123-year-old schooner will be leaving Maine after auction sale

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — A 123-year-old schooner that was once declared the “Official Windjammer of Maine” by state lawmakers has new owners, and it will be leaving Maine.

Two brothers who are lifelong sailors had the winning bid this week for the Victory Chimes, which is on the National Register of Historical Places.

Miles and Alex Pincus, who operate two floating restaurants in New York, haven’t yet decided what they will do with the schooner. It will eventually be leaving Maine, but the final location has not been decided, a spokesperson said.

“We’ve admired Victory Chimes for quite some time. When she went up for auction, we felt a responsibility to step in and ensure her preservation. We don’t have a plan yet other than to get her into safe harbor,” they said in a statement.

Victory Chimes, which has been taking guests on pleasures cruises on the Maine coast since the 1950s, became so synonymous with Maine that the 2003 state quarter featured a sailing vessel modeled after the schooner.

Built in 1900, it’s the last surviving Chesapeake ram schooner. The three-mast, 131-foot vessel was built in Delaware as the cargo carrier Edwin and Maude before being refitted and renamed.

The previous owner, Captain Sam Sikkema, said losses from the 2020 season, maintenance costs and upcoming Coast Guard compliance were among the factors that created “a hill too big to climb.” The Victory Chimes sold at an online auction by Keenan Auction Co. of Portland for $75,900, officials said.