I have been visiting shipyards in China and Taiwan for the past 9 years, some prospecting for a subcontract yard and others just to visit and see what they do and how they do it. Few yards have impressed me as much as the President yard; so much so that that is why we chose them to build our Northwest Trawlers.
When you first approach the entrance, you realize that President is truly an international company. The flags, which fly every day (not just for visitors), represent the countries where President has done business. Eddie Yeh, the owner, has been building boats for over 40 years, the first 35 or so years at an older shipyard many miles inland. Eddie moved into this facility, right on the water in 2005.
The main building shown above is huge, being over a football field in length and about half that in width with a cavernous overhead that has 2 mezzanine levels. Boats of up to 150′ in length are able to be built here with ease.
When your first walk in the offices, you realize that this is not a typical Asian yacht yard. The reception area is very tastefully decorated with modern furniture (comfy black leather). Outside the window, visitors can watch large Coy fish swimming in Eddie’s fish pond. He is a collector and I am told he has had a Coy pond at his shipyards for many years. On the walls are pictures of Eddie meeting government and business leaders both at home and abroad. One shows him with President and Mrs. H.W. Bush when they met at the White House. Eddie has been actively involved in Rotary International for many years, serving as chapter president of his local club.
Turning toward the engineering and administration offices, the first person you see in Chief. And beyond Chief’s desk is Jack. Chief and Jack are both graduate naval architects with Jack having earned a Master’s degree. Both attended the same school, at the same time and joined President over 22 years ago. They are a Chief (pardon the pun) reason that President turns out yachts of such high quality.
The offices are very impressive. You literally feel you could eat off the floor. It is immaculate and well organized.
Above is one of the sample racks where new owners can select wood types, molding shapes, and finishes. Everything is organized and labeled to make selections easy. Our Northwest Trawlers will have a matte finished, medium toned cherry as the standard with other woods to choose from, most with no additional cost.
Another display rack holds samples of granite and Corian. Granite is available as full thickness or honeycomb backed where weight is a consideration. There are many optional patterns and colors to choose from.
Eddie and MeBefore we went out into the manufacturing area, Eddie wanted to show me their training and visitor housing building. This is a 3 story structure across the yard from the main building. The first floor is their training area for classes and company meetings. The upper two floors have apartments where skippers, owner’s agents, and owners can stay when they are visiting the yard for extended periods of time.
This is the classroom/meeting room area. Again, it was very well organized and clean as a whistle.
Jack led me on the tour and the first thing that struck me was how voluminous the building was. Here you can see the 2 mezzanine levels. The small boat you see is one of the production boats that President builds for the Japanese market. I believe Eddie said it was a Nissan product.
This is one of the woodworking shops. I think I counted 3 that were strategically placed so that the workers did not have far to go to get components from the shop to the boats.
This is a smaller woodworking shop on the 2nd mezzanine level.
Above is a hull for a President 120 under construction.
This is a completed President 107 mega yacht awaiting the owner’s instructions for delivery. This is truly a beautifully finished yacht. Admittedly, I am a trawler lover but I can appreciate the fine workmanship that President did on this boat.
I took a few interior pictures of the President 107. There were some things that were being left to be installed once the boat reached its home port. I am told that there will be 3 Stidd chairs for the helm station.
This is the settee and table located at the back of the pilothouse. The cushions are wrapped in plastic to protect them.
This is what I call the “breakfast nook”. It is a dining area just forward of the galley that appears to be for informal dining.
And this is for more formal dining. The amazing thing was that President made the table, chairs, and the buffet table seen in the background.
Here is a shot of the galley. this is just one of the work areas.
And this is the rest of the galley (taken from behind the “breakfast nook”)
And the final picture taken of the stairway going up to the pilothouse.
You’re probably wondering why I am showing the President 107 pictures because its trawlers that we build. Well, after my tour of the 107, I met with Eddie and he assured me that the quality (not necessarily the styling) of the President 107 is what we can expect on our Northwest Trawlers series. That was the clincher that made the decision to contract with President easy.