In 1940, writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered the sardine fishing boat the Western Flyer for a legendary six-week expedition to Mexico's Gulf of California. Their account of the journey, as documented in Sea of Cortez (1941) and The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951), is a classic tale of friendship, adventure, scientific discovery, and philosophy that made the Western Flyer an icon of American literature. After years of work by craftspeople and shipwrights, the Flyer has been restored to its former glory and is ready for a second life of research and education.
Western Flyer is beautiful no doubt, but even though pretty it seems the black rails would get too hot to touch in the sun. I think they should be white. What is the reasoning behind the black top coats instead of the cooler white? Thanks
Until today I hadn’t heard of the Western Flyer but I saw her mentioned on the Sampson Boat Company (Tally Ho) channel. After seeing this one video I’m looking forward to binge watching another inspiring story of boat resurrection!
Wonderful film! It was an honor to write about the Western Flyer for Passagemaker magazine. The story touches a chord, the piece won first prize in the Boat Writer International annual writing competition.
Was lucky to see The Flyer several times as we passed by her work shed on The Lake Washington Ship Canal. Up close you really appreciate the lines of this beautiful boat, and what craftsmanship it took to restore her.
I enjoyed watching the restoration process for the ship. I wish the channel would have included more about the outfitting of the ship with drive systems, electronics, and more. The amount of woodworking in this project is amazing and the talent doing the work as well.
Thank you for the memories with watching their boat be rebuilt. Watching it fully to what you call home LOL. I can't wait for the next journey in life what's the Western Flyer.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤. So when is the next chapter?
Nice job Nick. It would have been good to see you take part in the restoration. Maybe helped out with the cabin refinishing. Im sure you would have been welcomed.
America needs to let more water run free into the Sea of Cortez from the mighty Colorado River. If you love history, old ships, fish, and seawater this is a must-watch video.
Though I no longer live on the Monterey Peninsula (PG), I lived there for 46 years beginning with 1957. Those were the days that Cannery Row still had a couple of operating canneries. Very few, if any, "tourists". John Steinbeck was still alive, and many of the haunts in his many books were still standing. My mother wrote 5 books about Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Cannery Row and Big Sur. . Sadly, her last book about Joun Steinbeck , written over 20 years, was plagiarized by a new-comer who wanted to meet my mother. She never published it the book. She became a docent at the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, taking a bus both directions. That was my mother. She new more about the Monterey Peninsula and Steinbeck than any one I knew. Yes she knew about the Western Flyer which was central to much of her unpublished book. John Steinbeck's sister lived right behind us in Pacific Grove. His sister gave up John Steinbeck's favorite rocking chair, now in my brother's possession; he still lives in Pacific Grove. I met Doc Rickett's (sp) son on a flight from SF to New York. We sat side by side, he in the window seat. Periodically he gave me some notice as I was proof reading one of my mother's books, he noted John Steinbeck was in bold at the top of the page. We then spent the remainder of the trip talking about his father, Steinbeck, Monterey Peninsula and the demise of Cannery row and its ruination. He shared stories which I had never heard, and he marveled at my mother's knowledge of both men and the Peninsula. What an incredible event, not to be forgotten. I will never forget what Monterey and New Monterey, Pacific Grove (members of my family are buried there) and Cannery Row used to be. Now Monterey Peninsula is blessed by an iconic , tangible, relic of an early era and rightly glorified its past by connecting real people with what was an unforgettable time and place. Compliments and thanks to all who were involved in this endeavor.
We are grateful to all of our followers, but we had limited resources and needed to use those resources to finish the boat (vs. producing videos, which takes significant time and resources... we redirected those resources to finishing the boat). Now that the boat is finished, we plan to produce a final wrap-up restoration video so we don't leave our followers hanging (likely this summer). Stay tuned and thanks for following us.
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning. The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you. Werner Heisenberg
The best boat in the world will happily sit on the bottom, if you neglect it. Just because the Western Flyer got extra wet, doesn't mean she's a bad boat.
I love you, all of you! Glad you signed up, Nick! Y’all bring tears of joy to my eyes. I just checked out the book, online, in ebook form, from a library 600 miles away, that allows anyone, anywhere, to have a card! ❤🎉😊👍👍
It's good to see the conclusion of "Western Flyer " l was an avid watcher during it's restoration but some reason it seemed to stop justbefore it was finished . Maybe Covid was behind this ? However it is wondeeful to see her back where she belongs . Thankyou
Watched episode 16, Planking. Really fascinating to watch. Chris your getting more comfortable in front of the camera, more natural, The editing is getting better.....who knows you may have a second career developing.
I'm watching the WFFC series from the beginning. With morning coffee, episode 13 this morning. Steaming and bending a 3" inch timber I would not have thought that was possible, "too thick". The restoration is fascinating. I'm excited to visit the Flyer. I have a dog-earred copy of "The Log". I travelled extensively as a boy with my father around the Sea of Cortez, landing his plane on remote dirt strips and camping on beaches that felt like they had never been stepped on before. The seasonal fisherman would prove me wrong on that point. Well done, Ben Altadena, CA
@@WesternFlyerFoundationChannel that is wonderful. it would have been awesome to have posted a 30 sec video a year ago saying “please come check out this page x”. it just seemed like you guys were making riveting content that everyone was so invested in…… and then nothing. left a big hole in a lot of us.
