The ''Western Flyer'' is a

fishing boat A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, arti ...

, most known for its use by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

and

Ed Ricketts Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 – May 11, 1948) was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. Renowned as the inspiration for the character Doc in John Steinbeck's 1945 novel '' Cannery Row'', Rickett's professional ...

in their 1940 expedition to the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

, the notes from which culminated in their 1941 book ''Sea of Cortez'', later reworked by Steinbeck into ''

The Log from the Sea of Cortez ''The Log from the Sea of Cortez'' is an English-language book written by American author John Steinbeck and published in 1951. It details a six-week (March 11 – April 20) marine specimen-collecting boat expedition he made in 1940 at variou ...

'' (1951). According to Kevin Bailey, "the most famous fishing vessel ever to have sailed", the ''Western Flyer'' was restored in

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

. The Western Flyer Foundation was formed with the goal of educating youth about the intersection of science and literature.

Construction

The ''Western Flyer'' was built in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, in 1937 by the Western Boat Building Company, owned by Martin Petrich. Petrich partnered with brothers Tony and Frank Berry to build the

seiner A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

, which is made from old-growth fir. It was designed specifically for the

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

sardine fishery, with the capability of heading to Alaska annually for salmon. On July 3, 1937, the Flyer was completed.

Steinbeck and the Sea of Cortez

Steinbeck and Ricketts chartered the ''Western Flyer'' in 1940 for a voyage to the

Sea of Cortez The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

. The Flyer was captained by Anton "Tony" Berry, with crew members Tex Travis, Horace "Sparky" Enea, and "Tiny" Colletto. Steinbeck's wife, Carol, was also on board for the excursion. They embarked on March 11, 1940, from Monterey. Along the coast, Steinbeck and Ricketts collected specimens, logging their observations, many of which were included in "The Log". The journey ended on April 16, 1940, in San Diego, California, after a journey of .

After Steinbeck

Following Steinbeck's voyage, the ship was returned to its main purpose: fishing. Over the ensuing years it was used to harvest

sardine Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

, and

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

, angling from California to Alaska's

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

In 1983 Bob Enea, the nephew of Tony Berry, began a search for the ''Western Flyer'' which had been renamed ''Gemini''. Enea discovered the boat in

Anacortes, Washington Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. His attempts to purchase the boat from owner Ole Knudson were rebuffed until 1993 when Knudson decided to retire from fishing and offered to sell the ship to Enea for $100,000. Enea established the non-profit Western Flyer Project to raise money to purchase the vessel. The publicity generated by the announcement of the ''Western Flyers discovery attracted the attention of real estate developer Gerry Kehoe who immediately purchased the boat from Knudson over Enea's objections, announcing plans to move it to Salinas where it would be placed in

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

as the centerpiece of a new theme restaurant. Twice in 2012 the boat sprang leaks and sank, being refloated each time. After the second sinking, Kehoe transported the boat from Anacortes to

to undergo refurbishment in preparation for relocation to Salinas.

Restoration

In early 2015 the boat was sold to John Gregg for a reported $1,000,000. Gregg enlisted Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op to restore the vessel to its historic glory, while exceeding modern safety, technological, and environmental standards. The vessel includes a custom

Remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...

, designed by Gregg, that resembles a

nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

. In 2016, The Western Flyer Foundation was established to support ''Western Flyer''s focus on public education and science; students will participate in the collection of real data, implementing a

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

approach.

Restoration of the Western Flyer in September 2019

On June 29, 2022, ''Western Flyer'' was relaunched after its restoration at Port Townsend was completed, and towed to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to receive a new

hybrid engine A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. Hybrid powertrai ...

and further outfit, before returning to Monterey. The engine installation and the conversion of the fish hold to a science lab and teaching space were completed by Snow and Company, Seattle, in mid-2023 and on November 4 ''Western Flyer'' arrived at Monterey to complete outfitting.

References

External links

Western Flyer Foundation home page
* {{John Steinbeck, state=collapsed John Steinbeck National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Washington Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Ships built in Tacoma, Washington Ships built by Western Boat Building Company 1937 ships