Infamous abandoned boat ‘Deep Thought’ officially removed from Milwaukee’s lakefront

By Bill Walsh

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    MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — The city of Milwaukee witnessed the official removal of the abandoned boat along Bradford Beach Tuesday night.

But the infamous boat did not leave without a fight. After using equipment to pull the boat over rocks and loading the boat onto a tow truck, a few tires became very low from what the crews called “a lot of weight.”

The truck was leaning heavily to the right, but as of 8:30 p.m., the boat is officially gone, with those low tires and a police escort.

Crews say removing the approximately 75,000-pound beached boat was no easy feat, facing a lot of challenges, but it also wasn’t an easy goodbye for what many people are calling a piece of Milwaukee history.

“Deep Thought” was abandoned along Lake Michigan for months.

Multiple past removal attempts have failed. In one instance, a barge brought in by a salvage company to assist became stuck itself, compounding the challenge. That boat was removed from the site where it was stuck around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A portion of Lincoln Memorial Drive was closed during the process.

“It’s iconic,” one spectator said Tuesday afternoon. “People are jumping in the water next to it, having parties…there’s been folk songs written about the boat… people feel connected to it.”

Crowds showed up throughout the day Tuesday to see the story come to its end. At one point, our crews saw about 100 people there to catch what could be their last glimpse of the abandoned boat.

The consensus from the crowd appeared to be that the boat should’ve been removed long ago, but they’ve been enjoying the community it’s created.

Tuesday, for example, you could see families with their baby strollers, students with their laptops, others taking a lunch break and sunbathing. Essentially, a place to hang out and see what’s become a part of Milwaukee history.

“It’s a huge part of our culture. Since October, people have been talking about the boat, visiting. There’s not a time, day or night, that people aren’t checking it out,” shared Shorewood resident William Oumet.

As for what’s next, the boat is slowly making its way to the All City Towing yard, and County Executive Crowley says they may even consider making a profit over the leftover pieces of the boat.

Milwaukee’s District 11 Alderman Peter Burgelis stopped by at one point to take a look at the progress.

“Getting rid of this boat- although people like to joke about it- frankly, what it’s done is bring people to the lakefront. The more people on the lakefront, the better,” he said.

Some say the boat should just be removed and tossed, while others have thrown around the idea of relocating it to a safer spot, as an art exhibit.

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