Man who spent $1,000,000 fixing cruise ship before finding major issue explains why he doesn’t regret it

A man who bought a giant cruise ship on Craigslist and wasted a million dollars on repairs doesn’t regret it.

In 2008, Chris Willson found a historic cruise ship for sale on Craigslist and decided that he was going to restore it and turn it into a museum.

The Utah native even ended up living on the vessel and kept it moored in the California Delta during the restoration process.

The ship was initially named Wappen von Hamburg some decades ago and was actually the first significant passenger liner to come out of Germany following World War II, but the project was doomed from the start.

By 2012, Chris had 'gotten quite a way' into restoring the 293-foot vessel and named it Aurora.

The entrepreneur told CNN: "I think we had 10 areas solidly restored and refurnished meticulously. These were kind of major areas. So we were pretty proud of that."

The Aurora was bought in 2008 (Facebook/ Christopher Willson)

Chris estimated that he spent over $1 million on the restoration himself, as well as accepting small donations.

But he had to let it go, and sold it for around $20 to a volunteer who was a mechanic.

After a military tugboat that had been sat alongside Aurora sank, it sparked a 'pollution issue', Chris decided to sell the ship as he couldn’t justify the 'million dollars worth' it could cost to relocate.

"We absolutely loved our time with that ship. [Selling it] was probably the hardest thing I’ve done in my life," he said at the time. "It haunts me and I lose sleep over it. I’m not happy about it."

After 15 years of hard work, it went on to suffer an even greater loss.

A hole in the ship.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office shared that Aurora had begun 'sinking'.

The post stated: "It has been determined the ship has suffered a hole and is taking on water and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway.

"Our Boating Safety Unit and ground units are currently on scene coordinating efforts to contain the spill."

He lived in the boat during the restoration process (Christopher Willson)

According to the news, contractors tossed everything on Aurora into trash bins and it’s unclear who the latest owner is.

But despite the tragedy, Chris doesn’t ‘regret’ it.

He told Business Insider: “The whole project morphed into something really cool for a long time. The knowledge I gained from that ship is quite impressive. 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.

“It was time to move on and start another project.”

This year he explained how he was offered a 300-foot sailboat, but he thinks he'll ‘stay on land for a while’.

He said: “I'm now looking for something like a theater or perhaps an old church to be my next project — something historically significant with some character.”

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