Over 100 spectators gather to cheer and mourn 'Deep Thought' for what could be its final hours in Milwaukee

More than a hundred people swarmed Milwaukee's lakefront. A stretch of North Lincoln Memorial Drive was completely closed. A helicopter whirred overhead. You'd think someone important was in town.
But no. It wasn't someone, but rather something — Milwaukee's iconic abandoned boat.
Starting at 7 a.m. on May 6, crew members kicked off a sixth attempt to remove the boat, 'Deep Thought,' from the shoreline between Bradford Beach and McKinly Marina. Around noon, owner of All City Towing Jeff Piller announced the boat would likely remain on the beach for several more hours.
'It's a lot heavier than I thought,' Piller said. 'Now's a good time for a bathroom break."
Milwaukee County contracted the Milwaukee-based towing company to lead the latest attempt to rescue Deep Thought, which has also been nicknamed 'The S.S. Minnow' by locals. Throughout the morning, crew members used two cranes to rotate the boat 90 degrees and drag it out of the water and onto the lakeside rocks.
Earlier that morning, the crew also successfully salvaged the mangled remnants of a pontoon boat that got stuck next to Deep Thought in late April in a previous, failed rescue attempt.
Cheering — and at times, lamenting — the removal attempts were at least 100 spectators. As the sun glinted off Lake Michigan on the 70-degree day, runners, bikers, families and dogs alike gathered for the what could be boat's final hours.
What do resident think should happen to the defunct boat?
Work is done to remove the abandoned boat "Deep Thought" from the shoreline of Lake Michigan near Bradford Beach in Milwaukee on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. The boat has been stuck since October after its Mississippi-based owners ran out of gas while operating it.
By mid-morning on May 6, the grass was littered with backpacks, bikes, strollers and sweaters of the spectating crowd. Some, like Milwaukee resident Paul Fredrichs, said he planned to stay the entire day. Fredrichs said he's visited the boat regularly since October and worries it's become 'a bit of a hazard.'
"Seems very Milwaukee-esque," he said of the spectacle. "One of our cheap amusements."
In recent weeks, the Daniel W. Hoan Foundation donated $10,000 to rescue attempts, on top of an undisclosed amount already proffered by an anonymous donor.
Milwaukee resident Elizabeth Ketter said she wonders about the time and resources funneled into the effort. During the boat's removal, a portion of North Lincoln Memorial Drive was closed to traffic for most of the day. Traffic was even at a near total stop a little before 9 a.m. as commuters navigated the detour.
"It's become an inconvenience to the city,' Ketter said.
Deep Thought has become a 'Milwaukee landmark,' others say
Work is done to remove the abandoned boat "Deep Thought" from the shoreline of Lake Michigan near Bradford Beach in Milwaukee on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. The boat has been stuck since October after its Mississippi-based owners ran out of gas while operating it.
Not everyone was ready to say goodbye to what they called a modern-day 'Milwaukee landmark.'
West Allis resident Kelly Haessly said she's been following the boat's story since last fall and visited it for the first time May 6 with her son, who she did not identify and her dog, Bodie.
'We happened to be off work, and today was the big day,' Haessly said.
For others, it was far from their first trip to the site. In the past few weeks, Milwaukee resident Alexander Minik said he's helped organize a boat "funeral," lit a candle at a boat vigil and even visited the site a final time in the early morning hours of May 6.
"The boat has brought so many people together — artists, dancers, community members. It's funny, iconic, whimsical," Minik said. "I hope it continues to be this monkey wrench in the city's side."
Shorewood resident Peter Froelich said he's biked past the boat almost every day since it got stuck. As crew members dragged 'Deep Thought' up the rocks, inch by inch, he said he hopes it won't be the last he sees of the boat.
If its owners are willing, Froelich said he would like to see the boat attached to a trailer as a traveling attraction for Milwaukee's summer beer gardens.
'I'd buy a little chunk of it if that was an option,' Froelich added.
MATC student sold 'S.S. Minnow' keepsakes to onlookers
In fact, it was.
Magnus Bonde, a 19-year-old first-year Milwaukee Area Technical College student, had the same idea. As the removal effort was underway, he was selling wood cut-outs he and his father salvaged from inside Deep Thought for $10.
The wood, which included an engraving that read 'deep thought MKE,' was taken from the boat by Bonde and his father on May 5.
'The Minnow is an iconic piece of Milwaukee history," Bonde said, as he sold the last of the half-dozen or so of the keepsakes he had made.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee abandoned boat finally dragged out of Lake Michigan

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