California man spent $2M and 15 years buying and renovating a cruise ship until a major issue caused him to walk away

There’s a man in California who’s spent 15 years and millions of dollars of a cruise ship that’s now been dismantled.

He said he has ‘no regrets’, and we truly hope that is the case for him.

The project was going relatively well, but then two things happened.

The first one forced him to sell the vessel, and the second one sealed the ship’s fate.

It all started with an ad on Craigslist

In 2008, Chris Willson and his partner Jin Li bought a 1955 cruise ship on Craigslist.

Speaking to Business Insider, Willson said it was as if the ship was ‘calling’ him.

“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,” he said.

The virtual tour turned into an in-person tour, which eventually led to the purchase.

This was a big boat, by the way.

We’re talking about 293 feet (89 meters) and 85 cabins.

His ultimate goal was to turn the cruise ship into a museum for the public, uploading the progress on his YouTube channel, Aurora Restoration Project.

After signing on the dotted line, Willson moved the ship to a permanent mooring in the California Delta, which set in motion a series of events that led to the tragedy.

The reason why the cruise ship project was abandoned

At first, everything looked great.

Apart from Willson’s bank account, presumably, considering sources say he spent at least $2 million on the project.

In another interview, this time with CNN, Willson said the first phase of the project went well.

“I think we had 10 areas solidly restored and refurnished meticulously. These were kind of major areas. So we were pretty proud of that,” he told the publication.

“So we were doing a pretty good job. We had marine engineers involved. There was no lack of people coming out to loan a hand. We were working on the swimming pool and the forward decks, and replating all of the steel,” he added.

However, the choice of location turned out to be a mistake.

While he was restoring the boat, he kept facing constant pressure from both local authorities and residents who viewed the massive ship as an eyesore and a safety hazard for the California Delta.

Willson had invested $2 million into the ship over a decade and a half, but moving it would’ve been just as expensive.

And, unlike his past expenses, this was a bill he would have been forced to foot immediately.

Willson considered moving the boat, but it would’ve cost a lot more than the $2 million he’d already spent, and he’d have to fork it out over days.

Then a ‘neighbor’ arrived, and this turned out to be the fateful event.

A military tugboat moored next to the Aurora sank, which triggered environmental investigations that also involved Aurora.

At that point, pressure became unbearable, and Willson was essentially forced to sell the boat for a symbolic price of $20 in October 2023.

That was the end of the road for Willson’s dream, and, shortly thereafter, the end of the road also came for the boat.

In May 2024, another investigation revealed a sizable hole in the ship’s hull, and an equally massive leak of around 21,000 gallons of oily water.

The ship was eventually towed away to be scrapped and dismantled.