On March 11, 1940, while the Second World War was already raging in Europe, a seiner named Western Flyer set sail from Monterey, California – for a very different purpose than for which she had been built.
For six weeks a crew would be tasked with collecting biological samples of intertidal marine species. The expedition had been organised by two celebrities who had followed diverse paths, but who shared an unbridled passion for the ocean – an elective affinity that prompted them to charter the Western Flyer. One was Ed Ricketts, marine biologist, ecologist and philosopher; the other was John Steinbeck, novelist, who at the time of the journey had already penned Tortilla Flat and Of Mice and Men.
The Western Flyer was to be the floating home of Ricketts, Steinbeck and other crew members for a voyage through Mexican waters described in two books: Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal (1941) and (1951).
