Featured Image Credit: Christoper Wilson
Topics: US News, Cruise ship
Harley Young
Craigslist is renowned for it's weird and wonderful listings. But it's not an everyday occurrence for an entire cruise ship to come up for sale.
Mechanical enthusiast Chris Willson became intrigued after spotting the ad for the 293-foot ship in 2008.
The vessel was a retired 'pocket' cruise ship moored in the California Delta, with the then-owner looking to offload it to make space.
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Speaking with CNN Travel, Willson said: "I kind of posed as a potential buyer, even though I really didn't have any interest in purchasing a ship. It was a little out of my comfort level, to say the least."
While visiting the vessel in Northern California, Willson realised just how badly neglected the whopping 2,496 tonne ship was, but upon further inspection he noticed an impressive five levels beneath the unloved surface.
"She has one of the most spectacular layouts of just about any ship I've seen, the staircases are magnificent," said Willson.
After extensively digging into the history of the ship, Willson found that the vessel was constructed back in 1955 at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany.
The ship, originally named Wappen von Hamburg had been the first significant passenger liner to come out of Germany following World War II.
Fascinated by its history and structural composition, Willson thought carefully about what his next steps would be before putting together a restoration plan and taking the plunge with the purchase.
We're unsure of the exact amount Willson paid, but he told CNN Travel that he managed to 'work out a really good deal with the owner of the vessel'.
He arranged for the ship to be towed to the California river city of Rio Vista where he began a lease. Here's where his restoration project began, starting with the removal of the junk onboard including bags and bags worth of household waste.
"I figured it was going to be a long project," says Willson. "The scale of it was massive. It's almost the same as redoing 15 houses all by yourself."
After a couple of months, Willson and his partner Jin Li moved aboard the ship to devote more time to the restoration.
Later, Willson discovered the ship had been the inspiration for TV series The Love Boat, as well as being the filming location for part of the James Bond film, From Russia with Love (1963).
"The more I learned about the history, I was thinking that it could be a shore side attraction," explained Willson.
Fast forward 14 years and Willson's plan is slowly taking shape with the help of those who have followed his recent journey on YouTube.
"Since the whole YouTube thing came about, we have had hundreds and hundreds of people offering to volunteer," he said.
Willson says that once he's more comfortable with juggling the renovation and making video content, he'll 'hopefully start having groups of volunteers coming in several days a week'.