The three-masted, gaff-rigged Chesapeake ram schooner Victory Chimes was recently sold at auction to Miles and Alex Pincus, who currently own two restaurants aboard historic schooners in New York harbor, as well as several shore-based establishments. 

While it had been hoped by many that a buyer could be found to continue operating the Victory Chimes in passenger service, it appears likely that the schooner will be converted into a bar and restaurant.

The Pincus brothers have not yet announced their plans for the historic vessel.  They currently operate the seasonal bars and restaurants Grand Banks on the Sherman Zwicker, a 142′ long wooden auxiliary fishing schooner docked in Manhattan on the Hudson River, and the Pilot, an oyster bar on the Brooklyn waterfront on the ex-Highlander Sea, originally christened Pilot, a gaff-rigged topsail schooner built in 1924. 

Victory Chimes has been a fixture of the Maine windjammer fleet for almost 70 years.  Built in Bethel, Delaware in 1900, for the first 45 years of her career, she carried general cargo in the Chesapeake Bay until she was converted for the passenger trade in 1946 and moved to Maine in 1954.

The 128′ long Victory Chimes is the last surviving Chesapeake Ram schooner. She is a US National Historic Landmark and is represented on the Maine State Quarter, originally minted in 2003. 

The Victory Chimes was decommissioned as a passenger vessel in August 2022 due to needed repairs to be considered seaworthy. The cost of the repairs and losses related to the pandemic resulted in the sale of the schooner. The Victory Chimes sold at auction for $75,900.