Celebrity Cruise Ship

We recently spent a couple of hours wandering around Moss Landing Harbor. In the process of snapping pics of random boats at their moorings, we came upon this fine looking example: 

The Western Flyer

 In an interesting co-inky-dink, a few days later we came across an article in the LA Times about this very vessel.  Turns out it's kinda famous.

 After writing The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck spent 6 weeks on the Western Flyer in 1940 on an expedition in the Sea of Cortez with marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Steinbeck's book The Log from the Sea of Cortez documents his time on the Western Flyer. The book is considered one of Steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction-- his interaction with Ricketts not only impacted his philosophy, it also provided inspiration for characters in his later works. 

Following the Sea of Cortez voyage, the Western Flyer resumed it's job as a commercial fishing boat. After years of plying it's trade on the west coast it ended up in Washington and fell into disrepair. It was eventually purchased in 2015 and restored for use as a research and educational ship by the Western Flyer Foundation. 

 This weekend sees the homecoming of the Western Flyer to her original home port in Monterey.