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Press Contacts


Sherry Flumerfelt
Western Flyer Foundation
sherry@westernflyer.org
(831) 220-8047

Latest Press Releases


In the Press


The Western Flyer concludes its 2026 visit to the Pacific Northwest

KLCC | By Brianna Bowman, June 22, 2026

Not many fishing boats are immortalized in literature by Nobel-Prize-winning authors. But not all boats are the Western Flyer. Eighty years ago, John Steinbeck described the elegant, wooden fishing vessel.

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Western Flyer

By Steve Mullensky For Peninsula Daily News, May 30, 2026

The Western Flyer, the historic research vessel that became famous after author John Steinbeck chartered it for a research trip in the Sea of Cortez, cruises beneath the towering Mount Baker as she approaches the entrance to Port Townsend Bay on Thursday.

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Our Working Waterfront

KPTZ.ORG • 91.9 FM Port Townsend, May 14, 2026

Join KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and Port Commissioner Pam Petranek in conversation with Pete Rust of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op, and Captain Paul Tate and Sherry Flumerfelt of the Western Flyer Foundation.

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Made famous by John Steinbeck and painstakingly restored for research, Western Flyer sails into Newport for a week

Lincoln Chronicle | By Dana Tims, May 09, 2026

John Gregg, then a 10-year-old kid growing up in rural Georgia, couldn’t wait for the bookmobile to trundle through town every other week. The books he’d grab stoked his love of adventure, science and a world very far from his own.

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Western Flyer Visits Coos Bay & Charleston

Travel Oregon, May 04, 2026

Built in Tacoma in 1937, the Western Flyer became famous when John Steinbeck sailed it to the Gulf of California in 1940. After a meticulous restoration led by the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op, the vessel now serves as a platform for ocean science and education.

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Meet sea critters and celebrate science in Charleston

Oregon News, University of Oregon, April 30, 2026

University of Oregon employees and families looking for an Oregon Coast getaway will find a boatload of activities May 9 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Charleston Marine Life Center.

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