Californian bought an old cruise ship on Craigslist: why does he need it

It's not every day that you spot a cruise ship for sale on Craigslist. So Chris Wilson was immediately intrigued when he stumbled upon the 2008m boat on a classifieds site in 89. Little did he know then that this purchase would change his life. CNN.

Photo: IStock

A decommissioned German-built mini cruise ship was docked in the California Delta at the time, and its then owner was keen to sell it.

After seeing the announcement come up many times, Wilson, who had been working on developing virtual reality tours, decided to do a little research.

“I was kind of posing as a potential buyer when I actually had no interest in buying the ship,” Wilson said. “To put it mildly, it was a little above my level.”

After he boarded the liner, Wilson was struck by how much the 2496 gross-tonne ship had been neglected over the years. However, as he began to explore further, he realized that under all the "garbage" on board, there was a rather imposing five-level vessel in front of him.

“He has one of the most impressive layouts of any ship I have ever seen,” he adds.

“It's almost like finding an old '60s Corvette in a garage. You can see the quality is there, but it’s so neglected that you almost feel sorry for it,” Chris said.

Digging into the ship's history, he discovered that it was built by the Blohm and Voss shipyard in 1955 and was the first significant passenger liner built by Germany after World War II.

The more he learned about the ship, which was originally named Wappen von Hamburg, the more convinced he was that he was ready to take on the project.

After carefully considering the scope of what it means to own a mini-cruise ship, Wilson drew up a recovery plan and decided to take a chance.
While he doesn't want to discuss the amount he paid, he says he was able to "get a really good deal with the ship's owner."

On the subject: Childhood dream: a man lives in an old plane in the middle of the forest for almost 20 years

But once he signed the dotted line, he had to figure out where he would put the ship. Luckily, Wilson was able to secure a lease in the Californian river town of Rio Vista and arrange for the ship to be towed there. That's when the recovery process began.

Project

The first step was to get rid of all the rubbish on board — Wilson says there were hundreds of bags of household trash, along with old mattresses and blankets. Wilson found volunteers to help.

“I thought it would be a long project,” Wilson says. “The scale of this was enormous. It’s almost like remodeling 15 houses on your own.”

After spending several months traveling three hours from his home in Santa Cruz to work on the ship, Wilson decided to move aboard with his partner Jean Lee to focus fully on the project as well as ensure its safety.

“When I first came on board, many of my friends and family didn’t believe it,” he admits. “It was quite a big lifestyle change.” But I see it more as an upgrade, even though we are off the grid and run mostly on generators and solar panels.”

As he began to delve into the ship's history, Wilson says he learned that not only was it the inspiration for the hit television series The Love Boat, but it was also the location for the filming of the headquarters of the Specter criminal organization in the 1963 James Bond film "From Russia with love".

The ship served as a cruise ship for about two decades and went through several owners and several names before docking in Vancouver, he said.

After several ownership and name changes, the ship was towed to Alameda, California in 2005. Plans were made to turn her into a luxury yacht, but they ultimately failed.

The ship remained in Alameda for several years until a businessman bought it and moved it to the California Delta. The ship was thought to be on the brink of death when Wilson saw it advertised on Craiglist in 2008.

historic ship

“The more I learned about the history, the more I thought it might be a coastal landmark, like the Queen Mary [an ocean liner docked in Long Beach that is now a popular tourist attraction],” he explains. “I would like to turn it into a museum and let people give tours here.”

He estimates that it will cost about $3 million to turn the ship into a shore attraction.

Wilson, who had no experience on ships, spent about 14 years repairing the ship with the help of volunteers.

"I'm pretty savvy," he says, explaining that he has rebuilt a lot of cars in the past and previously worked as an electrical engineer doing disaster recovery.

He renamed the ship the Aurora after spending the first night on board.

“I woke up to one of the brightest sunrises I’ve ever seen,” Wilson explains. “It created an Aurora-type effect with clouds and water. I remember thinking at the time that 'Aurora' was an appropriate name."

