'There's nothing else we can do': Stranded Lake Michigan

The waters of Lake Michigan continued lapping up against Deep Thought on Friday, making it 82 days since the abandoned boat has been wedged in the lake’s shoreline. It is going to be there for quite a bit longer − possibly months − according to the lone force tried to set it free.

“We just have to wait for milder weather. There’s nothing else we can do,” Jerry Guyer told the Journal Sentinel on Friday.

Guyer and his crew from Jerry’s River Marinas and Pirate’s Cove Diving, have been trying to remove the roughly 40-year-old Chris-Craft Roamer since it was abandoned just south of Bradford Beach on Oct. 13. Guyer said its owners purchased the boat in Manitowoc and had planned to take it to their Mississippi home via the Mississippi River.

That plan stalled out when the boat ran out of gas and the couple missed the entrance to McKinley Park to refuel, Guyer said. Guyer, who owns a number of Milwaukee area businesses, including Jerry’s River Marina and a salvage company, is used to rescuing abandoned boats.

Numerous government agencies like the U.S. Coast Guard have search-and-rescue capabilities, but those efforts apply to rescuing people and maintaining safe travels for the occupants of boats.

“Abandoned boats are sort of a no-man’s land,” Guyer said. “We don’t have any competition.”

Guyer said he has yet to talk with the boat owners – he only knows the man who sold them the boat – but assumed at some point they would want the boat and its belongings back.

Books, T-shirts, shorts, small kitchen appliances – pretty much all the personal items left aboard Deep Thought since it has been stranded on the shores of Lake Michigan – have been removed, dried out and are waiting for a reunion with their owners. Guyer said the owners were in communication for a time but are no longer responding to calls.

“I figured at some point the owners would want them back,” Guyer said. “It’s not looking like that’s going to happen.”

Guyer and his crew drew a crowd to the Lake Michigan shoreline earlier this week with their latest effort to dislodge the boat. According to a member of his crew, the propeller is buried 2- to 3-feet in the sand.

Guyer said the engine is covered by water. Rebuilding it could be possible, “but the boat’s salvage value is diminishing very quickly.”

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To date, he has invested $18,000 in labor and equipment costs in an ongoing effort to salvage their belongings and the boat.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Guyer said. “How much could any of this be worth?”

With little to no money in it, many would leave the boat where it’s at. But not Guyer. It might take until spring, but he intends to get it moved.

“I’ve been doing this for years. Once we start a project, we want to finish it.,” Guyer said. “It’s professional pride.”

Jessica Van Egeren is a general assignment report and assistant breaking news editor with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Stranded Lake Michigan boat likely stuck until spring due to weather

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