Western Flyer is the boat that took John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts to the Gulf of California in the spring of 1940, after which they published Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research. Steinbeck's better known, and very influential, book Log from the Sea of Cortez is the narrative part of Sea of Cortez. It's a very readable travelogue about the voyage --- a heady mix of science, philosophy, environmentalism, and adventure. It heavily influenced me to get into a career in oceanography.
The boat was nearly lost to history, but thanks to John Gregg and the Western Flyer Foundation, it was saved and meticulously restored over the last 8 years. She is now fully seaworthy and kitted out as a research and educational platform. More at the Foundation's website.
I've been involved with the Foundation for about 7 years now, first as a groupie, later on the Board, and for the last 5 years, as President of the Board.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we leave from Monterey to recreate parts of the voyage. More here. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I'm giddy with excitement! I intend to publish updates as we go along.
But, before that moment when you shove off, there's always a mad time getting the boat ready. We have a lot of equipment --- scientific equipment (x2 for spares), boat spare parts, crew gear, provisions, a dinghy, gangway --- it all has to be securely stowed for a long voyage. In particular, we are expecting rough seas on Sunday night, so we have to be ready from the very start.
If all goes well, we will reach Santa Barbara late on Monday night (17 March).
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