With the help of volunteers, along with Lee, who Wilson says played a key role in the Aurora's preservation, he completed some of the aisle repairs, as well as the living room and a number of cabins.

“Our biggest accomplishment has been removing the old wood from the decks and spending a huge amount of time welding on new steel plates to completely seal the decks,” he says.

“The biggest challenge is not so much working on the ship, but dealing with the politics behind it,” he says.

A few years later in Rio Vista, Wilson was offered a berth at Pier 38 in San Francisco, and he moved the Aurora there. However, things did not go as he expected, and Wilson was later asked to find a new home for the ship. He ferried it back to the California Delta in 2012, mooring the Aurora to a jetty in Little Potato Slough, about 24 kilometers from Stockton in California's Central Valley. Since then, the Aurora has been here "in fresh shallow water" and is likely to remain there for the foreseeable future.

Although the ship cannot sail, Wilson emphasizes that it has a "hard bottom" and after consulting with a number of marine engineers, he is confident that "with proper maintenance and supervision" it can safely remain in place.

“As long as we don’t take it to places where there’s a lot of electrolysis and the like,” he adds. “The ship is safe at this time, but we have plans to move it closer to the bay as we progress further in our recovery.”

He hopes to raise enough funds to get the ship out of the water at some point and rebuild its bottom.

Fundraising

“When it comes to working on a ship, I learned a lot,” he says. “There’s nothing I don’t know how to fix.” But all this requires a lot of money.”

Like the article? Support ForumDaily!?

In addition to a few small donations, Wilson funded most of the renovations himself.

He managed to raise funds for the job by buying items at flea markets and government auctions and reselling them on online auction sites like eBay, as well as working as a consultant on other historic ship projects.

But although this income has supported the project so far, it is clearly not enough to fund a full restoration. But Wilson is determined to finish what he started.

After stumbling upon the YouTube channel Ship Happens, which chronicles the efforts of a UK couple refurbishing an 80-year-old World War II ship they bought on eBay, Wilson was inspired to bring his story to the platform in order to generate interest as well as funding. .

In February, he launched the Aurora Restoration project, and the channel has nearly 70 subscribers.

“Since YouTube started, hundreds and hundreds of people have volunteered to help us,” he says.

Wilson hopes his success will help speed up the process and says he's already seeing results. “Things are getting better very quickly,” he says.

However, producing the video at the same time as repairing the ship proves to be a challenge.

“Once I get the hang of it, we hope to have groups of volunteers coming in a few days a week,” adds Wilson.

Is the finish close?

Although this is still a long way off, Wilson is gradually moving closer to his goal of turning the Aurora into a museum. Although he also thought about turning the ship into a hotel or even a wedding venue.

“That’s what we’re trying to give people,” he says. “We don’t want to turn it into our own private yacht.”

And, of course, there is something to see on board the Aurora. The ship contains 85 cabins, as well as an upper salon with its own large bow deck, a swimming pool, a large galley and a theater.

“We have restored a small number of cabins on board, but there are a lot of them left, and we will soon be offering the public the opportunity to sponsor a cabin restoration,” he says.

Wilson and his team of volunteers are currently working on the fan-shaped or rear section of the Aurora and aim to fully restore the galley and dining area before the end of 2022. In recent years, Wilson has obtained furniture from other historic ships for use aboard the Aurora.

“We received a large donation from Island Princess, one of the ships that was recently decommissioned,” he says.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New Y.

Wilson currently enjoys working and living aboard the ship and is looking forward to the day he can open it to the public.

“There is nothing more exciting than being able to work on something so unique,” ​​he adds.

But does he harbor any hope that one day this impressive vessel will set sail again?

“If the money comes in, he can go on a cruise again,” he says. “If that doesn’t happen, it could make a great museum.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

Americans bought a watch and a painting in a commission shop for next to nothing, but sold it for thousands of dollars

Second life: how to properly dispose of a Christmas tree after the New Year holidays

Everyone can donate a generator or money for it to Ukrainians: how to do it through trusted organizations

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.