…a Mississippi couple ran their 43-foot Chris-Craft Roamer boat ashore between Bradford and McKinley beaches. The boat—officially named “Deep Thought” but sometimes known as the S.S. Minnow, the S.S. Milwaukee, or just The Boat—remained there for nearly seven months, accruing graffiti and numerous failed salvage attempts. It became a beloved and grassroots Milwaukee Thing.
October 18, 2024
January 6, 2025
February 1, 2025
March 13, 2025
On April 23, 2025, Mayor Cavalier Johnson came out and surveyed the boat. He promised it would finally be towed in a day or two. It was not.
April 23, 2025
May 2, 2025
On May 6, 2025, Milwaukee-based towing company All City Towing finally dragged the sucker over the rocks and whisked it away. The operation took a full day. The world watched. The world was riveted.
A public auction for the wrecked and tagged-up boat followed. In the end, All City owner Jeff Piller was the winning bidder. His final bid was $2,525—approximately $17,475 less than what Milwaukee County was hoping for to cover the cost of the towing operation.
“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 time. “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. […] I would encourage any of the local charities that hold auction events to possibly reach out and we can collaborate. 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.”
May 27, 2025
We’ve reached out to All City Towing about the current status of the boat, and we’ll let you know when/if we hear back from them. (Has anyone driven by the place lately? Is it still sitting in the lot?) In the meantime, take a moment to savor this red letter day in Milwaukee history. And maybe go back and read the 27 articles we wrote about the boat. And listen to the song we wrote about it, too.
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