The Western Boat Building Company was started in 1916 by Martin Petrich, Joe Martinac, and William Vickat in Tacoma, WA. (1) It was first located on the site of the former Tacoma Mill Company, now Jack Hyde Park, at the foot of Starr Street. (1) During the first year, the company employed 40 men building fishing boats up to 70 feet in length. The vessels were designed for use in Alaska, the Columbia River, and Puget Sound. (2) By the end of the year, fourteen fishing boats worth $90,000 left the plant, and the Western Boatbuilding Corporation began receiving inquiries from all over the Puget Sound and Pacific Northwest. (2) Though the company was successful, at the end of 1917, Martinac left “to pursue better wartime opportunities as a foreman at the Tacoma Shipbuilding Company.” (2) Then, in 1922, the company moved to East 11th Street on the Thea Foss Waterway. Western Boat Building Corporation built mostly fishing vessels until WWII. During the war, they built sub-chasers, minesweepers, and J-boats at the 11th Street yard. (1) They even started a second yard on D Street to build larger boats. After the war, Western Boat Building Corporation returned to building fishing vessels, tugs, and coastal freighters. In 1965 the 11th St yard burned down, and a new yard was built on Marine View Drive on the Hylebos Waterway. (1)

The Company was most known for building the Western Flyer. The Western Flyer was a 77-foot-long purse seiner built in 1937. (3) In 1940, John Steinbeck chartered the Western Flyer for his trip with Ed Ricketts to Baja, California. The year before, Steinbeck had published “The Grapes of Wrath” and was viewed as a possible Communist. (3) The vessel would become famous due to the voyage and its feature in Steinbeck’s book “The Log from the Sea of Cortez.” (3)