Deep Thought / Minnow / Milwaukee Boat auction ends at $2,525 (and the new owner is a bit of a surprise)

Another chapter of the nearly 10-month Deep Thought / S.S. Minnow / Milwaukee Boat saga has come to an end. And all for the low, low price of $2,525.

Yes, a two-week public online auction for the junked craft ended Tuesday at noon. The surprise winning bid—$2,525—came from none other than Jeff Piller, owner of All City Towing. Piller and his company successfully towed the boat in May. The boat has been sitting in the All City lot ever since.

“Have you ever had something when you’re cleaning out your house and you just can’t throw it away, or you can’t let it go?” Piller said at the All City lot following a press conference counting down the end of the auction on Tuesday. “I think my staff and I and everyone involved has really grown to love it, and we want to keep doing good stuff with it.”

So what would that “good stuff” be? According to Piller, the boat may be cut into pieces, and those pieces may be auctioned off.

“I would encourage any of the local charities that hold auction events to possibly reach out and we can collaborate,” Piller said. “There might be some nice pieces of artwork that could be auctioned for a good cause. Bar owners, any local places that could do some good things with pieces of it.”

Piller’s bid is significantly less than Milwaukee County’s hoped-for $20,000.

“I wish we had a higher amount for a bid. We lost $17,475. Milwaukee County Parks are going to be paying for that,” said Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman on Tuesday. “But we are also very fortunate we do not have to pay for the cost of environmentally removing this boat, because otherwise it would be an additional $3,000. So we have saved money that way for the County.”

The original Mississippi owners of the 43-foot Chris-Craft Roamer, Richard and Sherry Wells, ran the boat ashore between Bradford and McKinley beaches on October 13, 2024. The boat stayed there—accruing graffiti, fame, and failed salvage attempts—for nearly seven months.

October 18, 2024

January 6, 2025

February 1, 2025

May 2, 2025

All City Towing finally towed the boat on May 6, 2025. The cost of the operation? Fifty-thousand dollars—Milwaukee County’s “do-not-exceed” limit given to All City. With the original owners out of the picture and the craft legally classified as abandoned, Milwaukee County was on the hook for that $50K. The Daniel W. Hoan Foundation donated $10,000 to help offset the cost, and an anonymous donor kicked in an additional $20,000. Milwaukee County was looking to recoup the remaining $20,000 with the auction.

May 6, 2025

So why didn’t the County pursue legal action against the original Mississippi owners? “We’ve explored all legal options looking at the previous owners, and they just don’t have money,” Wasserman said on Tuesday. “It’s a very sad tale of what happened with these individuals. They don’t have money. Our corporation counsel has determined that if we really wanted to go after them, it would cost us more legal fees than anything we’d ever get back.” So there you go.