PORT TOWNSEND — A vessel made famous by author John Steinbeck is sitting at a Port Townsend boat yard as the owner makes plans to move it to Salinas, Calif.
Salinas businessman Gerry Kehoe brought the Western Flyer to Boat Haven in July after it sank twice at a moorage in Skagit County.
The Peninsula Daily News reports it’s drawing attention from Steinbeck enthusiasts who walk up and touch the side of the boat.
The 72-foot fishing boat was built in in 1937 in Tacoma and chartered in 1940 by Steinbeck and a friend for a six-week expedition to Mexico’s Gulf of California.
Kehoe says he plans to dissemble the derelict and move it to Salinas as a museum and tribute to Steinbeck.
