Sparkman & Stephens/ Abeking & Rasmussen 68 ft Ketch 1972/2016

How many sea miles has PALAWAN IV’s log clocked-off? We don’t know, but feel we can safely say: more than the vast majority of yachts (and with little fuss). Sparkman & Stephens and Abeking & Rasmussen specifically designed and built her for, and she has always been ready for, the call of the trade winds. PALAWAN IV is ready now, refitted and brought up to date in present, very experienced ownership without loss to her superb – unique even – personality, provenance, and ability. First owner, retired IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr, had famously and successfully raced his previous three PALAWANS hard and often, but PALAWAN IV was to be different. She had to be easy to sail by a family with space for them all for long periods afloat, while also capable of safely navigating in the highest and lowest latitudes. In subsequent ownership she has circumnavigated. This is a true explorer yacht from before the term was invented, and she is ready for more.

- This is a provisional set of details
- Some new specs to be added in coming weeks

2024
- Sails replaced, except lighly used mainsail and 150% Genoa

2023
KATLYNN MARINE, SODUS BAY, NY
- All spars stripped, repaired where needed
- Re-finished with Imron paint
- New engine mounts
- New prop shaft, carrier and cutlass bearings, dripless seal
- New 5-blade, 26 in Max Prop
- New windlass motor

2015-2016
KATLYNN MARINE, SODUS BAY, NY
- Interior refit included completely new main saloon and both heads
- Entire interior revarnished including cabin sole
- All new wiring, new distribution panel, new batteries and inverter charger

DATE TBA
HOWDY BAILEY YACHT SERVICES, NORFOLK, VA
- Including:
- Below waterline strip, fairing barrier coat
- Refinishing with 5 x coats bottom paint

2000-2002
CAYUGA BOATWORKS, CAYUGA, NY
- Hull incl. superstructures and spars stripped to bare aluminium
- Properly repainted with Awl Grip products
- Teak decks re-caulked

"PALAWAN… is the name of a beautiful atoll of palms and white sand just south of the Philippines where I spent five memorable days just before the end of WWII. I decided then that if I were ever to own a boat, I would name her for this delightful island. Furthermore, it’s good luck for a boat to have seven letters in her name. For this and other reasons all of our boats have been named PALAWAN, and all have been happy ships."
[Thomas J. Watson, ‘Pacific Passage’, 1983]

Because of his health, Tom decided to give up ocean racing, and so when he came to S&S for the fourth PALAWAN he wanted an ocean cruiser. That being my specialty, I got the job. It was really fun working with him. He employed a very good man, Paul Wolter, to take care of the new boat. Paul bought a lot of plywood and soon constructed the interior mock-up of the forward half of our design. When we discovered several mistakes and corrected them, Tom approved. Then Paul tore it down and built a mock-up of the after half of the interior, because Tom's garage in which this was done was not big enough for the whole boat - she was 67 ft overall. I think I did five different designs before Tom settled on one. (Actually, we did a total of 48 drawings of her.) She too was built by Abeking & Rasmussen of welded aluminum, but this time was ketch rigged. Tandem centerboards used to control balance and steering worked out well. Like the third PALAWAN, she also had a midship cockpit, but this time with an unobtrusive shelter at its forward end.

One of the things Tom asked was how thick the shell plating should be to withstand ice. We did not know, but made it vary in thickness from ¼ in (6 mm) at the deck to ½ in (12.5 mm) at the keel with frames, web frames, and longitudinals spaced just one foot apart. To give her great range, she carries 1,000 gallons of fresh water and another 1,000 of diesel fuel, doing 9 knots with her General Motors V-6 engine, and faster under sail in a strong breeze.

Knowing Tom would probably go far north, we put in a central heating system complete with small oil burner and hot water radiators. Sure enough during the summer of 1974 he went way north along the western coast of Greenland, past glaciers with icebergs breaking off, making growling noises as they moved. There PALAWAN constantly wove between large icebergs.

Since boyhood Tom had read accounts of explorations in this area, so this was a dream fulfilled. In those high latitudes there were 24 hours of daylight each day, with generally clear weather. With Jim Madden navigating, they proceeded past Thule Air Base and headed for Etah, where Peary's base had been; the passage was completely choked with heavy ice. About six miles off Qanaq, with the huts of the town in full view, PALAWAN ran into such heavy ice that she stopped. The temperature of the water was 33° F (0.6° C). Cautiously they backed the boat into an open lead, and after three hours of hard work were able to get her turned around and headed to the open sea.

