The Foundation’s programs will provide unique opportunities for creative endeavors in

education, science and the arts.

“—plankton, a shimmering phosphorescence on the sea, and the spinning planets and an expanding universe,

all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.”

— John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez

westernflyer.org info@westernflyer.orgThe Western Flyer Foundation is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit, educational and scientific enterprise.

“The free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.”

Joh Steinbeck, East of Eden

MISSION

To stir curiosity by connecting art and science in the spirit of John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts

and the legacy of the Western Flyer.

Join us!By making a donation or volunteering, you can help to restore the Western Flyer, the

vessel that carried John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts to the Sea of Cortez in 1940. Donations will also support program development, providing extraordinary opportunities for

students to experience and explore their links to the world around them.

For more information, call Kelly Cabal at 949-903-6873 or email info@westernflyer.org.

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The Western Flyer Foundation is an educational venture. Our vision is threefold . . .

The StoryIn 1940, the future Nobel Prize winning author

John Steinbeck chartered a sardine fishing boat named the Western Flyer and sailed to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California. Steinbeck and his best friend, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, studied how creatures live in the intertidal zones and collected more than 550 species. Their 1941 book about the trip, Sea of Cortez, was the first to apply the science of ecology in describing the region’s marine and human communities. The text also sounds an early alarm about destructive fishing practices and the need for marine conservation.

Later, the Western Flyer returned to fishing sardines, salmon, and other species. She ran aground multiple times and eventually sank twice, convincing many that her time had passed. But not everyone.

The Western Flyer FoundationPhase 1: Our first goal is to restore the Western Flyer to appear as she did in 1940 while upgrading her to exceed current U.S. Coast Guard safety standards. Other upgrades will include a “green” electrical

propulsion system and state-of-the-art scientific and laboratory technology. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) will be onboard to observe marine organisms in their ocean habitats.

In 2015, John Gregg purchased the Western Flyer in Port Townsend, Washington. He also established the Western Flyer Foundation to restore the vessel and provide students, scientists, educators, artists and writers an extraordinary platform for exploring humanity’s links to the natural world.

Our goal through the Western Flyer Foundation is to “stir curiosity,” pose questions, and discover answers.

Phase II: Once restored, the vessel will sail to ports along the Pacific coast of the United States, Canada, and Mexico where school children will collect and analyze scientific data, write and draw in activities led by scientists,

“The Flyer represents a place where lightening struck.”

John Gregg, Founder, Western Flyer Foundation

artists and educators conducting field research and community outreach projects. These hands-on educational programs will be coordinated with local schools, NGOs, maritime centers and other stakeholders.

To inspire deeper

appreciation of marine

environments.

To see the world through the lenses of both science

and art.

To understand your

community’s place in a

larger world.