The F/V Alliance, owned by Gordon Giles, was the latest in a long line of fishing boats owned and operated by the Giles family.
Gordon’s wife, Carlena, explained “In 1952 Gordon started fishing salmon with his Dad down by Kodiak. He started with a 32 ft PG 92 boat that had sunk. They got the salvage rights and raised her, then cleaned her up and redid the engines. That was our first boat, the Mary B. After the summer of salmon fishing in 1960, they started crabbing over by St. Augustine. In a fishing family, one soon learns that nothing is sacred. Our living room became a shop! There were engine parts everywhere! Then in the winter, we had crab pots (6 ft x 6 ft) inside for webbing, getting ready for the next season!
Our family went from a 32 foot boat to a 130 foot boat. It was an old Western Trader and was a boat that had seen better days. Gordon and his Dad fixed it up to do king crab fishing in the Bering Sea. Things went pretty well and we then had a 90 foot boat built in Seattle. We named her Teejin** after our first two girls, Tina and Ginny. The *Teejin was fished until we lost her. She was beached and was a total loss. Gordon and a crew member stayed on the beach and tried to get her to float, but no luck. So, we were able to obtain a siser ship which we named Teejin II. We were still fishing king crab, opilio (snow crab) and we also did halibut fishing for a while. Then we had another 125 foot boat and named it Andrew McGee after my father. We continued with all the same fishing, but added salmon tendering.
Now we have the Alliance, a 100 foot boat. Fishing is not like it was in earlier times. However, fishing has provided a good living for this family.”