A note from Tom at that time reads in part: "I thought you might be interested in what it's like to sail to Latitude 74° north. Scenery equal to Norway and almost uninhabited. A total of eleven in our ship's company at different times on this cruise have been comfortable and happy aboard this vessel. Best to all and say thanks to Frank Kinney."

The next summer Tom sailed PALAWAN on a cruise to the South Sea Islands. Once through the Panama Canal she put in at nearby Cocos Island. Next they sailed southwest to the equator and the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin had been in the Beagle. The course was the same for Easter Island, where she anchored after a 2,000-mile passage. PALAWAN's next stop was Pitcairn Island, where her company got to know the descendants of the Bounty mutineers. Magna Riva, the fabled Tahiti, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Samoa, Tonga, Tongataku, Totoya, and finally the Fijis were some of the other South Sea Islands at which she called.

[From 'You Are First - The Story of Olin and Rod Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, Inc. 1978]

SPARKMAN & STEPHENS DESIGN NO. 1996 (1969)
ABEKING & RASMUSSEN BUILD NO. 6348 (1972)

“With this kind of boat, there’s no need for adventures to end.”

PALAWAN IV’s designer at Sparkman & Stephens, Francis S. Kinney, was actually writing about Thomas J. Watson Jr’s 6th PALAWAN – slightly smaller, but similar in concept, and also designed by S&S and built in aluminium by Abeking & Rasmussen – but the sentiment is so true for this very special yacht.

Research into PALAWAN IV’s remarkable story starts with a conundrum: her Sparkman & Stephens design date is 1969, yet her Abeking & Rasmussen build date is 1972…

With his first three PALAWANs, Watson, CEO of the incredibly successful technology company founded by his father, IBM, had raced extensively and successfully. Between 1966 and 1970 PALAWAN III had placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd 22 times in 37 races, and was a member of the victorious USA team in the 1969 Admiral's Cup. A heart attack in 1970 ended both his business and yacht racing careers, but PALAWAN IV's design date suggests that he must already have been planning a long-legged ocean cruiser for his retirement, compulsory in IBM at 60.

"My ideas for PALAWAN IV were specific. In keeping with my plans to travel to distant places with minimal and sometimes inexperienced crew, the boat had to have an easily handled rig. She had to be roomy enough to accommodate seven or eight people in comfort; she had to be capable of operating far from civilization for long periods of time and to cruise long distances under power. She also had to be sturdy enough to take whatever punishment any ocean might have to offer. In the Pacific we were bound to encounter long, windless stretches; but we needed a seaworthy design for the inevitable storms one encounters from time to time... She also had to be a boat that Paul Wolter, our professional since 1958, was comfortable with. As he had with the completion of PALAWAN II and the supervision of the construction of PALAWAN III, Paul played a large part in the development of Palawan IV."

The build contract was eventually placed with Abeking & Rasmussen in March 1971 and while PALAWAN IV was under construction supervised by Hamburg-born Wolter, fit again Watson went cruising in PALAWAN III to see if he liked it. After a circumnavigation of Newfoundland he reported: "I found that I was physically fit to handle a boat and that I enjoyed cruising as much, or more than, ocean racing."

The Watson family took delivery at Bergen in June 1972 and cruised from Scandinavia to Cowes, where Watson was joined by his old racing crew for a presumably not slow passage to Portugal. PALAWAN IV would spend the autumn there prior to an Atlantic passage to the Caribbean. She eventually arrived 'home' to Camden, Maine in the spring of 1973. Her summer 1974 cruise was an ambitious one: as far north of the Arctic Circle as they dared, and as ice would allow (see Francis S Kinney, above).

After an unadventurous by Watson standards 1975 season, in January 1976 the Watson family sailed west from Panama Canal for a long summer voyage to Fiji in the wake of Magellan, Drake, Cook and the other original European explorers of the Pacific. The cruise - and PALAWAN IV - is immortalised in Watson's excellent 1993 publication 'Pacific Passage'. In 1986 Thomas J. Watson was awarded the Cruising Club of America's prestigious Blue Water Medal, "for a distinguished career of sailing, racing, and cruising, culminating in 15 years of outstanding sailing expeditions..."

