Heritage East Yachts for Sale

Heritage East is a brand, not a yard, and understanding that is the whole point of this page. During the Taiwan trawler boom of the 1970s and 1980s a central builder would mold hulls and subcontract the finishing to other shops, who sold the results under whatever name they chose. CHB's Coaster 33 was the boat everybody copied, and the look alikes came out under the names Heritage, Golden Gate, Bluewater, Far East and more. The Heritage East hull dates from that period, mid 1980s Taiwan, and it was revived later: production moved to Fuzhou in mainland China and the boats are represented in the United States by Yacht Registry of Dunedin, Florida, run by Mark Reder and Ron Tucker. The current line is a 36, a 42 and a 46, all sundeck trawlers on a full length keel that protects the running gear and makes them track, all powered by Cummins, with the interiors done in the heavy joinery Chinese and Taiwanese yards are good at and American components elsewhere. Roughly 250 of the 36 have been built across the whole run.

Because there is no single factory behind the badge, the boat in front of you is the only evidence that counts, and the era matters. A 1980s or 1990s Taiwan built Heritage East is a boat whose quality depends on which shop finished it: quality across the industry was uneven before about 1981 and improved after, but it was never uniform. Inspect the decks for soft spots and saturated core, the stringers and engine beds for rot, the window and hatch frames and every deck fitting for leaks, the fiberglass for the fine crazing that indicates a poorly wet out layup, and the tanks, especially welded steel ones, for buckling and weeping. Exterior teak looks wonderful and is a standing commitment of time or money forever. A recent boat from Fuzhou is a different purchase: it comes with a hull warranty from the importer rather than from a shipyard, American engines and components, and support that runs through a Florida office, so confirm that office is still trading before you rely on it. In either case they are honest, slow, economical coastal cruisers with more accommodation than their length suggests, and they sell at prices that reflect exactly the uncertainty described above.