Utah man bought a cruise ship on Craigslist and spent over $1 million restoring it. Then his dream sank

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN

(CNN) — Buying a historical cruise vessel he recovered connected Craigslist backmost successful 2008 was undoubtedly a life-altering determination for Chris Willson.

The exertion entrepreneur from Utah spent astir 15 years painstakingly restoring nan 293-foot vessel, which contains 85 cabins, a swimming excavation and a theater, and moreover moved connected committee pinch his semipermanent partner Jin Li.

Willson says he poured his life savings into nan passion project, and his bonzer communicative was picked up by CNN and subsequently galore different world publications.

Ship of dreams

His eventual extremity was to toggle shape nan neglected vessel into a museum, but things didn’t rather spell to plan.

In October 2023, Willson made nan achy determination to waste nan vessel, which began sinking astir 7 months later. Now its early looks bleak.

“We perfectly loved our clip pinch that ship,” Willson tells CNN Travel. “It (selling) was astir apt nan hardest point I’ve done successful my life.

“It haunts maine and I suffer slumber complete it. I’m not happy astir it.”

So wherever did it each spell wrong?

Willson’s longstanding relationship to nan retired “pocket” cruise ship, built successful Germany, began erstwhile he came crossed a waste listing connected nan Craigslist classified advertisements website and decided to investigate.

Feeling inspired, Willson decided to acquisition his ain portion of history. He won’t disclose really overmuch he spent, but says he was capable to “work retired a really bully woody pinch nan owner.”

After doing immoderate digging, he discovered that nan vessel, primitively named Wappen von Hamburg, was constructed by nan Blohm and Voss shipyard successful 1955 and had been nan first important rider liner built by Germany aft World War II.

Once he took nan vessel on, Willson arranged for it to beryllium moved to nan California stream metropolis of Rio Vista, wherever it stayed for a year, and renamed it nan Aurora aft spending his first nighttime connected board.

“I woke up to 1 of nan astir superb sunrises I had ever seen,” Willson told CNN backmost successful 2022.

“It was forming an Aurora type effect pinch nan clouds and water. I retrieve reasoning astatine that clip ‘Aurora’ was a fitting name.”

Willson was later offered a berth successful San Francisco’s Pier 38, an statement that came to an extremity aft astir 3 years.

In 2012, he had nan vessel transferred backmost to nan California Delta, California’s largest estuary, mooring nan Aurora astatine Herman & Helen’s Marina successful Little Potato Slough, located astir 24 kilometers from nan metropolis of Stockton successful California’s Central Valley.

“We wanted it successful caller h2o and we wanted it successful shallow water,” he explains. “So it was perfectly nan champion imaginable location that we could person put it.”

Herman & Helen’s Marina closed down a fewer years later, but nan vessel remained astatine nan site.

Although he had nary anterior acquisition moving connected ships, Willson dedicated himself to breathing caller life into nan Aurora, devoting countless hours to renovating it, pinch nan thief of volunteers.

“I’d gotten rather a ways,” he says. “I deliberation we had 10 areas solidly restored and refurnished meticulously. These were benignant of awesome areas. So we were beautiful proud of that.

“So we were doing a beautiful bully job. We had marine engineers involved. (There was) nary deficiency of group coming retired to indebtedness a hand.”

Costly project

“We were moving connected nan swimming excavation and nan guardant decks, and replating each of nan steel.

Aside from a fewer mini donations, Willson says he funded nan bulk of nan renewal activity himself.

Although he’s unsure of nan nonstop magnitude he spent connected maintaining nan vessel and “moving it forward” complete nan years, he estimates nan fig to beryllium good complete $1 million.

“We were making terrific advancement pinch nan Aurora,” he says. “We had a successful YouTube channel. Everything was looking great.”

However, Willson says he faced overmuch guidance from locals, who weren’t thrilled astir having specified a immense decommissioned vessel moored nearby.

The truth that different ample vessel, Canadian MineSweeper HMCS Chaleur, which was moored successful nan aforesaid area, sank successful 2021 surely didn’t thief matters.

According to Willson, he received a “three-day announcement to quit” connected “several occasions,” but section authorities ne'er “followed done pinch an eviction.”