Ownership in PALWAN IV transferred in 1995 to Emmy Award winning US investigative journalist and TV personality Geraldo Rivera. Renamed VOYAGER, she participated in four Marion to Bermuda Races, and became a rather well known TV personality herself in Rivera's Travel Channel series 'Sail to the Century', a 1997-2000 circumnavigation with the objective of being among the first to experience the new Millennium at the International Date Line, Tonga. A voyage 1,400 miles up the Amazon River also featured on the Travel Channel.

Rivera donated VOYAGER in 2013 to the Maine Maritime Academy, Castine. She was purchased from there by the present owner in 2015, her name was returned to PALAWAN IV, she enjoyed the major refit detailed above, and has operated as a rather special charter yacht.

©2025 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd.

- Welded aluminium hull
- 2023 Hull thickness report available
- Awl Grip paint finish above waterline
- Epoxy and antifouling below waterline
- Thicker plating at waterline and bow for high latitudes
- Hull port lights (6 x port, 7 x starboard) are non-opening
- Laid teak deck on welded aluminium sub-deck
- Aluminium and teak superstructures

GENERAL
- Laid teak on welded aluminium sub-deck
- Aluminium and teak superstructures
- Aluminium rail
- Mooring cleats wended to rail
- Stainless steel stanchions, pulpit and pushpit

AFT DECK
- Panama mooring fairleads through taffrail port and starboard
- Associated mooring cleats welded to taffrail
- Stainless steel pushpit
- Mizzen backstay chainplate
- Mizzen sheet padeye and purchase
- Ideal electric chromed bronze warping capstan
- Large chromed bronze/ teak laid flush hatch to lazarette/ steering flat

AFT TRUNK CABIN
- 4 x Opening ports with mosquito screens
- Hatch over aft cabin
- 2 x Dorade boxes with tall cowls
- Mizzen mast position
- Stowage box
- Main sheet traveller and purchases
- Main boom gallows

AFT SIDE DECK
- Double headsail sheet sheaves port & starboard
- Headsail sheet track and cars at rail port & starboard
- 2 x Sheet/ furler winches at coaming port & starboard

CENTRE COCKPIT
- Laid teak on marine plywood sole and seating
- Soft patch in sole over engine space
- Stowage pockets fore and aft in coamings
- Helm and binnacle pedestal
- Edson stainless steel with teak bezel wheel
- Chromed traditional steering compass binnacle
- Stainless steel protective bar loop over
- Raymarine repeaters
- 2 x Cup holders
- Chromed Kobelt throttle control
- Helm seat, backrest and step at aft cabin trunk
- Companionway to aft accommodation offset to starboard
- Companionway to forward accommodation offset to port
- Raymarine Hybrid Touch 12 in Multifunction Display to port
- Engine panel to starboard
- Stainless steel dodger/ bimini frame

FORWARD CABIN TRUNK
- Teak open aft doghouse over front part of cockpit/ aft part of trunk
- Hatch over saloon
- Dorade boxes port and starboard with tall cowls
- Self-tailing winches port and starboard
- Main mast position
- Vent cowls port and starboard
- LPG bottle locker port forward
- Winch handle/ deck gear locker starboard forward
- Self-tailing winches port & starboard

FOREDECK
- Hatches over port & starboard forward cabins
- Lemon squeezer deck prism between
- 2 x Large dorade boxes with tall cowls; stainless steel bar over
- Raised forehatch over forecabin
- Deck wash terminal
- Dorade boxes with cowls port & starboard
- Liferaft stowage
- Teak warp stowage box
- Ideal 24 V windlass; rope capstan and chain gypsy (new motor 2023)
- Mooring bollards on windlass
- Inner forestay position
- Panama fairleads port & starboard
- Anchor stowage/ launchers port and starboard of stemhead
- Port & starboard nav lights in pulpit

GROUND TACKLE
- 2 x Stainless steel 105 lb / 47 kg spade type anchors
- 300 ft / 91 m ½ in / 12 mm chain
- 35 ft / 10 m ⅜ in / 9 mm chain & 300 ft / 91 m 1 in / 25 mm line
- Chain hook

GENERAL
- Teak carpentry throughout
- Except cherry carpentry in saloon (2016)
- New teak carpentry in both WC compartments (2016)
- Vinyl over marine plywood headlining
- Teak and holly sole

