John Vlaun is a teacher who fishes during his summer breaks. He is new to fishing and passionate about the lifestyle. The F/V West, his first boat, is a wooden troller built in 1920 by William Tyler. Some of the boat's early history is not known. For a period of time, the boat was run aground near Wrangell, Alaska and had a tree growing out of it. Tyler Thompson of Wrangell fully restored the boat between 2005- 2010. Antonio Silva acquired the boat and fished it from 2012 to around 2018 when John purchased the boat.