and Bradford Beach. "The boat is our responsibility. It is resting on county bedrock," Wasserman said. "Because we have such an unsafe environment, we are taking it upon ourselves to remove it as soon as possible." Estimates to salvage it range from $20,000 to $100,000. Wasserman said the county will pay for its removal but intends to be reimbursed. But reimbursed by who? Wasserman said the county's corporation council also told him that Sherry and Richard Wells, the Mississippi couple who purchased the boat in October 2024, never registered the boat in their names. The couple bought the boat in Manitowoc from a Michigan couple, Wasserman said. "The original owners may still be responsible for this boat," he said. "Our lawyers may be going after the original owners for the money." Deep Thought has become an attraction of sorts. People can often be found taking selfies near it, it's been dubbed The Minnow on Google Maps, it's covered in graffiti and, earlier this week, its flybridge was removed and placed on the beach. "We are having the parks department figure out who can do the job as soon as possible and as least expensive as possible and who will reimburse us," Wasserman said. "The goal is to have it removed next week. I don't know if that will happen, but that is the plan." More: All of our reporting on Deep Thought, the abandoned boat along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee This story will be updated. Jessica Van Egeren is a general assignment reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County set to move abandoned boat next week, but who'll pay?