He goes connected to explicate that things came to a caput erstwhile 1940s subject tugboat Mazapeta, stationed adjacent to nan Aurora, besides sank successful January, creating a “pollution issue.”

“Everything benignant of changed from that constituent on,” he says, explaining that various section agencies became involved, and it became clear that “there was really nary early for nan Aurora” astatine that location.

Although Willson did see moving nan ship, he says he learned that nan waterway would’ve apt needed a “million dollars worthy of dredging for america to get out.”

“So we were benignant of stuck there,” he adds.

While they were hopeless to decorativeness what they started, Li says that nan business began to return a immense toll, and nan mates felt that they had nary different action but to “move connected to nan adjacent chapter.”

“Maybe Aurora wasn’t successful nan correct place,” she reflects. “Maybe if Aurora was successful a different state, aliases a different state it would person been different.”

When an willing purchaser showed up who seemed arsenic as passionate astir redeeming nan ship, they decided to waste it.

Willson stresses that he had each assurance that nan unnamed individual was nan correct personification to support nan Aurora going, and spent clip talking them done really to support nan ship.

Over nan years, he’d received furnishings from different historical ships for nan Aurora, which he near connected board, on pinch various pieces of artwork.

When asked astir nan wide information of nan vessel astatine nan time, Willson says that while “there were immoderate holes” erstwhile he first purchased it, they were “patched professionally” and he ne'er had “any problems” afterwards.

Sinking feeling

However, successful May, nan San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office announced that nan Aurora was sinking.

“It has been wished nan vessel has suffered a spread and is taking connected h2o and is presently leaking diesel substance and lipid into nan Delta Waterway,” sounds a connection posted connected X, formerly known arsenic Twitter, connected May 22.

The vessel was refloated by contractors hired by a Unified Command, according to nan US Coast Guard, which confirmed that it had “recently changed ownership.”

“Over nan past respective weeks, consequence contractors, Global Diving and Salvage and subcontractors, successfully refloated nan alloy and removed an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and 5 25-yard bins of debris was removed from nan vessel,” said a connection shared by California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response connected June 28.

“There were nary observations of oiled wildlife passim nan response.”

The City of Stockton has since taken complete nan operation.

According to Connie Cochran, organization relations serviceman for nan City of Stockton, location was “was nary clear ownership” for nan Aurora erstwhile nan business occurred and nan metropolis is presently “figuring retired really to dispose of nan vessel.”

“We’re hoping to beryllium getting it retired of location successful nan coming weeks,” Cochran told CNN, pointing retired that nan size of nan ship, on pinch its location, successful an area that isn’t really wrong nan metropolis limits, has made things moreover much difficult.

Cochran says nan adjacent shape will beryllium determining whether nan ship, which she described arsenic a “public hazard” and “danger to nan environment,” is “structurally stable” capable for a “dead vessel tow” to a location wherever it tin beryllium salvaged.

Although Cochran was incapable to supply an estimate of nan costs for nan ongoing operation, which has seen contractors pinch master knowledge brought in, she says nan metropolis is hoping to “recoup” immoderate of it.

Willson, who maintains that he revenge nan alteration of ownership for nan Aurora pinch nan Coast Guard Vessel archiving center, says he was amazed erstwhile he learned that nan vessel had partially sunk.

“I didn’t spot it sinking,” he says. “We had it for 15 years, and we had nary problem pinch it.”

CNN has been incapable to independently corroborate nan existent registered proprietor of nan ship.

“I meticulously maintained that ship,” adds Willson. “I checked everything connected it aggregate times each day. We were connected it each of nan time… It conscionable saddens maine for illustration thing else.”

Willson has faced dense disapproval for seemingly abandoning nan Aurora, pinch section residents expressing interest astir nan costs to nan City of Stockton.

He admits that he’s recovered immoderate of nan commentary “tough,” but hasn’t fixed up connected nan ship, and plans to do everything he tin to thief nan purchaser he handed it complete to reclaim it, pinch nan purpose of preventing it from being scrapped.

“I don’t really want to fto it go,” he adds. “But it’s nary longer my vessel.”

Willson looks backmost connected his clip pinch nan vessel fondly, recounting really he discovered its original sanction aft removing “six aliases 7 coats of paint” from nan alloy erstwhile he first began moving connected it.

