Ohio man rebuilds hot dog boat, sets sail on Lake Erie
When Northwestern Ohio man Conner Sonnenberg purchased a storage barn a year and a half ago, it’s unlikely he could’ve ever guessed what his future held. Even if you gave him a million guesses.
That’s because the barn was home to a once fully-functional hot dog-shaped boat. Yes, you read that correctly.
Originally named Water Weenie, the boat was first built in 1975, and spent the following years traveling across the country as a promotional tool for a variety of different groups. It changed hands multiple times, and was at one point owned by the Milwaukee Marine Trade Association and later the Ohio Marine Association.
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But now, it’s Sonnenberg’s.
And while he had a plan to get the boat on the water, there was work to do on his part.
“I have a limited background in marine restoration, but I love a good challenge, and I saw this as an opportunity to learn a few new skills that I think will be valuable down the road,” he told 614Now. “I completely redid the interior of the boat, adding another layer of fiberglass across the inside, reinforcing the stringers and building a subfloor for the boat. I did all the electronics myself, wiring in the wet sound speakers on the fly jack plate, and did the bay manufacturing extension on the motor.”
After two months of work–much of which was chronicled on his social media accounts, which he says have received more than 20 million collective views since he began posting about the boat–Sonnenberg renamed the vessel the Edmund Glizzgerald, a nod to the Edmund Fitzgerald of Ohio lore.
Earlier this week, Sonnenberg and friends set out on Lake Erie for the ship’s first voyage (aside from a float test when he first received the boat), and it was a success. They were aiming to ride to Kelley’s Island, and while they weren’t able to make it all the way due to a particularly wavy day, the boat still performed admirably.
You can be sure this won’t be the last Edmund Glizzgerald voyage, either, as Sonnenberg plans to travel with the boat, collaborating with brands and influencers along the way. No matter where it goes, he noted, it’s bound to catch a few glances.
“I own a few different cool projects that are unusual and this one blows them all out of the water tenfold. The amount of attention it has received and the love it has gotten has been unbelievable and it really helped me to get back into the swing of social media posting again bringing a new life into my pages,” he said.
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