Gillnet Boat ALKI II, 243 East Birnie Slough Road, Puget Island, Cathlamet, Wahkiakum County, WA

Significance: Part of an ongoing project to document the evolution of the Columbia River gillnet boat, Alki II is an example of a fiberglass bowreeler with a high-power V-8 engine.

Alki II represents the transition from traditional wood hull gillnet boats to the more modern fiberglass hull and a change in boat building: rather than build gillnet boats from the keel up, boat builders began to acquire commercially cast fiberglass hulls and then build the specific deck configurations as dictated by the fishery and the boat owner. Early fiberglass boats, such as Alki II, have cabin access through a small aft cockpit, a configuration popular in the earlier wooden gillnet boats.
Survey number: HAER WA-217
Building/structure dates: 1972 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 2011 Subsequent Work