Man who spent $2m restoring ship has ‘no regrets’ after walking away from project

A man who spent around $2 million restoring an old cruise ship says he has no regrets even after deciding to walk away from the project. 

Christopher Willson was living in Santa Cruz, California, in 2008 when he saw a Craigslist advert for the boat. 

Curious about the boat, he pretended to be an interested buyer and went out to the small island the ship was docked on to have a look around. 

His first impressions weren’t great. 

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The cruise had an interesting past

He told Business Insider, he initially thought the boat ‘felt creepy’ – and it’s not hard to see why.

The rusting vessel, which had been without power for years, was in serious need of some TLC.

But Willson continued thinking about the boat and, after conducting some research, discovered it had an interesting past. 

The ship had been named the Wappen von Hamburg and it was the first ship Germany was permitted to build following World War II.

At this time, the boat was illegally moored and Willson was able to secure a long-term lease at a marina in San Francisco in 2010 – the same year he decided to buy the boat. 

Over the next few months, Willson and some volunteers worked tirelessly to restore the boat. 

The ship was hit with serious setbacks

But after spending tens of thousands of dollars, he was given the crushing news that the pier’s leaseholder had lost the pier. 

In 2011, Willson found the ship – now renamed Aurora – a new home at a marina in California, but in an odd case of history repeating itself, the owner of the marina lost the marina. 

The problems didn’t end there as Willson was met with ‘a lot of situations’ that halted progress on Aurora.

Alongside that, there was a ‘dredging issue’ in the channel where the vessel was sat which made it ‘impossible’ to relocate it.

When the power was shut off at the marina, other nearby boats began to experience problems, including a couple of vessels sinking.

During this time, Willson admitted that he began to feel ‘trapped’ by the boat, and in 2023, he decided to sell it. 

Looking back – after spending years and close to $2 million on the project – Willson says he doesn’t regret it. 

“The knowledge I gained from that ship is quite impressive,” he told Business Insider.

“I would have stayed out there and been part of that boat forever.

“I’m pretty sad about the whole situation, but I believe things happen for a reason.

Although I don’t regret a single minute of my time on it, I knew I needed to leave before I started to feel regret.”

Sadly, since then the Aurora has already began to sink.