Tag Archives: author John Steinbeck
Local man helping auction relics from Western Flyer, a boat famously connected to Steinbeck
How much would you pay to own one-of-a-kind pieces of fishing, environmental, scientific and literary history? Could you be an “angel?” Those are questions inspired by a Wauna man’s quest. Michael Hemp, a vibrant, engaging and consistently curious 81-year-old whose business card lists him as “Historian, Heritage Marketing & Communications Consultant, Researcher, 
Archivist, Lecturer, Novelist,” seeks a buyer for a brass steering wheel, a hefty engine shift lever and two gimballed compasses. The items are original pieces from a 76-foot-long purse seiner fishing boat built in Tacoma 87 years ago. It is similar in design and purpose to hundreds launched there, in Gig Harbor, and in other Northwest boatyards during the 20th century. One big distinction: All four artifacts once were crucial and original parts of arguably the world’s most famous purse seiner, a title earned because a couple of friends chartered it in Monterey, California, in 1940 for a six-week cruise of research and exploration in Mexico. Video, Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:39
Seaworthy experiences are on deck at this Western Flyer auction
Western Flyer Auction and 85th Anniversary Voyage to the Gulf of California. The famous boat appeared in author John Steinbeck’s book “The Log from the Sea of Cortez”; the author and biologist Ed Ricketts “traveled to the Gulf of California” on the Western Flyer in 1940. After an uncertain future, including a few sinkings, the boat was restored and returned to Monterey Bay in 2023; it is based in Moss Landing. The Western Flyer Foundation auction, which is happening through Sept. 30, includes several Western Flyer experiences including breakfast in the galley. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:04
Steinbeck’s famous Western Flyer sails back to Monterey after years of restoration: Photos, inside and out!
The original captain’s desk sits in the wheelhouse, where legendary author John Steinbeck may have jotted notes for his Log from the Sea of Cortez. A guy wire like the one he wrote would “sing under the wind,” stabilizes the mast. Nearby is the galley ventilator where “the odor of boiling coffee” soothed his senses. Neglected, twice sunk and now painstakingly restored, the Western Flyer – dubbed the world’s most famous fishing boat for bearing Steinbeck and his biologist friend Ed Ricketts down the California coast on an ecological adventure — returns Saturday to Monterey for the first time in 75 years to begin a new life in science education. Now docked at the 
Moss Landing harbor, the Western Flyer will be escorted to Monterey by a decorated boat parade, honoring an end-of-the-season fishing community celebration held the day before Steinbeck and Ricketts headed out on their six-week journey. The event will include tours of the boat, activities and live music. Photos, >>click to read<< 10:15
The Western Flyer is about to be uncloaked – getting $2 million renovation in Port Townsend
Three months after the beginning of a $2 million renovation to transform the battered hulk of a boat once used by author John Steinbeck into a floating science center, those working on the project are lifting the shroud of secrecy and allowing the public to look but not touch. “There have been no surprises on this project so far,” said Shipwrights Co-op member Chris Chase, who with Tim Lee is overseeing renovation expected to take 2½ years. “The biggest surprise is the level of public interest,” he said. Read the rest here 11:35
F/V Western Flyer, by some accounts the world’s most famous fishing vessel is at the center of a continuing controversy
The Western Flyer, built by Tacoma’s Western Boat Building Co. in 1937 on the Tideflats, acquired its literary and scientific patina in 1940 when author John Steinbeck and a friend, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, chartered the vessel for a six-week expedition to Mexico’s Gulf of California. The gulf is an arm of the Pacific Ocean sandwiched between the Baja peninsula and the mainland of Mexico. The gulf is more lyrically known as the Sea of Cortez. more@thenewstribune 07:42
