Deep Thought Goes Up For Auction This Week

Deep Thought aka S.S. Minnow. Photo taken May 6, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.

A public auction for the infamous boat Deep Thought will go live Tuesday, July 22.

The boat, which ran aground on Milwaukee’s lakeshore in the fall of 2024 and remained there over the winter, will officially go up for sale online. The proceeds of the sale will go to Milwaukee County, which paid to remove the boat in May.

The auction website has not gone live, yet, according to a spokesperson for Milwaukee County Parks. But, Tuesday morning at 9:15 a.m., the bidding begins.

In October 2024, a couple from Mississippi steered their 44-foot boat into the shore between Bradford and McKinley beaches after it ran out of gas. They abandoned it there, where the forces of the lake filled it with water and sand, and where vandals damaged and covered it in graffiti.

A local salvager made attempts to remove the boat, to no success. Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced an anonymous donor interested in paying for the salvage. But in May, with summer on the horizon, the county parks department contracted with All City Towing for the job. All City used three heavy duty tow trucks to hoist and pull the boat out of the sand and over the rocky shore. The boat was so filled with sand and water it weighed 50 tons.

The boat had become a meme online and a local attraction in person. A crowd of hundreds gathered the day the boat was removed.

In June, Parks officials discussed selling the boat with county policymakers. Officials agreed a public auction made most sense, but no one really knew what the boat would fetch.

“That boat is never going to float again without significant investment,” Parks Deputy Director Jim Tarantino said. “It’s more like a piece of art. It’s more like a sculpture at this point.”

Should the boat be sold whole? Chopped up into pieces and sold like souvenirs? Ultimately, Parks landed on a public auction.

The boat is still sitting on the All City tow lot. Once, the big question was whether the boat would be removed. Now, those following its continued saga are wondering, how much will it sell for?

Urban Milwaukee will publish a member’s only bulletin when the auction website goes live. This story will also be updated with a link to the auction site.