1926 Motor Yacht Mariner III

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Almost a century on the water
March 3, 2025

T
he chosen set in New York City for a Tommy Hilfiger commercial, episodes of Law & Order, and the 1980s movie Wall Street.
The sister-ship to, and inspiration for, actor Drew Barrymore’s Grandfather’s vessel in California during the golden age of Hollywood.

Rubbing shoulders with the former presidential yacht to JFK in Palm Beach.

Those are just some of the locales, facts and famous figures, from a bygone era through today, for the 1926 motor yacht Mariner III.

Motor yacht Mariner III.

Outside dining under shade.

Now, anchored off Oriental in all her glory, add TownDock.net and the Neuse River to the ship’s résumé.

At 122 feet with a 20 foot beam, the teak-planked, vintage motor yacht was hard to miss in October. Like a scene from a silent movie on the still river morning. With a proud, plumb bow and round, overhanging fantail stern. Upper and lower decks, smoke stack, brightly varnished circular wheelhouse, and nearly 30 portholes on each side belowdecks.

All visible from Lou Mac Park and South Ave, Mariner III has the appearance of a small ocean liner.

Captain Sean Kennedy.

Her crew were right at home.

“The ICW from Norfolk to Beaufort is great,” Captain and Owner Sean Kennedy (no relation to the political family) says. “She’s cruised a lot in the ocean.”

Drawing nine feet, Mariner III goes offshore from Beaufort, NC to West Palm Beach, FL. It’s about a two day trip, one the vessel has done for 30 years. Summer means New York City, winter brings Mariner III to Palm Beach.

Lounging available at the stern.

It’s a family affair onboard.

Capt. Sean Kennedy along with his sister Linda, his son Finn, and two hired crew: captain and engineer duo Gwen Whitney and Frank Giles. All are aboard for Mariner III’s seasonal exodus.

Gwen is acting first mate and a captain in training for the motor yacht. She holds a 100 ton Captain’s License. Frank is a mechanical engineer and holds his Captain’s License for 50 tons. All crew hold watch and help with the cooking or ship’s chores, which are many. On the menu this night is seafood gumbo.

The galley.

A look inside reveals richly colored woodwork from another era.

The pre-war vessel has been part of Capt. Kennedy’s family’s company since 1979, when his father purchased the yacht.

“My family’s diesel engine business,” Sean says. The conglomerate out of Biloxi, Mississippi dates back to 1912, when the son of an Irish-immigrant oysterman brought a legendary new type of mechanical shrimping rig to the seafood town. By 1940, the well established and growing marine engine company was building and supplying WWII minesweepers to the U.S. Government. Tugboats, shrimp boats, and other commercial vessel operations sustained the business.

Today, the third generation family-owned corporation is known as the Kennedy Engine Co. Inc.

Mariner III was designed by Ted Geary (1885-1960) and originally coined Sue Ja III. She was built in the Pacific Northwest for James Griffiths of Seattle steamship and ocean freight company Griffiths and Sons. The vessel was rugged & seaworthy meets luxury.

Captains Frank Giles and Gwen Whitney at the helm of Mariner III.

Mariner III spent 1926 through the 1950s cruising between California (where it inspired black and white screen actor John Barrymore’s yacht) and Alaska. She served as Griffith’s boat in the Seattle Yacht Club where he was Commodore, and functioned in the war effort. The boat was taken to the Aleutian Islands for use by the U.S. Military in World War II.

The yacht had different owners and purposes from there. Alaskan charters. San Diego Bay. Eventually the east coast to Europe – there and back again.

When the Kennedy’s bought the yacht in ’79 it had been donated to Palm Beach Atlantic College. Sitting at the Palm Beach Yacht Club, where it still docks today – not far from another relic: the 1931 Presidential Yacht M/Y Honey Fitz, which has a similar platform to charters as Mariner III. Before being donated to the college, then Sue Ja III had been in Gibraltar on a diving expedition.

Mariner III can host a crowd.

“So we took it to my grandfather’s yard in Biloxi,” Kennedy recalls.

A major refit began immediately, with 12-men and spanning two-years. The vessel was given its new name. Later in 2016, Capt. Kennedy would spearhead a $750K interior refit that was featured in The Wall Street Journal. After its initial rehab Mariner III, like the Kennedy family members, had to pull its weight in business and went into charter.

“We were in a meeting one day [for the family business] I raised my hand and said, hey I’d like to do that job.”

Pre GPS tech: part of a radio direction finder, circa 1940s. It’s no longer used, now just admired.

