Deep Thought, the boat left abandoned in Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, has been removed and is up for auction. August 5 is the last day to make a bid. The boat is also being turned into a bobblehead.
At the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, guests are greeted at the entrance. Thousands of bobbles decorate the museum’s shelves. Many of them depict athletes or pop culture icons, but others show familiar Milwaukee landmarks, like the Hoan Bridge.
The museum collects and produces bobbleheads for sale. Co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said one of this year’s most popular preorders is Deep Thought, the abandoned boat that sat on Lake Michigan’s shoreline for almost seven months.
"We initially came out with the bobblehead — or the bobbleboat — that has the different graffiti on it," he said. "Some of the iconic graffiti like the 'aliens' that was on the side and S.S. Minnow and the anchor."
The Deep Thought saga started in October last year when a Mississippi couple abandoned the 43-foot boat near McKinley Beach after running out of gas, according to a Journal Sentinel report. It became an unofficial landmark to some and an eyesore to others. After several unsuccessful attempts, the boat was finally removed in May. Milwaukee County paid $20,000 for its $50,000 removal. Now, the county hopes to recoup its cost through an auction.
Museum co-founder Sklar shared some production details of the bobbleboat.
"It bobbles really well," said Sklar. "That’s one of the things we always try to do. This one has two springs and it bobbles over the water and sand. We used a cool clear resin so the water looks like that water feel."
Sklar joined me with the prototype in hand as I asked visitors about the abandoned boat. Museum guest Mike Friedman laughed when he saw it.
"I think it’s great," said Friedman. "We just went through the whole museum and have seen a lot of different things and there’s pretty unique things so having another bobblehead to represent Milwaukee I think is great."
Friedman said he’s followed the boat’s removal closely.
"Sheldon Wasserman ... had a good idea," he said. "So, the county and the city shouldn’t really pay for all the costs to do that so they tried to minimize the way to do that. I thought a good idea was to chop it up and sell it in pieces instead of the whole boat by itself."
Despite wanting to deconstruct the boat, Friedman wouldn’t mind seeing it reappear somewhere in the city as a monument and reminder that this shouldn’t happen again. Museum guest Rosanna Frandsen shared a different opinion. Here’s her reaction to seeing the boat in bobble form.
"I probably think it would tend to be more of an eyesore than put it somewhere," she said. "Pictures of it are fine."
Frandsen said the county should have figured out how to remove the boat sooner. Another museum guest, Jonathan Forsythe, was visiting from Arkansas. He’s hearing about Deep Thought for the first time. I explained the timeline of events to Forsythe and showed him the bobbleboat prototype. He shared his thoughts on how the defunct boat should be used.
"It should be like an art installation is what it should be — is what the city should make it," Forsythe said. "Because if it has a history with the city of Milwaukee then they should make it an art installation. There’s all of these beautiful murals and everything here. That’s what they should do with it."
Sklar says the $35 Deep Thought bobbles will be individually numbered up to 2,025. The museum will also release a paint-your-own version for those who want to add their own graffiti.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this print story, and the audio version, referred to Sheldon Wasserman as a member of the state Assembly. He is actually a Milwaukee County Board supervisor and a former Assembly member.