SALOON/ GALLEY/ HUB
- Down 4 x Steps from cockpit offset to port
- (Watertight fwd door to engine space, aft under cockpit)
- V-lined forward bulkhead; glazed lockers
- Deckhead grabrails port and starboard
- Opening hatch in deckhead
Chart Table/ Office Aft to Port
- Drawer stowage under
- Ship's electrical panels
- Raymarine Hybrid Touch 12 in Multifunction Display
- iCOM VHF radio
- Handheld VHF radio
- Fixed 'barber's chair'
- 2 x Opening ports
- Deckhead light
L-Shaped Seating Area Forward to Port
- Leather upholstery
- Extends to create an extra berth
- Pilot berth outboard; slatted hull ceilings; reading lamp
- 6-8 Seater drop-leaf gimballed table with inlay compass rose
- internal bottle stowage
- provision for fiddles
- 2 x Opening ports
- 2 x Courtesy spotlights over pilot berth
- Electric fan
- Deckhead light
U-Shaped Galley to Starboard
- Fiddled counter tops
- Icebox
- Force 10 gimballed cooker
- 4 x Burner hob; oven
- Stainless steel sink with mixer tap; chopping board cover
- Haier microwave
- 2 x Vitrifrigo AC/DC drawer-loading refrigerator/ freezers
- Extensive lockers and racks capacity
- Drawers unit with fiddled top by companionway
- 2 x Opening ports
- 2 x Deckhead lights
- Electric fan
Seating Area Forward To Starboard
- Leather upholstered banquette
- Fixed 'barber's chair'
- Clock and barometer

PASSAGE TO FORWARD ACCOMMODATION OFFSET TO STARBOARD
- Lobby to starboard of main mast
- Teak and holly sole
- Door to port to WC/ shower compartment
- Door forward to port guest cabin
- Door to to starboard to passage forward and starboard guest cabin

WC SHOWER COMPARTMENT TO PORT
- Raritan electric flush toilet (2024)
- Large mirror
- Shower with curtain and teak grating
- Shower sump
- Quartz counter top with inset sink and mixer tap
- Courtesy spotlight in deckhead
- Stowage under and outboard
- Towel holder
- Deck prism light in deckhead

DOOR FORWARD TO PORT GUEST CABIN
- Double berth to port
- Single bunk berth over
- Slatted hull ceilings
- 2 x Opening ports
- Electric fan
- Lockers in forward bulkhead
- Dresser with drawers under
- Mirror
- Grabrails at deckhead and hull side
- Opening hatch in deckhead
- 2 x Deckhead lights

DOOR TO STARBOARD TO GUEST/ PASSAGE CABIN
- Up and over bunks to starboard
- Slatted hull ceilings
- 2 x Opening ports
- Locker and drawers forward to starboard
- Hooks to port
- Opening hatch in deckhead
- Deckhead light
- Electric fan
- Grabrail to starboard

FORWARD TO SMALL LOBBY
- Large stowage locker to starboard
- Watertight door (door currently in store)

FORWARD TO FORECABIN
- Sideboard and lockers
- V-Berths with insert to make large double
- Stowage under
- Slatted hull ceilings
- Opening ports port and starboard
- Book shelves port & starboard
- Chain locker
- Deckhead light
- Access forward to forepeak

AFT ACCOMMODATION
- 5 x Steps down from cockpit offset to starboard
- (Watertight aft door to engine space, forward under cockpit)
- Double berth to port
- Single berth to starboard with banquette
- Chest of drawers aft with fiddled counter top
- Hanging locker; compass rose motif on door
- Shelves outboard with bookshelves
- Bunkside sideboard with drawers starboard forward
- Hull port lights port and starboard
- Opening ports port and starboard
- 2 x Electric fans
- Grabrails at deckhead and house sides
- Hatch in deckhead
- 2 x Reading lamps

EN-SUITE WC/ SHOWER COMPARTMENT PORT FORWARD
- Raritan electric flush toilet (2024)
- Quartz fiddled counter top
- Lockers under and outboard
- Inset sink port aft
- Mixer tap
- Towel holder
- Separate, walk-in marble shower compartment w. glass door
- Teak grating; shower sump