Kennedy was working in sales for his father; his clients were in the tug boat and fishing boat industries. He had a degree in marketing, but also had his captain’s license from his time on the water. Needless to say, he got the job. Capt. Sean took the helm of the Mariner III at age 26.

First customer?

Harrison Ford.

His referral?

Jimmy Buffet.

Sean pulls out a copy of the original vessel blueprints, along with her original announcements.

Harrison Ford lived aboard Mariner III while filming the movie Mosquito Coast off the coast of Belize. Jimmy Buffet, a casual “family friend” to the Kennedy’s put Ford in touch, when Ford asked Buffet to help him find a boat to charter.

The crew ran Mariner III from Biloxi to Belize, an 84 hour trip at 10 knots, with Ford onboard. The charter had been planned months in advance, and aside from the voyage the vessel was mostly anchored. Ford was chauffeured to set everyday in a 13-ft Boston Whaler skiff.

“I was fascinated to see the film process, “ Capt. Kennedy recalls. “To see the amount of organized confusion. Our friend Jimmy [Buffet] would come down now and then, and we would go fishing.”

The chef onboard Mariner III during filming was Buffett’s sister, Lucy, who is still a famous chef and restauranteur today, Kennedy said.

They still keep in touch.

Luxury comforts – a full bathtub.

It was 1984 when Mariner III began chartering between New York and Palm Beach. Not only was she featured in the movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen, but she was chartered for many a non-fiction Wall Street party.

A decade later, during an optimistic time in stock market history, Capt. Sean met his wife aboard the vessel. They were married on the Mariner III, and have been celebrating countless weddings, birthdays, retirement parties, and more over thirty years as captain. Kennedy is now 66, looking toward training his relief.

Sean views the Neuse from deck.

Although the vessel is pristine, well-cared for and maintained, Kennedy feels the need to apologize for signs of life.

“We’re undressed right now,” he says in reference to some unmade beds. “We had just got in from eating ice cream and were installing a new air conditioner underneath that berth.”

Lunch was fried chicken and collards at Brantley’s. Kennedy has a friend in Oriental he knows through his family’s shrimp boat sales.

Generators hum while descending into the engine room. Kennedy remarks, “I got tools laying around. Sorry that electrical plug is there.”

Mariner III is on its third set of engines. Two GM 12V71 Detroit Diesels roar to life with ease at 40,000 operating hours. Sean’s grandfather was one of the first distributors of Detroit Diesel engines, he said. The engines were installed by the Kennedy Engine Co. in the 1980s. Two 40KW generators and a 10KW generator power the ship.

Original propulsion by Washington Ironworks in 1926 were 6-cylinder diesels engines to spec, that took up the entire engine room. A former owner replaced those with two Detroit Diesel 6-110S, which ran faithfully for over 30 years.

Their preferred ship yard in New York also hauls out the 300-foot Staten Island ferry. Mariner III is nearly dwarfed in comparison. Coast Guard certified as a passenger vessel, the historical yacht is inspected during these periods of dry dock.

Cocktails in hand cruising by the Statue of Liberty, live music, open bar on the upper deck, 40-50 people dancing, the crew in white collar captain’s shirts with black epaulets; this is the polished image of the Mariner III. It’s what guests can expect on charter. Where all the beds are made, and every tool is stowed.

The engine room.

Behind the scene is something even more inviting.

“Okra, onion, crawfish. Oops, sorry for the tools there,” Capt. Kennedy repeats while stopping by the large commercial galley. Part of the 2016 interior refit featured in WSJ.

“Those are all the ingredients to seafood gumbo.”

Kennedy and crew: Sean, Frank Giles, Gwen Whitney, Linda and Finn.

At dinner, the crew will look one last time at weather and charts before heading out at 8am the next morning, and offshore from Beaufort to West Palm. Everything looks picture perfect for the voyage on Mariner III.

“Whatcha looking for, Finn?” Kennedy asks his son jovially, pointing him in the direction of duct tape and fishing line. Plenty of that around. He points Finn’s Aunt Linda to the scissors in the galley.

Captains Gwen and Frank relax on the navy blue couch on the aft deck, before heading to the wheelhouse.

“Watch is usually a two person job,” First Mate Gwen says.

Pulling up anchor

Frank, acting engineer, explains some of the controls at the helm. “The starters use air pressure. So it’a an air compressor that starts the engines. And the throttles are air pressure controlled.”

Gathering the crew for a photo, Capt. Kennedy jokes with his sister about their shared hair texture.

“You’ve got that Kennedy hair,” he says to her, patting his wiry mane.

“That’s my sister,” Capt. Kennedy says again proudly.

M/Y Mariner III at sunrise.

Story by Emily Greenberg. Photos by Keith Smith.