He later learned that nan 2,496 gross ton vessel had been nan inspiration for celebrated TV bid “The Love Boat,” arsenic good arsenic a serving arsenic filming location for nan Spectre criminal statement office successful nan 1963 Bond movie “From Russia pinch Love.”

The alloy served arsenic a cruise vessel for astir 2 years, says Willson, going done respective different owners, arsenic good arsenic names, earlier it was moored successful Vancouver.

It was towed to Alameda, California successful 2005 aft moreover much changes successful some ownership and name. The vessel was group to beryllium turned into a luxury yacht astatine 1 stage, but this ne'er came to fruition.

It subsequently remained astatine Alameda for respective years, earlier being purchased by a businessman, who went connected to database nan vessel connected Craigslist.

Historic ship

Willson says nan vessel was successful bad information and “slowly succumbing to nan encroaching water” earlier he spotted that advertisement successful 2008.

“Nobody knew what nan history of nan alloy was,” he says. “And complete time, we exposed truthful overmuch of its history.

“We turned it from conscionable a large vessel floating retired connected nan Delta that was rusting away, to astir apt 1 of nan astir celebrated vintage cruise ships successful nan world.

“And I’ve sewage to beryllium proud of that.”

Willson says it pains him to spot truthful galore historical ships being scrapped, and he remains hopeful that things will move retired otherwise for nan Aurora, moreover if he has to watch it play retired from a distance.

“There’s only 3 historical liners near successful nan United States, and different 1 of them is astir to spot its destiny arsenic well,” he says, referring to retired water liner SS United States, which has been ordered to time off Philadelphia’s Delaware River.

“So past there’s only going to beryllium nan Queen Mary (a retired water liner moored astatine Long Beach that’s now a celebrated tourer attraction) that’s left.

“So it is very sad to spot specified celebrated ships yet conscionable dismantled, particularly for nary bully reason.”

Willson received a immense magnitude of support from good wishers while he was restoring nan ship, pinch immoderate moreover walking to nan tract successful California to spot it.

He besides built a immense community, pinch different 12,000 followers connected nan Aurora Restoration Project’s Facebook page, and much than 80,000 subscribers to nan YouTube transmission for nan project.

“It was specified a good known vessel,” he says. “And it had everybody’s hearts.

“To this day, it keeps maine awake astatine nighttime clip reasoning astir it. Thinking, ‘What tin I do successful bid to thief nan business out?’

“And astatine nan aforesaid time, I don’t want to, you know, measurement complete my bounds.”

Willson and Li, who person since near California, are presently searching for a caller project, stressing that they’re looking for thing connected land, perchance an aged religion aliases mansion, this clip around.

“We haven’t recovered nan correct one,” Willson says, adding that they’ve “almost landed a woody a mates of times.”

Learning experience

Although things decidedly haven’t turned retired nan measurement he’d hoped, Willson has perfectly nary regrets astir buying nan ship, and says he would do it each complete again if he had nan choice.

In fact, he describes his memories pinch nan vessel and nan “efforts poured into her preservation” arsenic immoderate of nan champion of his life.

“I’ve ne'er had a azygous regret astir redeeming thing for illustration that,” adds Willson, who says he hasn’t visited nan Aurora since nan opening of nan year. “Was it a success?

“Keeping it connected this Earth for an other 15 years erstwhile it would person astir apt sank and past (been) scrapped out…

“I don’t person immoderate regrets connected what I’ve done. It’s been a awesome learning acquisition and showed a batch of group my abilities.

“I couldn’t inquire for thing more.”

Li is besides affirmative astir nan early of nan Aurora contempt nan precariousness of its existent position, pointing to nan countless setbacks nan ships has faced successful nan galore years since it was built.

“Aurora is simply a fighter,” says Li. “I mean, she ever fights. There’s truthful galore times she changed hands. Got abandoned. Got almost scrapped.

“But she still is floating today. I told Chris, ‘Maybe it’s a sad communicative for us. We couldn’t move Aurora much forward.

“But astatine slightest Aurora is fighting her ain fight. She doesn’t want to get scrapped… Wappen von Hamburg doesn’t want to die.’”