Blog
WFF T-Shirts Designed by Andrea Dingeldein
Support the Western Flyer Foundation with a donation of $35 (or more) and receive a t-shirt with original artwork by Andrea Dingeldein. You can find more of Andrea’s work at […]
View Full ArticleWestern Flyer Restoration, Episode 35
Building new hatches and skylight. Episode 35 from a series following the restoration of the Western Flyer. In this episode, we look at all the new work done over the […]
View Full ArticleHow Resilient is the Gulf of California?
“The very air here is miraculous, and outlines of reality change with the moment.” ~John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts, Sea of Cortez (1941) Although we may still think of […]
View Full ArticleWFF Update on Baja – A Mexican Perspective
Notes from Baja California Sur What would John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts find if they were able to return to the Sea of Cortés* today? What is the same and […]
View Full ArticleJoin the WFF Intertidal Zone Bioblitz
In 1940, writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered a purse seiner, the Western Flyer, for a 6-week expedition to the Sea of Cortez. They captured and catalogued […]
View Full Article View Full ArticleWestern Flyer Restoration, Episode 34
A trip to the local foundry to see new portholes being made. Episode 34 from a series following the restoration of the Western Flyer. In this episode, we take a […]
View Full ArticleVisit to Port Townsend
Before COVID-19 hit, Western Flyer had hundreds of visitors a month. These days, not so much. Access to the yard has been strictly limited for the past year — all […]
View Full ArticleEd Ricketts: by Katharine A. Rodger, University of California, Davis
When Ed Ricketts left for the Sea of Cortez aboard the Western Flyer in March 1940, he hoped the trip would be the basis for a new book
View Full ArticleAn Explanation of Why I Can’t Contribute to This Narrative
It has been one of the great, unexpected pleasures of the Western Flyer restoration process that I get to work with notable scientists and authors.
View Full ArticlePower & Motoryacht
In 2013, the fishing vessel Gemini, a purse seiner built in 1937, was hauled up from the bottom of the Swinomish Channel in the Pacific Northwest
View Full ArticleRighting the Ship
A team of shipwrights resurrects a purse seiner with a Nobel connection for a noble cause.
View Full ArticleThe Western Flyer
The Western Flyer was made famous when legendary writer John Steinbeck set sail on her inspiring him to write two books
View Full ArticleJohn Steinbeck’s Western Flyer Resurfaces
A foundation is restoring the boat Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered for a journey they later chronicled in a book
View Full ArticleNews and donations
The city of Monterey is looking for public input on a proposed plan to develop a condemned portion of the Coast Guard Pier
View Full ArticleFrom Steinbeck to Surfboards: Famous Fishing Boat Surfs Back to the Sea
From Steinbeck to surfboards: Famous fishing boat surfs back to sea
View Full ArticleDan Haifley, Our Ocean Backyard: ‘Western Flyer’s’ journy continues
Santa Cruz Sentinel, Jan, 2016: Dan Haifley, Our Ocean Backyard: ‘Western Flyer’s’ journey continues.
View Full Article75 Years After Steinback Sailed, a Boat Is Readied to Go Back to Sea
NY Times, November 12, 2015: 75 Years After Steinbeck Sailed, A Boat is Readied to go Back to Sea.
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