RIG
- Air height estimated at 85 ft / 26 m
- Bermudan cutter-headed ketch rig
- White painted alloy double spreader main mast
- In-mast Norseman hydraulic/ manual reefing
- Steps to lower spreaders
- White painted alloy single spreader mizzen mast w. luff track
- Full height steps
- Alloy spinnaker pole
- Alloy whisker pole

WINCHES
- 12 Barient manual winches
- 2 x Barient electric winches
- 2 x Lewmar winches
- 1 x Luke winch for the centreboard

SAILS
(Dates to be confirmed)
- In-mast furling mainsail (2016 - light use)
- Slab reefing mizzen (2024)
- 130% Genoa (2024)
- 150% Genoa (2016 - light use)
- Staysail (2024)
- 2 x Asymmetrical spinnakers
- 1 x Symmetrical spinnakers
- Winch operated furlers on both headstays
- A set of backup sails

CANVASWORK
- Dodger/ bimini over cockpit
- Stack pack/ boom cover for mizzen
- Cockpit cushions
- Dorade box covers

MECHANICAL
Main engine
- Yanmar 4LHA‐STP 4 cyl 240 hp diesel (2003)
- Approx 3,000 hours
- Reverso oil change system
- Racor filters
- ZF‐63A ‐2.5 Gearbox, 2.52 ‐ 2.54
- 5 x Blade Max Prop propeller
Steering
- Stainless steel cable; aluminium quadrant

MECHANICAL/ ELECTRICAL
- Northern Lights Lugger 8 kW generator (2003)
- Approx. 1,200 hours

ELECTRICAL
DC System
- 12 V and 24 V
- 4 x AGM 8‐D 250 Ah each, wired in series for 24 volt house batteries
- 1 x 4‐D 12 V main engine starting battery
- 1 x 31 series 12 V generator starting battery
- 1 x Pro Sport 12 V Battery charger
- 1 x Mastervolt charger inverter 24 V 3000 W 70 A
- 2 x Engine alternators: 80 A original + Prestolite c150 A
AC System
- 50 A and 30 A Shore power inlets
- 2 x Shore power cables
- 30 A Main breaker
- AC Sockets throughout boat
- Charles 3.6 kVA ISO‐G2 60 HZ Galvanic Isolator
- DC/AC Inverter 3000 W Output

TANKAGE AND ASSOCIATED
Fuel
- 2 x Aluminium diesel tanks, 500 US Gals / 1892 L each (1000 / 3784 Total)
Fresh Water
- 4 x Aluminium water tanks, 250 US Gals / 946 L each (1000 / 3784 Total)
- 12 V Pressure water system
- Sure Flo diaphragm pump; in line filters
- (No watermaker)
Hot water
- 120 V Isotherm electric immersion hot water system
- c. 20 Gal / 76 L Hot water tank
- Engine mounted heat-exchanger
Waste
- 2 x Black water tanks with y-valves:
- 1 x for both WC Compartments (50 Gal / 189 L)
- 1 x for manual toilet in engine room (8 Gal / 30 L)
LPG
- Bottle stowage port forward hatch in forward cabin trunk

OTHER
Air conditioning
- 3 x new units (2023)
- 1 x At port midship berth, 9,000 btu
- 1 x At port saloon, 12,000 btu
- 1 x At port aft cabin, 5,200 btu
- Saloon and aft cabin units share a pump

NAVIGATION
- 8 in Binnacle-mounted Danforth steering compass
- 2 x Raymarine Hybrid Touch 12 in multifnctiion displays
- 1 x at chart table; 1 x in cockpit
- Raymarine radar
- Raymarine autohelm

COMMUNICATIONS
- iCOM IC-M506 VHF / DSC Radio
- Remote mic at helm
- Hand held VHF

- Survitec Zodiac Xtrem 12-person canister liferaft
- ACR Hydrofix hydrostatic release EPIRB at mainmast
- Life Sling
- Horseshoe lifebuoy
- 5 x Fire extinguishers
- Halon 1301 auto fire system in engine space
- Flares pack
- Air horn
- Nav lights
- First Aid kit
- 4 x 12 V Bilge pumps wired and fused independently

- 'Coastal' RIB tender 14 ft / 4.27 m (2024)
- 30 hp Tohatsu outboard motor (2024 - 18 hours use)
- Stainless steel and teak boarding ladder

Majority of deck and accommodation: John Williams