Western Mariner – August 2019

36 WESTERNMARINER.COM AUGUST 2019 CANADA’S COMMERCIAL MARINE MAGAZINE

weStern flyer

In 1937, the Western Boat Building

Co., a Tacoma family business,

launched the 75-ft purse seiner

westernflyer, constructed of fir with

white oak ribs. After the owners had

fished sardines for three years, au-

thor John Steinbeck and biologist

Edward Ricketts chartered western

flyer. They made a six-week re-

search voyage around the then-re-

mote Sea of Cortez (a.k.a. the Gulf of

California). Ricketts seems to have pi-

oneered ocean ecological studies on

the west coast of North America, and

Steinbeck wrote two nonfiction books

about their experiences on board.

westernflyerthen had a long career

as a sardine boat, trawler, crabber and

salmon packer. After sinking in 2012, she was purchased

by a California foundation planning to educate west coast

schoolchildren about the marine environment and sustain-

able fisheries.

The Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-operative has a bud-

get to comprehensively restore westernflyer. Work began

with cleaning and laser surveying in 2015. The hull was

then stabilized with scaffolding. During 2017, the deck was

removed and stored. Material replaced has included eight

pairs of sawn frames, 28 pairs of steam-bent frames, 50 ft of

deck beam, 50 ft of sheer clamps, four deck beams and 50 ft

PORT TOWNSEND SHIPWRIGHTS CO-OPERATIVE PHOTOS

.

.

.