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Program for this meeting is: The Western Flyer: An Illustrious History and Exciting Future by Chris Chase, Port Townsend Shipwright and Project Director for the Western Flyer Foundation

The Western Flyer has lived many lives since her 1937 launch in Tacoma, WA. In fact, many consider her “the best-known fishing boat in history”. Thanks to John Steinbeck and Edward Ricketts and the Sea of Cortez, she become an icon of American literature. Despite all this she was neglected for decades, fell into serious decline, and even sank twice. When she was towed to PT in 2013, she looked like a ghost ship, caked with mud, and bearing sun-bleached wisps of hairy filamentous seaweed. In 2015, she was acquired by marine geologist John Gregg, then was lovingly and painstakingly restored over 7 years by the PT Shipwrights Coop. https://www.westernflyer.org/ January 10, 2023 is your chance to hear Project Director Chris Chase give an illuminating presentation about the restoration and the befitting future of the fascinating Western Flyer.