Fishing Boat

The commercial salmon set net fishermen use open skiffs such as this one while setting and picking their nets along the shores of Cook Inlet. The net is usually 210 feet long, 19 feet deep, and is strung with corks on top and weights on the bottom. It is anchored to the beach site or as much as 1 ½ miles from shore.

Nets are set out perpendicular to shore, and as the tide changes, salmon come into the net. Nets close to shore are pulled in with a pulley system, and the ones farther out are picked using a skiff like this one. When the skiff is full, it runs back to shore, and the salmon are off-loaded into containers. This continues until the fishing period is over.

Fred Seater and two other family members built this boat around 1940 and used it until about 1980. His grandchildren now fish the family site in Nikiski.
For the boat's ribbing, he chose spruce trees cut well below ground level into the roots to take advantage of the natural curvature of the wood. Many of the construction details on this boat show a great knowledge of the fishery and the kind of equipment that was needed.
Restoration of this boat was completed in 2006, and it now rests in front of the Kenai Visitors Center.

I condensed this information from the sign that was posted next to the boat.