A curiosity to some, a troublesome eyesore to most, the remains of an abandoned boat that has been beached along Milwaukee’s lakefront for the past six months are finally being salvaged.
The boat (aka Deep Thought, aka Milwaukee’s S.S. Minnow) is to be removed from its spot between McKinley Beach and Bradford Beach by the end of the day Wednesday, if all goes as planned and the weather cooperates.
The removal operation got underway early Wednesday morning under cloudy skies, boosted by funds from anonymous donor secured by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. By law, it’s the responsibility of the boat’s owner to remove it, but with the vessel being abandoned, it’s been unclear on which local entity the salvage responsibility fell.
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The DNR, Coast Guard, the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County all have said that the it wasn’t their responsibility but, in the end, the city stepped forward.
“It doesn’t take a lot of deep thought to see and to know that this boat is an eyesore for people who live in this neighborhood and for people who live here in Milwaukee,” Johnson said as he stood along the shore of the windswept lakefront late Wednesday morning.
Johnson gave little hint as to the donor’s identity. “I can tell you it’s a spirit of collaboration and wanting to see Milwaukee be the best city that it possibly can be,” he said. “I’m very grateful for them stepping up to make sure we can remove this nuisance.”
The 33-foot Chris-Craft Roamer is owned by a Mississippi couple, Richard and Sherry Wells, who told local reporters that they planned to retire on the boat but their plans went awry when they were caught in a storm and their vessel ran aground on Oct. 13, stuck in the sand about 15 feet from shore ever since.
Jerry Guyer, owner of Jerry’s Silo Marina, and his crew were at the lakefront shortly after sunrise on Wednesday. He estimated the cost of removing the boat to be about $25,000, barring any last-minute unforeseen costs.
“We’re literally at that point today,” he said. “It doesn’t take much when you figure the number of people, the equipment, what we’re doing and the uniqueness.”
Few salvage operations are alike, Guyer noted. “This is not our first rodeo,” he said. “Every single situation is unique. Mother Nature is one of our biggest issues.”
Guyer and his crew have made at least five attempts to salvage the boat, he said. They’ve tried to pull the boat out of the sand using larger vessels, to no avail.
“You have tons of water in the boat along with potentially tons of sand that has washed in with the water, making quite a challenge,” he said.
The boat, in its normal condition, likely weighed in at 15,000 pounds but probably stood at 25,000 pounds when filled with sand and water.
“A boat can’t be lifted out of the water with any crane in Milwaukee if the boat is full of water. The volume of the boat exceeds most cranes’ capacity,” Guyer said.
On Wednesday, a barge arrived at the site along with a pontoon boat that pushed a work platform into place.
“We’ve installed a big block so that we can put a winch on that block and run a cable into the bow of the boat,” Guyer explained. “We’ll put a tension on the boat as we’re pumping the water out. The concept is you lighten the boat. We also have an air compressor running that pumps air under the boat to hopefully break the suction.”
Lift bags, with capacities ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 pounds, also arrived on site.
“We may have to attach those if we see the boat is not floating,” Guyer said. “We may have to give it extra flotation because we have to tow it all the way back into the Milwaukee River when we’re successful here. If all that goes well and the weather stays calm, it’ll be gone today. If not, much of this will stay on site and we’ll come back tomorrow morning.”
Guyer said his squad conducts between 10 to 20 salvage operations per year. His business doesn’t get any compensation for about one-third of those projects.
“It’s just the nature of the game and we take it on knowing that. I’m not complaining about it. It’s just the nature of this business,” he said.
Sand has added to the complexity of this salvage.
“Believe it or not, being on the beach is terrible,” Guyer said. “We salvaged an airplane once eight miles out in 180-foot of water. That didn’t take long at all. But with this on the beach, the water level is so down.”
Guyer’s crew has spent about 100 hours in working to salvage the boat. “But my concern is let’s get it off the beach so that we can enjoy the beautiful lakefront,” he said.
Johnson said the donation will free city and county taxpayers of most of the cost burden association with the project.
“My hope is that we’ll be able to take care of it and not have it fall on the backs on taxpayers. I think we’ll be able to accomplish that,” he said.
Johnson spoke repeatedly of the need to successfully remove the boat in time for the warmer weather that attracts large crowds to the lakefront.
“We’ve got some of the most spectacular access to Lake Michigan,” he said. “This is a point of pride in our community and to have a nuisance like this on the beach is not a good look for Milwaukee, especially given all the things that happen on our lakefront any given summer.”
Johnson said he couldn’t speak as to whether there is any continuing investigation and efforts to track down the boat’s owners and recoup any costs.“My goal was just to make sure to get the boat removed,” he said.
Johnson said he plans work with the donor in the event final costs for the salvage project are higher than expected.“I’m very grateful that the donor did step up,” he said.
