ROCKLAND, Maine — The 128-foot-long historic wooden schooner Victory Chimes, which was celebrated on the 2023 commemorative Maine quarter, has sunk in New York City.
Brad Vogel, who covers maritime happenings in Brooklyn, said the vessel sank sometime between Friday night and Sunday in the Henry Street Basin.
The Victory Chimes was towed out of Rockland Harbor in October 2023 with the plan to convert it into a restaurant. The vessel, however, had first been docked on the west side of Manhattan and over the winter was docked in the Henry Street basin in Brooklyn.
Vogel said a strong squall came through Friday night and negatively affected many ships. The historic schooner Pilot, docked next to the Chimes, sank Friday. Vogel said he saw comments by people who said the Chimes also went down and when he went there Sunday, he found it also was under water.
He said the Victory Chimes had looked rough lately, with the wood deteriorating on the hull.
The historic schooner was sold at auction in May 2023. Miles and Alex Pincus purchased the vessel for $75,900. The sailors and brothers Pincus own and operate vessels which serve as restaurants in the New York City area through the company Crewny.
The Pilot, which was the other vessel that sank alongside the Victory Chimes, had been used as a restaurant for the company.
Email and telephone messages were left for Crewny.
Vogel said he had seen pumps working on the Victory Chimes as recently as May.
The Victory Chimes had 21 cabins and could accommodate 43 passengers during its sailing days.
Built in 1900, Victory Chimes has sailed the Maine coast since 1954 as a “windjammer” (sailing pleasure craft for paying guests).
The ship was originally launched in Bethel, Delaware, as one of 4,000 such cargo ships. Then named Edwin & Maud, it hauled cargo in the Chesapeake Bay until 1946. It was then converted to the passenger trade. The ship is the last of the large, former cargo schooners still sailing, according to the statement released by the owner.
In 1987, Tom Monaghan, then the owner of Domino’s Pizza and the Detroit Tigers Baseball Club, purchased the vessel and put it through an extensive restoration at Samples Ship Yard in Boothbay. In 1989, Domino’s put the infrequently used vessel — then named the Domino Effect — up for sale.
The only interested party had plans to ship the schooner to Japan and use it for a sushi restaurant. That is when Capts. Kip Files and Paul DeGaeta stepped forward and purchased the Victory Chimes in 1990 and returned it to the Maine windjammer trade. This prompted the Maine Legislature to bestow upon it the honor of “Official Windjammer of the state of Maine.”
Sam Sikkema purchased Victory Chimes in 2018.
Sikkema announced in August 2022 the ship’s long sailing career in Maine would end in October 2022 without a buyer. Last year, Capt. Sikkema said: “After long and careful consideration we have come to the difficult decision that 2022 will be Victory Chimes last sailing season. Upcoming Coast Guard compliance, cost and availability of materials for upcoming maintenance, the lack of ability to haul the ship in Maine and the losses of the 2020 season have all become a hill too big to climb.”
The Victory Chimes has been anchored in the north end of Rockland Harbor off Jameson Point before heading to New York City.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.