I spent $2 million restoring a cruise ship I bought on Craigslist. The project took over my life, but I don't regret it.

14.10.2024 - 21:38 / insider.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christopher Willson, a 52-year-old retired engineer who spent more than 15 years renovating a cruise ship he named Aurora . The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In 2008, I was living in Santa Cruz, California, and working on several different projects. One of these involved developing some of the first virtual tour software.

Back then, a virtual tour was taking two 183-degree fisheye images and stitching them together in a Java platform. That way, you could navigate the image, 360 by 360.

At the time, I was an avid surfer of Craigslist because you could find deals on anything. In Silicon Valley, many people sold off computer gear, tech gadgets, and all sorts of electronic toys.

I kept noticing the ship pop up on Craigslist. At first, I ignored it, but eventually, my curiosity got the better of me, and I thought it could be a great opportunity for a virtual tour.

The boat was docked on an island near a small Californian city named Rio Vista.

The first time I went aboard, I posed as a potential buyer. The boat felt creepy. It was a rusty hulk, and for many years, no power had been running through the electrical system, leaving the boat without lights.

Even so, it had an amazing layout and beautiful staircases. It looked more like a giant yacht than a cruise ship.

I went home thinking, "What has the ship accomplished?" I did not know the ship's name, so there was no way to reference it.

I did a massive amount of image searching and was surprised. The ship was named Wappen von Hamburg, the first ship Germany was permitted to build after World War II.

It was one of history's most pioneering cruise ships and no expense was spared in its creation — down to every last detail.

The boat had four lounges and an area where luxury cabins once existed, though all had been removed. There was a main lounge and entry, 85 cabins, and several random rooms, including a dining area accommodating about 250 people.

I couldn't figure out how such a beautiful ship with historical significance made it to the California Delta.

My first thought wasn't to purchase the boat — which I eventually renamed Aurora — but to assist the owner in finding a solution.

It was illegally moored on state land, and there was a deadline for its removal that was already six months overdue.

Back then, I didn't own the ship yet, but I was helping to find a solution and fix it. My goal was to find a safe home for the boat, which I did.

In late 2008, I got a one-year lease for the ship at a former army base in Rio Vista. However, we had to figure out what to do when the lease expired.

I eventually secured a long-term lease on Pier 38 in San Francisco in 2010.

I purchased the boat