Western Flyer
1940
(Risawoleska RI-505)
- Type: Fishing trawler
- Displacement: 100 tons
- Dimensions: 77 ft.
- Machinery:
- Builder: Western Boat Building Co, Tacoma, WA, 1937
- Notes: Designed for the Monterey sardine fishery with the capability to also fish salmon off Alaska in season. The Western Flyer is best known for its use by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts in their 1940 expedition to the Gulf of California, the notes from which culminated in their 1941 book Sea of Cortez, later reworked by Steinbeck into The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951). Following Steinbeck's voyage, the ship was returned to its main purpose: fishing. Over the ensuing years it was used to harvest sardines, perch, and crab, angling from California to Alaska'a Aleutian Islands. It is currently being restored in Port Townsend, WA.
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